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.
Defaulting on mortgages in Spain, for example, has very specific consequences. In the past, such defaulting used to be very simple. This was especially true if the homeowner was not a Spanish citizen and the home was a vacation home or second residence. But now Spanish banks have become more aggressive about enforcing mortgage terms for all homeowners, even non-Spanish citizens.
One option you have when you default on your Spanish mortgage is to turn over the home to the bank. This option will save you money in court costs incurred by the bank when pursuing you for the balance, as well as additional interest on the mortgage during the court battle. But although this is an option, it must first be discussed with the bank. The bank is under no obligation to let you out of the mortgage by taking the home back. Homeowners that have a true hardship as a reason for defaulting on a Spanish mortgage will likely be more successful in negotiating a home turnover. 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 you cannot negotiate a home turnover with the bank that holds your Spanish mortgage, you will need to sell the home as soon as possible. You should try to get as much from the home sale as you can, as you will still be responsible to the bank for any shortfall between the home sale amount and the remaining amount on your Spanish mortgage. The bank will be most likely to aggressively pursue you for a large shortfall on the Spanish mortgage. They will attempt to collect the remaining amount they are owed in any legal way they can. This means you may face liens on any assets you own, including your primary home and investments. This may take years to do, but the bank will not give up without getting their money.
Even if defaulting on your Spanish mortgage is inevitable, you should work with the bank as much as possible as soon as you know you must default. Doing so can result in an agreement that will satisfy the bank, relieve you of your responsibilities associated with the Spanish mortgage, and allow you to keep other assets you may own.
