When you want to sell or buy a house, it is not only important to verify that the house is in compliance from a technical urban planning and structural point of view, but it is also necessary to verify the property's compliance from a legal point of view.
The things to check essentially are 2:
- Your interlocutor must be the actual owner of the asset and must be able to dispose of it.
- The deed, along with the previous deeds up to the 20-year period, which gave ownership of the house to your interlocutor must be correct and free of pitfalls.
What then to check when you want to sell or buy a house?
The main pitfall we can find, when it comes to selling a house, is the coming from donation.
Let's make one thing clear right away: a donated house can be sold, legally without any problem.
Just find who will buy it for you!!! 🙂
To have peace of mind about buying or selling a donated house, it would be enough if at least 20 years had passed since the deed of gift, the important thing is to check that no deed of opposition (a deed in which one opposes the donation in a public manner) has been transcribed by the beneficiaries. In the case of the death of the donor, to be on the safe side, it is necessary to wait 10 years from the opening of the succession provided that none of the successors in title have brought an action for reduction, which we will discuss later. In both of these cases, the buyer can sleep soundly, avoiding claims by any "rightful claimants."
The main problems of buying a donated house.
The basic risks in buying a donated home are related to financing from a lending institution and the ability to peacefully enjoy the property once purchased without repercussions from any heirs.
Let's look at them specifically.
Taking out a mortgage on a donated house:
If the time limits we mentioned just above have not elapsed, there is a possibility that known or unknown claimants (heirs/creditors etc.) may take action against the property or against those who received the property as a gift.
This is why banks in 99 percent of cases are unwilling to grant mortgages on these types of practices, wrecking any chance of transferring ownership.
Some banks are willing to do the financing only if the inheritance situation is clear-cut, subject to a waiver of the coheirs' action of reduction ( the action of reduction is the action that the heirs can take against the person who received the house as a gift, in order to make it part of the inheritance and prevent its transfer ) or take out aspecial policy (to be paid for by the seller) that protects the lending institution in case the property is attacked by any other claimants.
In my experience, I have found that banks when they see the word donation on a piece of paper do not even evaluate the file, dismissing it out of hand without delving into it or looking for a solution. It is necessary to have a privileged relationship with the deliberator or a good financial intermediation consultant to complete that kind of practice.
The risks of buying a donated home:
Assuming that a buyer buys the house with his own liquidity, thus without the need to protect a bank, accepting the fact that the provenance is from a gift, the main risk ( if the terms of 10 or 20 years have not passed as already specified) the main risk he runs, once he has bought the property, is to find himself in a legal dispute between heirs that could result in the cancellation of the purchase and sale.
Solutions in this case could be as follows:
- Have known heirs sign a quitclaim deed (if the donor has already died)
- Have the donor sign a quitclaim deed (if the donor is still alive)
- Have the one who donated, if still alive, revoke the donation and make the sale in his or her name.
- Have the heirs and donee revoke the donation, if the donor is deceased, and carry out the sale on behalf of all the heirs and the donee.
In the latter 2 cases, the seller (no longer the donee) will be able to dispose of the agreed price freely, leaving it up to the family to dispute how the sum will be distributed, but freeing the real estate from any liens and possible disputes.
All of these practices, in addition to having a cost in terms of notarial acts and fixed taxes, are complicated to carry out since the presence and willingness of all the heirs is required in signing the waivers and any sales. One can well understand that since they do not receive any financial compensation for their "effort," involving them in these notarial and bureaucratic practices is certainly not an easy task.
Are you interested in a house from donation and don't know how to handle it? Contact me for specific advice!
