You have a problem. That is why the ideal thing is that before acquiring a property, you check the situation that the property keeps. The ideal document to analyze it is the certificate of freedom of encumbrance. There you will find if there is any limitation, seizure, mortgage, or annotation of judgment.
In order to know how serious your problem is “having bought a foreclosed property”, you should analyze when “the property entered into your patrimony”. That is to say, when the “price and thing” agreement was made, thus passing to your patrimony the ownership of the property. The property can pass to your assets even if the price has not been fully paid.
If the property entered your estate before the seizure was registered in the public registry, you can ask a judge to remove the seizure through a contentious proceeding. Even if the document by which the property entered your patrimony was a private contract (and not a deed). As long as your private contract has a ” certain date”, which is acquired among other ways, if your contract passed before an authority or notary public.
If the property entered to your patrimony after the seizure was registered in the public registry, your problem becomes very serious. Since your property is still bound to answer for whatever results of the judgment where the seizure was ordered.
Of course, if the seller acted in bad faith and hid the foreclosure from you, you have legal actions to proceed against him seeking compensation. Of course, with the respective time and costs involved in a contentious proceeding and hoping that this bad faith seller has sufficient assets to indemnify you.
That is why the advice is to always verify the property’s registry situation, before making any dealings on it.
