SOBE Knowledge
What Is a Nota Simple?
The Land Registry’s ten-euro answer to the questions a listing never volunteers: who owns it, what hangs on it — and the two things it cannot tell you.
What the nota simple is
The nota simple is the Land Registry’s extract for a property: who owns it, how it is described, and — above all — what charges hang on it.
It is the first document of any due diligence, obtainable by anyone, online, for about ten euros, usually the same day. Before a viewing turns into a reservation, the nota simple answers the questions the listing never will: is the seller actually the owner, is there a mortgage to cancel, an embargo from a creditor, a right of way across the garden, a tax affection from a previous transfer.
How to read it
Titularidad — the owners and their shares. Every name here signs the sale, or grants a power of attorney to someone who does. A seller who is not on this page is a conversation-ender until explained.
Cargas — the heart of the document. Mortgages are normal and are cancelled at completion from the price; embargoes, litigation annotations and fiscal affections are not normal and price themselves into the deal or end it. “Free of charges” in the contract means this section reads clean on completion day.
Descripción — surface, boundaries, annexes. Compare it with the Cadastre and with what your eyes saw: registry, cadastre and reality frequently disagree on this coast, and the disagreement has a cost someone will bear.
What it does not tell you
A clean nota simple means clean title — not a legal building.
The registry records ownership and charges; it does not certify that the pool was licensed or the extension exists in the eyes of the town hall. Planning legality lives at the ayuntamiento — the AFO question the registry cannot answer. Nor does it show IBI arrears or community debts: those need their own certificates.
And it is a snapshot. A nota ordered at the viewing is history by completion; the disciplined sequence orders it fresh before the arras, and the notary obtains a continuously updated extract for the signing itself.
Ten euros of prevention
The Costa del Sol Buying Guide
The full due-diligence sequence — nota simple, planning, community, taxes — in the order that protects your deposit.
Three ways the nota simple gets misread
1. Reading only the ownership line. The cargas section is where deposits go to die. Read it, or pay someone who does.
2. Trusting an old extract. An embargo can be annotated the week after your copy was printed. Fresh at arras, continuous at completion.
3. Mistaking clean title for a legal building. The registry and the town hall keep different books. Due diligence reads both.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a nota simple?
Online from the official College of Registrars (registradores.org) for about ten euros, usually delivered the same day. Anyone may request it - no authorisation from the owner is needed.
What does the cargas section show?
Registered burdens on the property: mortgages, embargoes, litigation annotations, fiscal affections, easements. Mortgages are normal and cancel at completion; the rest require explanation, renegotiation or a polite exit.
Does a clean nota simple mean the property is fully legal?
No - it means the title is clean. Planning legality is the town hall's book, not the registry's: unlicensed works and AFO situations are invisible here and need their own checks.
How recent should the nota simple be?
Fresh before the arras, and continuously updated at completion - the notary obtains a same-day extract for the signing. An extract from the viewing week is history by then.
Does it show IBI arrears or community debts?
No. Those need the municipal no-debt certificate and the community administrator's certificate - standard companions to the nota simple in a complete due-diligence file.