Piso de banco: how to buy a flat from a bank and what to check

A piso de banco (a flat already owned by a bank) is sold under an ordinary sale contract, not at a court auction. In enforcement proceedings started after 3 April 2025, a bank can no longer take the flat for itself after an auction with no bidders: under the new article 671 of the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil (LEC, the Civil Procedure Act), the debtor can propose a buyer, as a rule for at least 50% of the value at which the flat went to auction (BOE). The other risks of the deal are the same as before: occupants, debts and condition.

Where banks get flats from and what the 2025 reform changed

A bank usually becomes an owner in two ways: it wins the auction as the enforcing creditor (ejecutante) or it agrees with the debtor on a handover of the home. The enforcing creditor may take part in the auction and make the best bid, like any bidder (art. 670 LEC).

Before the reform there was a third route. If no one came to the auction, the bank could ask for the flat within twenty days: for 50% of the auction value or the amount of the debt, if it was not the debtor's main home, and for 70% or 60% if it was. Since 3 April 2025, article 671 LEC as amended by Ley Orgánica 1/2025 gives no such right. In an auction with no bids, the attachment is lifted at the debtor's request, and the debtor, alone or on the bank's proposal, can name a buyer for at least 50% of the auction value or for a sum sufficient to clear the debt in full, but not below 40%. The parties can also agree on a new auction or another way of realising the asset.

The new rules apply only to proceedings started after the law came into force (disposición transitoria novena, the ninth transitional provision, of LO 1/2025). Flats from older enforcement cases that the bank received under the previous procedure are sold as before.

How buying from a bank differs from a subasta

Buying from a bank is closer to an ordinary deal than to an auction: there is a viewing, a nota simple (land-registry extract), a contract and a notary. At a judicial subasta (court auction) the bidder takes the property as it is recorded in the case file.

How the auctions themselves work is covered in the article on the judicial subasta.

Which debts pass with the flat

Debts do not disappear because the seller is a bank. In Catalonia the flat answers for comunidad (owners' association) fees for the current year and the four previous ones, and this encumbrance passes to the new owner (art. 553-5 of the Código Civil de Cataluña). The bank as seller must attach the secretary's certificate of debts, and without it the escritura is not signed unless the parties expressly waive it. Waiving it in a purchase from a bank is especially risky: the flat may have stood for years with no fees paid.

With IBI (annual property tax) the logic is similar: when the owner changes, the flat is subsidiarily liable for unpaid tax, and the notary must request information on IBI debts and warn the parties about them (art. 64 TRLRHL). More on who answers for a home's debts is in the article on debts to the comunidad.

How to calculate the real price of a piso de banco

A bank's price is not the same as an advantage. The bank follows the market, and a flat after standing empty often needs investment that is not in the listing.

Worked example, not a forecast. The bank asks 300,000 €, and closed transactions of similar flats nearby give about 320,000 €. A technician estimates the renovation after the vacancy at 30,000 € against 10,000 € for an ordinary flat, plus a comunidad debt of 4,000 € that the seller does not pay off. Result: 300,000 + 30,000 + 4,000 = 334,000 € against 320,000 + 10,000 = 330,000 €. The visible discount of 20,000 € turned into an overpayment of about 4,000 €.

The renovation and debt figures differ in every flat, so the full entry cost is compared, not the price on the listing card. DNPI does an independent valuation based on transactions as part of a property value analysis.

What to check before the reserva

The bank's process is standard: a listing on the website, a small reserva, price approval by an internal committee. The reserva is paid after the checking, not before.

1. Nota simple. The owner is the bank; what encumbrances remain after the enforcement.
2. Occupants. Written confirmation that the flat is vacant, or the basis on which someone lives in it. The risks of occupied properties are covered in the article on illegal occupation of homes.
3. Comunidad certificate. Debts for the current year and the four previous ones, approved but not yet due levies.
4. IBI. Receipts and debts for past years.
5. Condition. Damp and mould after standing without heating, boiler, electrical board, pipes, signs of a hasty departure.
6. Sale documents. Energy certificate and a valid cédula de habitabilidad (habitation certificate).
7. Financing. If the selling bank offers its own mortgage, compare it with offers from other banks: accepting it only because the seller offers it is not required.

When buying from a bank does not suit

It does not suit if the flat is occupied and the bank gives neither a date nor written confirmation that it will be vacated: the exit date is then unknown. It does not suit a buyer who needs flexibility in the arras (reservation deposit) contract: the bank usually works on standard terms, and changes are approved by an internal committee.

It does not suit someone who picks a flat because of the word "bank" in the listing either. A discount to the market does occur, but banks also have inflated prices.