The nota simple, explained in English: how to check a Spanish property's owner and debts before you buy

If you are buying a home in Spain, one document decides whether the sale is even possible: the nota simple. It is the Land Registry's answer to two questions that can cost you everything — who legally owns this property, and what debts are attached to it. This guide explains what the nota simple contains, why it is dangerous to get it from the wrong place, and how Hogarfax obtains the genuine document from the Registry on your behalf and translates it into plain English.

What the nota simple actually tells you

The nota simple is an informative extract of the current entries in the Land Registry for a specific property (a finca). It has purely informative value and does not certify the content of the entries — only a formal Land Registry certification does that — but it is the document every buyer, lawyer and bank in Spain relies on before signing.

• Registered owner or owners, and how they hold the property: full ownership, bare ownership (nuda propiedad), lifetime usufruct, or shares between several people. This is how you confirm the person offering to sell is really entitled to sell.
• Mortgages registered against the property. Note: the nota simple shows the mortgage exists and its maximum registered liability, not the current outstanding balance — that comes from the bank.
• Liens and seizures (embargos), conditions, and pending court annotations. Charges that are not cancelled travel with the property to the new owner.
• Easements (servidumbres) — rights of way, light and view, drainage — and other registered restrictions.
• Tax charges (afecciones fiscales) linked to unpaid regional transfer or inheritance tax on previous transactions.
• The registered description and surface of the property, which can differ from what the Cadastre or the listing says.

The nota simple is not the Cadastre — and that matters

Spain runs two separate property inventories. The Cadastre (Catastro) is a tax and mapping database: it describes the physical property and its location. The Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad) is a legal database: it records who owns what and what debts are attached. They were built for different purposes and are still only partially coordinated, so a property can look perfectly normal in the Cadastre and carry a seizure in the Registry — or vice versa. A serious pre-purchase check needs both.

Why 'instant nota simple' websites are a problem

Search for "nota simple" and you will find dozens of sites promising it "instantly" and "with just the address". Two things are wrong with most of them. First, it is not technically possible for every property: the Registry cannot always locate a finca from an address or a cadastral reference alone, because the two systems are not fully coordinated. Second, many of these sites are unofficial intermediaries that mark up the price several times over, and some are outright scams that take payment and deliver nothing, or deliver an out-of-date or unrelated document. The official cost of a nota simple at the Registry is only a few euros; a foreign buyer paying €40–€60 to a middleman is common, and paying for nothing is not rare.

How Hogarfax handles it

On our English pages, alongside the standard property report, we offer Full Report + Land Registry Extract. When you order it you instruct us — in writing, at checkout — to request the nota simple on your behalf, and you provide your identity and the interest you have in the property. That authorisation is what the Registry requires under Articles 221 and 222 of the Spanish Mortgage Act; we then request the extract directly from the competent Registro de la Propiedad, not through a reseller.

• You receive one combined PDF: the full risk, land and market report plus the nota simple.
• The original nota simple is attached exactly as the Registry issues it.
• Our part explains, in plain English, the ownership structure, the charges, the easements and how the registered surface compares to the Cadastre — with the specific questions to raise with your lawyer or notary.
• It is not instant: the Registry issues the extract in 1–2 business days, and we deliver everything together.
• If the property cannot be identified at the Registry, you get the full report and we refund the difference — no false certainty, no charge for a document we could not obtain.

What this is not

The nota simple has informative value only; it is not a Land Registry certification and it does not prove ownership against third parties. Our interpretation is educational — it describes what the document says and what to check — and it is not legal advice. It does not replace a Spanish lawyer's due diligence, an official valuation, or a technical building survey. It gives you an informed starting point in a language you can read, before you spend money on professionals or a deposit.