Unfortunately, Spain, where the company is incorporated does not impose any regulations on Mortgage Advisers, anybody can decide to become a mortgage adviser regardless of his/her history, qualifications or ethics.
Likewise, companies or other bodies registered in the UK who are Finacial Services Authority (FSA) regulated are not regulated to offer mortgage advice for non UK properties.
Therefore, our advice is pretty straight forward. Firstly, ensure that the broker is a legally registered organisation. There seems to be a proliferation in recent times of so called "mortgage brokers" and many are operating illegally.
By law their website must include all of the following:
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Full legal name of the organisation or company
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If it's a company it must show it's full address, name, contact information and it's tax reference number
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A company registered in Spain is followed by the initials S.L. and must show it's tax number which is known as a CIF number. Our company name is Marverose, S.L and our CIF number is B53826798 (ES B5386798 in Europe). We have been trading since 2003.
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If it's a UK registered company they must also show their registered office address as well.
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An individual person trading under his/her own name must show the above details and a NIE number that is registered with the tax office as self employed. Not simply a NIE number that we all have to buy a property in Spain. If in doubt ask for their Spanish social security number and tax office reference.
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FSA regulated brokers in the UK are unregulated as far as mortgages outside the UK are concerened so be warned.
Never pay a fee for services in advance and try and avoid brokers who charge a fee on completion. They already receive a commission from the lender.
