What if You Can’t Pay Your Spanish Mortgage
When money is tight, many people end up in a situation where they cannot pay their bills, sometimes including their mortgage. This often leads to homeowners defaulting on their mortgage, and defaulting on a mortgage for a primary or secondary residence can have serious repercussions for the homeowner. These consequences vary by state, province, and country, so you must be sure to completely understand them.
There are specific repercussions involved in defaulting on a Spanish mortgage. If you are not a Spanish citizen but own a home in Spain, you may think its still possible to easily walk away from the mortgage with no consequences whatsoever. People who were not Spanish citizens but owned a vacation or second home in Spain could default on the mortgage with little or no cost or repercussions. But now Spanish banks have become more aggressive about enforcing mortgage terms for all homeowners, even non-Spanish citizens.
If you find yourself unable to avoid defaulting on your mortgage in Spain, the bank may agree to take the home back. This simple option will save the homeowner a lot of money in court costs and additional interest on the home loan. However, turning the home over to the bank is a process that must be negotiated. The bank has to accept your offer, and they are under no obligation to do so. The bank is more likely to accept the home back from you if you have had a true hardship that has affected your ability to make payments on your Spanish mortgage. An example of such a hardship would be the death of a spouse or another situation that has caused your income to be drastically cut.
If despite your attempts to negotiate a home turnover, the bank refuses your offer, you must then sell your home. The homeowner must sell the home for as much as possible, as the bank that holds the Spanish mortgage will come after him or her for any amount remaining on the loan after the home sale proceeds are paid to the bank. The bank will be most likely to aggressively pursue you for a large shortfall on the Spanish mortgage. However, the bank can legally pursue the homeowner for any shortfall amount at all. The bank may collect money by placing liens on any and all assets of the homeowner..
Defaulting on a Spanish mortgage is an extremely serious situation, so it is essential that the homeowner work as closely as possible with the bank as soon as it is evident that defaulting is going to be unavoidable. Working with the bank that holds your Spanish mortgage can result in a fair settlement that benefits both you and the bank with as little impact on your other assets or financial holdings as possible.
