Practical Legal Notes - March 2025

1.- Significant increase of the ITP in Catalonia

It is linked (HERE) to Decree Law 5/2025, of March 25, adopting urgent measures in tax, personnel expenses and other administrative matters, which introduces relevant novelties in the area of ITP in Catalonia. Specifically:

1.- New general ITP brackets for the purchase of used homes:

• For transfers of real estate up to 600,000 euros: 10%.
• For transfers between 600,000 and 900,000 euros: 11%.
• For transfers between 900,000 and 1,500,000 euros: 12%.
• For transfers over 1,500,000 euros: 13%.

2.- Large increase in ITP for large holders: 

1. The tax rate is increased to 20%.
2. A large holder is considered to be an individual or legal entity that owns more than 10 properties for residential use or with a built surface area of more than 1,500 m2 for residential use located in Catalonia. This consideration also applies to any individual or legal entity that owns five or more urban properties for residential use located within the stressed residential market area declared by the Generalitat de Catalunya. Neither garages nor storage rooms are included in the calculation.

3.- Large increase in ITP when a building is sold:

1. The tax rate is increased to 20% in these operations, regardless of whether the building is horizontally divided or not.
2. Exception: the buyer must be a natural person, the building must have a maximum of 4 floors and all of them must be used as the habitual residence of the person acquiring them and his/her relatives up to the second degree of kinship, during the three years following the purchase.

4.- Elimination of the reduced rate of "3%" for companies engaged in the renovation and sale of homes:

1. The 70% ITP rebate that existed to date for companies in the real estate sector dedicated to the purchase, reform and sale of housing is eliminated (repeal of art. 641-8 of the sixth book of the Tax Code of Catalonia).
2. This measure comes into force the day after its publication in the DOGC ( i.e. March 27, 2025).

5.- Reduced rate of 5% for "young people" up to 35 years of age:

• A reduced ITP rate of 5% is applied for the purchase of the first habitual residence of young people up to 35 years of age or less, provided that the sum of the general and savings tax bases, minus the personal and family minimum, in their last personal income tax return does not exceed 36,000 euros.

6.- Entry into force:

• ‍Afterthree months from the day following publication in the DOGC ( June 27, 2025).

2.- More facilities in Catalonia to formalize donations in favor of children for the purchase of their habitual residence.

Another of the novel measures of Decree Law 5/2025, of March 25, adopting urgent measures in the areas of taxation, personnel expenses and other administrative matters (HERE) is the extension of the deadline to formalize the purchase of the first habitual residence when the same is formalized later and thanks to the donation of money to a descendant, and to be able to benefit from the existing tax advantage in the Donation Tax in these cases.

Thus, Article 4 of the Decree-Law extends to 6 months (up to now it was 3 months) the maximum period to formalize the purchase (from the time the donation of money has taken place), within which the tax benefit in the Donation Tax can be applied, that is, the reduction for donation destined to the first habitual residence of descendants (both in the case of donations of real estate or money to acquire them) provided for in Articles 632-20 and following of the Sixth Book of the Tax Code of Catalonia.

Entry into force: Three months after the day following publication in the DOGC (June 27, 2025).

Reminder: The right to fly in Catalonia cannot exceed 30 years.

Attached (HERE) Resolution of the Directorate General of Law, Legal Entities and Mediation of January 20, 2025 (DOGC of March 14, 2025), in which the Directorate General resolves a case related to a deed of correction of another public deed of horizontal division and extinction of community, in which the duration of a right of flight is modified, initially fixed at 30 years, becoming "of indefinite term" (all this, under the protection of art. 16.2 of the Mortgage Regulation).

The Land Registrar denied the registration, arguing that the property, being located in Catalonia, is subject to the rules of Catalan civil law, which set a maximum period for the right of flight of 30 years (art. 567.2-1 CCCat), this criterion being confirmed by the Directorate General of Property.

Practical notarial training. Public notarization of corporate resolutions

Attached (HERE) link to an online training session, given by the Fundación Notariado, dedicated to the study and analysis of the public elevation of corporate resolutions.

In this session, given by a retired notary officer, we will review relevant issues of practical application in the day to day of the office such as:

1. Review of competencies for the adoption of resolutions (general meeting vs. administrative body and/or liquidators).
2. Main types of corporate resolutions to be made public (amendments to bylaws, capital increases and reductions, termination and appointment of officers, etc.).
3. Persons empowered to elevate to public.
4. Detail of all the elements and circumstances that must be included in the minutes and certificates of the resolutions for their valid elevation to public record and registration (dates, calls, quorum for the adoption of the resolution, etc.).

5.- Second transmissions and invasion of land maritime domain. Before registering, the following must be delimited

Attached (HERE) Resolution of the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith of January 8, 2025 (BOE of February 12, 2025), in which the General Directorate resolves a case related to a deed of acceptance and adjudication of inheritance that refers to a property located on the coast.

After making the pertinent verifications required by law and the Coastal Regulations (consultation of the graphic representation and request for certification from the Peripheral Coastal Service), it appears that the property in question partially intersects (invades) the maritime-terrestrial public domain, according to the certification issued by the Coastal Service.

In this case, the General Directorate confirms the qualification note, understanding that the current regulation has been correctly applied (art. 36 of the Coastal Regulation), so that, with this partial invasion of the maritime-terrestrial public domain, the transfer cannot be registered, being previously necessary to rectify the description of the property (adapting it to the administrative demarcation) or, if applicable, to challenge the certification issued by the Coastal Demarcation from which this partial invasion of the maritime-terrestrial public domain derives.

Revocation of the succession agreement, opposition and registry effects.

Attached (HERE) very interesting Resolution of the Directorate General of Law, Legal Entities and Mediation of December 5, 2024 (DOGC of March 14, 2025), in which the Directorate General resolves a case related to a deed of consummation of a succession agreement, where the person favored by the particular attribution of an estate in a succession agreement, upon the death of the grantor of the succession agreement, takes possession of said estate. The iter of the case is as follows:

1. In 2016, father and son formalize a succession agreement of private attribution, in which the father attributes to his son, at the time of his death, the ownership of a farm.
2. In May 2024, the father goes to a Notary Public and grants a deed of unilateral revocation of the inheritance agreement (alleging lack of care and supervening relationship with the son). This deed is reliably notified to the former beneficiary of this particular attribution.
3. A few days later, the father passed away.
4. Likewise, the son, goes to a Notary's office and formalizes in due time and form a deed of opposition to the revocation of the succession agreement and notifies it reliably to the Notary who authorized the revocation deed of the father.
5. Subsequently, the son grants the aforementioned deed of consummation of the inheritance agreement, where he takes possession of the property, which is intended to be registered in the Land Registry.
6. Once this deed of taking of possession of the succession agreement was presented for registration, the Land Registrar refused to register it, alleging that, since there was a revocation of the succession agreement and its opposition by the beneficiary, this situation would first have to be resolved in court, before being able to register the taking of possession.

The General Directorate, resolving the case, revokes the qualification note, considering that, in accordance with the Catalan civil legislation (art. 431-15 and 431-30 CCCat), if there is a revocation of the agreement and the opposition to the same formulated in time and form, this must indeed be resolved in court, but until this happens, the succession agreement remains in full force and effect, so that the registration of the same in the Land Registry cannot be denied, without prejudice, of course, to the outcome of the judicial process that, if applicable, may be initiated by the successors of the deceased.

7.- Webinots. Notarial conciliation as of the entry of Organic Law 1/2025.

Attached (HERE) link to an online training session, given by the Association of Notaries of Catalonia, dedicated to the study and analysis of the notarial conciliation and its importance after the entry into force of the Organic Law 1/2025.

As I already had the opportunity to advance in my blog a couple of months ago (HERE), as of April 3rd, in order to file most civil and commercial lawsuits, it will be necessary to have previously tried an "ADR", that is, an appropriate means of non-jurisdictional dispute resolution. Among these ADRs, notarial conciliation (regulated in the Notary Act itself and with the particularities introduced by this LO 1/2025) stands out as a possible way.

In this practical session, the issue is addressed in detail and rigorously, delving into aspects such as:

1. Types of lawsuits where it will be necessary to carry out a prior negotiation activity.
2. Advantages of the notarial conciliation system.
3. The manner in which the conciliation process and act of conciliation will be carried out, the documentary form of recording the negotiation activity, the parties that will take part in the conciliation, notifications between parties, the possibility of carrying out proceedings by videoconference, ways of documenting the agreement, the role of the Notary Public in the negotiation, etc.

8.- Accreditation of means of payment and retention of part of the price to cancel previous mortgages. It is not necessary to accredit it

Attached (HERE) Resolution of the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith of December 11, 2024 (BOE of February 8, 2025), in which the General Directorate resolves a case related to a deed of sale, in which the buyer (through the agency of the bank that finances it) retains part of the price (1,126.70 euros), to be used for the cancellation of previous mortgage charges of the seller, this being a very common situation.

Once the deed was presented for registration, the Land Registrar refused the registration alleging that the means of payment by which the buyer delivered to the bank's agency (which financed the purchase) the amount of 1,126.70 euros, which was retained by the seller to be used to cancel the registration of his previous mortgage charges, had not been identified.

The General Directorate revokes the qualification, considering that what the law requires is to accredit the means of payment of payments made before or at the time of the execution of the deed of sale, but not with respect to payments or withholdings to be made later (as in the case, that is, money that the buyer will allocate to his agency so that it can manage the cancellation of the seller's previous charges in the registry).

9.- Rectification of the surface area of an apartment subject to horizontal property. Requirements for this

Attached (HERE) Resolution of the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith of February 12, 2025 (BOE of February 28, 2025), in which the General Directorate resolves a case related to a request for rectification of the surface area of a private element subject to the horizontal property regime, which is requested by private request (in short, it is requested that the apartment be described with a surface area of 165 meters, instead of the 157 meters currently registered).

For this purpose, the applicant files a private request under art. 201.3 of the Mortgage Law (which exempts the rectification file for surface rectifications that do not exceed 5% of the registered area).

The Land Registrar denied the registration alleging that, for apartments subject to horizontal property, the way of art. 201.3 is not applicable and that, therefore, it is required to modify the title of constitution of the horizontal property prior agreement of the community of owners with the legally required majority in Catalonia.

Upon filing the corresponding appeal, the Directorate General revoked the defect that refers to the application of art. 201.3 of the Mortgage Law, confirming that it is possible to apply this route also for apartments subject to horizontal property (i.e., when the surface area to be rectified is not greater than 5%) and, taking up the recent Resolution of April 18, 2023, reminds us that, in these cases, it is possible to rectify the surface area of the apartment without modifying the constitutive title, as long as this rectification does not imply an extension of work and, therefore, simply involves the rectification of an erroneous registry data, for which, in any case, it is necessary to have the agreement of the corresponding community of owners approved by the majority required by law (in Catalonia, 4/5 parts). 

10.- Webinots. Mortgage loans, insurance and related products.

Attached (HERE) link to an online training session, given by the Association of Notaries of Catalonia, dedicated to the study and analysis of the contracting of mortgage loans and the products linked / combined to them (insurance, etc.). In this practical session, the issue is addressed in detail and rigorously, analyzing from a practical point of view the legal regime of contracting products linked / combined to mortgage loans, with special reference to its regulation in art. 17 LCI. By way of summary:

Tied sales:

1. Definition: A situation that may arise when a mortgage loan is offered as a "pack" together with other products (insurance, an alarm, etc.) that must be compulsorily contracted by the debtor, or else the bank will not grant the loan.
2. General principle: They are prohibited subject to exceptions (art. 17 LCI), such as, for example, involving a clear benefit to the consumer.
3. The bank may require the contracting of certain insurances (such as property damage insurance), which the consumer will have the right to contract with that entity or with another insurance company of his choice.
4. Consequence in case of non-performance: nullity of the ancillary contract.

Combined sales:

1. Definition: A situation that occurs when the bank offers a "package" of products, which can be contracted jointly or separately (i.e., the customer can choose to contract "only" the financing).
2. In combined practices, the lender must make the offer of the products combined and separately, so that the borrower can notice the differences between one offer and the other. 
3. Normally, the contracting of additional products may lead to improved financing conditions (e.g. "subsidized interest rate").