Mortgage cancellation: the Registry must accept it if the notary certifies the representative's powers

Key data

If your banking entity or management firm has ever had a mortgage cancellation suspended at the Registry due to "lack of statement of powers," this resolution directly concerns you. The DGSJFP has established in March 2026 the exact limits of what a registrar can demand when the notary has already certified that the representative has sufficient powers.

The specific case: Kutxabank granted power of attorney to Gestión Documental Euskadi S.L., which in turn granted power of attorney to the person appearing before the notary to cancel a mortgage. The registrar of Soria no. 1 suspended the registration, arguing that the statement of the representative's specific powers was missing and that the notarial sufficiency judgment was not adequate. The notary appealed and the DGSJFP ruled in his favor, with important nuances.

What does this regulation establish?

The resolution delimits the scope of Article 98 of Law 24/2001 in situations of indirect or chain representation. These are the key points:

• The notary must issue an express judgment of sufficiency of the representative's powers, specifically referred to the act being authorized (in this case, the mortgage cancellation).
• It is not enough to state that the person appearing has "necessary legal capacity" in a generic way: the judgment must be linked to the specific act.
• When there is a chain of representation—as in this case: bank → management company → natural person—, the notary must certify that each link in the chain has sufficient powers for the act.
• If the notary correctly complies with that sufficiency judgment, the registrar cannot suspend the registration due to lack of detailed statement of powers: he must accept the notarial certification.
• The defect noted in this case was precisely that the notary stated that the person appearing had "necessary legal capacity" but did not issue an express judgment of sufficiency referred to the specific act.

Economic and operational impact

Mortgage cancellations suspended at the Registry generate direct and indirect costs for financial entities and their customers:

• Delays in releasing guarantees: while the cancellation is not registered, the mortgage continues to appear as a charge in the Registry, which can block subsequent real estate operations by the customer.
• Remediation costs: each suspension requires correcting the deed, returning to the notary, and restarting the registration process, with the associated fees and time.
• Reputational risk for entities like Kutxabank that manage high volumes of cancellations through specialized management companies.
• Operational legal uncertainty for document management firms like Gestión Documental Euskadi S.L., which act as intermediaries in representation chains and may see their operations blocked by variable registration criteria.

With this resolution, the DGSJFP reduces the registrar's discretion and provides legal certainty to the model of mass mortgage cancellation through representatives, as long as the notary complies with the required standard.

Who does it affect?

• Banking entities (such as Kutxabank and any bank that cancels mortgages through appointed representatives or external management companies).
• Document management companies that act as intermediaries in representation chains for mortgage cancellations.
• Notaries who authorize mortgage cancellation deeds with indirect representatives: they must review the wording of their sufficiency judgment.
• Property registrars: the resolution limits their ability to suspend registrations when the notarial judgment is correct.
• Law firms and management firms that advise financial entities in mortgage cancellation processes.
• Individuals who have paid off their mortgage and are waiting for the registration cancellation to be able to sell or refinance their property.

Practical example

Suppose Kutxabank has granted power of attorney to Gestión Documental Euskadi S.L. to manage its mortgage cancellations. In turn, that company grants power of attorney to an employee—let's call her the person appearing—to sign before a notary the deed of cancellation of a specific mortgage in Soria.

The notary drafts the deed and writes that the person appearing "has the necessary legal capacity" for the act. The registrar of Soria no. 1 suspends the registration: in her view, the statement of the representative's specific powers is missing and the notarial sufficiency judgment is not specifically referred to the cancellation of that mortgage.

Following the notary's appeal, the DGSJFP rules: if the notary had written that the person appearing "has sufficient powers to execute this mortgage cancellation deed," the registrar would have been obliged to register. The error was in using a generic formula of capacity instead of an express and specific judgment of sufficiency for the specific act.

Practical lesson: a single word or phrase poorly worded in the notarial judgment can paralyze a mortgage cancellation and generate avoidable remediation costs.

What should companies do now?

1. Review mortgage cancellation deed templates: if your entity uses standard models, check that the notary's sufficiency judgment is worded expressly and referred to the specific act, not as a generic capacity formula.
2. Audit active representation chains: if you operate with a bank → management company → representative structure, verify that the notary certifies the sufficiency of powers at each link in the chain.
3. Communicate the criterion to collaborating management firms: entities like Gestión Documental Euskadi S.L. must know this standard to correctly instruct the notaries they work with.
4. Appeal previous suspensions: if you have cancellations suspended for this reason, evaluate whether the notarial judgment met the standard set by the DGSJFP; if so, the appeal has solid grounds.
5. Train the legal and notarial team: disseminate this resolution among the usual notaries and the legal department to prevent the error from being repeated.

Official source

Consult complete regulation in official source

Notice: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific decisions, consult a qualified professional. Source: https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-14299