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Can I get my deposit back if I back out of buying a home?

| News | Real Estate

Antonio Ñudi explains in EL ESPAÑOL that, in general, a contract cannot be terminated unilaterally and will depend on the willingness of the parties

The pandemic caused by Covid-19 has clouded the near future of many families. Some of them dreamed of buying a house, but the uncertainty about their job future has made them think a lot about long-term plans. In Spain, there is little more long term than buying a house.

Antonio Ñudi, partner of Andersen Tax & Legal, explains that "as a general rule" the buyer will not recover the down payment, "unless the contract itself expressly provides for some cause of termination that could be included in this situation, which is very unusual".

"The application of the so recently mentioned judicially created rebus sic stantibus doctrine, requires that an unforeseeable circumstance not attributable to any of the parties, breaks the contractual balance, which does not seem to be applicable to these cases", explains Antonio Ñudi.

"If, as a consequence of the state of alert or the situation generated by the pandemic, the construction work has been stopped or has been slowed down by this extraordinary event beyond the control of the developer, this cause could be argued for an untimely delivery", deepens Antonio Ñudi.

In any case, the lawyers agree that it is necessary to analyse each specific case and, as Antonio Ñudi says, "do not forget that we are facing a new situation on which there are not yet unanimous doctrinal or jurisprudential criteria".

You can read the full article in EL ESPAÑOL.

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