# Property Question.



## 4rivers (Jun 16, 2011)

In 1980 there was an earthquake ,in the Azores, quite minor (4.5 Richter Scale ) but it knocked half the island down . 
In 1997 , I bought a house , the owner lived in Canada and he had inherited the house from his late father , whose house had been knocked down by the aforementioned earthquake , and then rebuilt. 
As there was more chaos than normal at this time (1980), a lot things got forgotten , approved drawings etc, habitation licence etc. 
The deeds said the house was 68 m2, and I duly measured it , and yes , it was about 9.5 X 7.5 metres . So everything seemed hunky dory . Plus on the Cardenta, it said there was an annex , no dimensions given . And it gave dimensions for the land near the house 250 m2. I should really have had the property surveyed , but it was a big hassle getting a short term mortgage ( took a year ) and getting the Habitation License, and jumping through the other hoops that are part and parcel to getting anything done in the islands. The bank forced me to add a piece of land 968 m2 to the house for the purpose of the mortgage , which was part of the whole purchase and adjioning the house. The total land that came with the house was 7000 m2. 
In 2000 I added an exstention on the annex ( 18 m2) , and an exstention on the back of the house (16 m2) . Now I have to admit , I didn't ask permission to do either - and from that day until this, nobody has questioned it . And as there are no drawings on file ........
And in 2004 , I changed the size of the house on the deeds to 84 m2 , and added an extra 968 m2 to the land area - this was done legally through the Conservatoria Predial , by someone I knew. Why I changed the land size was because , the original owner ( the late father ) had under listed the size to avoid paying tax. And I wanted to get it straight as possible with the finance office . Foriegner , tax evasion, not a good combination. 
In 2006 I had the whole property surveyed , because I had managed to get building permission for the 968 m2, which the bank forced me to add on , to get the mortgage . And I wanted to do a division of property . And sell it off as a building plot . 
Low and behold , the surveyor drawings showed the house had a total area of 101 m2 , the total area of land was about right . 

Now , my divorce is going to be final in 30 days or less and I want to sell the property . How do I resolve , the problem of the size of the house , oh , and the annex is total 40 m2 ( including my addit. 18 m2 ) considering there are no drawings on record . The other thing is I am not in Portugal at the moment . 

Suggestions please .


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

You need to resolve before a buyer comes along, because they or their lawyer should pick up the discrepancy which would complicate a possible sale and/or affect value.
Somehow you have to legally add that 17m2 to habitation and tax records, or possibly demolish it, the only way is to approach Camra, especially as you've had it surveyed it's a bit late to backtrack, shame you didn't declare it all back in 2004.
Don't forget about CGT especially if your non Resident.


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## 4rivers (Jun 16, 2011)

Thanks canoeman. 

Actually the habitation licence doesn't have the size of the property on it , I don't know whether that is normal or not . 
Tearing the odd 17 m2 down really doesn't appeal to me , especially as it appears that when the late deceased owner rebuilt the house , he made it bigger , and didn't tell the finance office or Conservatoria Predial . The former to avoid the tax. Where as when I added my bit on , while not done according to the book , it was registered with all the relevent parties.
The survey also turned up the small fact that the house was not exactly built square - 9.5 mtrs on the front but a little over 10 metres on the back . Something I didn't think to check at the time. 
I know that changing the Cardeneta is not a problem , can get it done in a heart beat . 
The Camara is a different story , in these cash strapped times, they will want to exact blood , but it's the Conservatoria Predial that is the real problem - they will not do anything, without the Camara's approval. And if I had known about it in 2004 , I would have sorted it then. 
And CGT , yes , it's 25% - which I shall avoid as much possible, to the best of my abilities, within the confines of the current law.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

As I said it's Camra that needs sorting first, I know the Islands operate slightly different to mainland, but Habitation Licence although might not have a description or sizes is based and granted on the build complying with plans and building regulations at that time, maybe it's this time or 2004 you need to go back too for an _"oversight to be amended"_ if your lucky, you can then get Caderneta at Conservatoria and Financas corrected.


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