Type of refusal

Non-delivery in foreign property

Non-delivery in foreign real estate rarely means the seller vanished. It means the deed was never registered, the keys were never handed over, or the unit promised off-plan was never finished. The buyer has paid, often in full, and holds a private agreement rather than title. Foreign property purchases carry more of this risk than other asset classes, because delivery requires a registry act, not just a transfer of funds.

The contractual mechanism used

The refusal is usually built into the reservation contract or private purchase agreement, not stated openly. Payment schedules are tied to construction milestones or to conditions precedent the seller controls: a habitation permit, a plot subdivision, a notarial act still to be scheduled. When the seller stalls on that condition, delivery stalls with it, and the contract often lets them extend without penalty. Some agreements let the seller substitute a different unit or postpone indefinitely, citing force majeure. At this stage the dispute is framed as a contract breach, not a claim on the property itself. See how this refusal type is structured under non-delivery cases generally, and how a claim for the money or the asset is built through refund and delivery claims.

The document that decides the framing

Two documents compete for control of the case. A private purchase agreement or reservation contract creates a personal claim against the seller: damages, or in some systems specific performance. A notarial deed, once registered at the local land registry, creates a proprietary right that follows the property regardless of who holds it. If no deed was ever executed, the buyer typically holds only the contractual claim, and the registry may still show the seller, or a third party, as owner. That gap decides whether the case is a debt claim against a person or a dispute over registered title. Background specific to this problem is collected under non-delivery insights and set out in this note on demanding money back when delivery fails.

The cross-border question

Real estate cannot be moved, so enforcement always lands where the property is registered, regardless of which forum heard the dispute. A judgment or award obtained elsewhere still needs recognition in that state before a registrar will act on it. The competent authority for that step is determined by the applicable procedural law. Whether a measure freezing the registry entry is available before judgment is determined by the case file. This firm does not work on a success-fee basis, and its registration can be checked through this public lookup. Related exposure under Spanish and Portuguese purchase structures is covered separately for Spain and Portugal.