Updates in judicial auctions of real estate following the latest reform of the Civil Procedure Act (amended by Organic Law 1/2025, of January 2, on measures for the efficiency of the Public Justice Service)

29 January, 2025
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Procedural law
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MES Advocats


The new Organic Law 1/2025, of January 2, on measures for the efficiency of the Public Justice Service introduces several modifications to judicial auctions of real estate. This law stipulates that its provisions will take effect in various phases throughout 2025. In this article, we will analyze in detail the changes this law will bring to the auction system, which are scheduled to take effect in April 2025.

Organic Law 1/2025 introduces significant changes to various laws, including the Civil Procedure Act (hereinafter, CPA). This article focuses on the main updates regarding the auction of real estate (Articles 655 to 675 of the CPA), as well as those concerning the auction of movable property (Articles 643 to 654 of the CPA) that may also apply to real estate auctions.

Below, we outline the most relevant updates.

Updates on the auction of movable property (Articles 643 to 654)

A) Article 647 of the CPA.

Paragraph 1: Changes to the deposit percentage for auctions. Previously 5%, it is now set at 10%, with a minimum of €1,000. However, the Court Clerk (Letrado de la Administración de Justicia) may increase or decrease this percentage.

Paragraph 2: The judgment creditor may bid even if there are no other bidders (previously only possible if there were other bidders). The creditor must place a bid if they later intend to claim the property.

Paragraph 3: Changes regarding assignment of the auction award:

The judgment creditor or subsequent creditors no longer need to explicitly state that they reserve the right to assign the auction award.

The timeframe for assigning the award is 5 days.

The assignment is executed through a written agreement signed by both the assignor and the assignee, accompanied by documents verifying the identity, authority, and representation of the signatories, if not already present in the case file. Additionally, proof of payment must be submitted.

The price of the assignment may be higher or lower than the award price, but the debtor’s debt will always be reduced by the amount of the award.

B) Article 648 of the CPA.

Paragraph 6: Bids are now legally required to be secret (although this was already common practice), and no information will be provided about whether bids exist or their amounts until the auction concludes.

C) Article 649 of the CPA.

Paragraph 2: The 24-hour extension for ongoing bidding is eliminated. Auctions cannot end on Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, or non-working periods (August and the Christmas season).

Updates on the auction of real estate (Articles 655 to 675)

A) Article 656 of the CPA.

Paragraph 2: If more than six months pass between the issuance of the ownership and charges certificate and the request for an auction, the Court Clerk (Letrado de la Administración de Justicia) may, before issuing the auction decree, request a simple note to verify the status of charges. The Clerk may also check the “current validity of preferential charges previously considered for property valuation in the auction, in case recalculation is necessary.”

Paragraph 4: The Land Registry must send the ownership and charges certificate electronically to the court, without prejudice to also delivering it to the court agent, if applicable.

B) Article 657 of the CPA.

Paragraph 1: Adds the requirement to identify the new creditor in case of subrogation; this creditor must fulfill the request. Notifications will be sent to the creditor’s electronic address, or via the judgment creditor’s agent if no electronic address is available. “For credit institutions, responses must include documents verifying the identity, authority, and representation of the signatory of the required certificate. Without these documents, the response will not be considered valid.”

Paragraph 3: If the debtor or previous creditors fail to respond to the request within 10 days, it will no longer be assumed that the charge is up to date; they may instead be required to respond again under penalty of fines.

C) Article 668 of the CPA.

Paragraph 2: The documents to be uploaded to the Auction Portal must now include the ownership and charges certificate, as well as “the extrajudicial appraisal report, whose certificate is part of the enforceable title and was used as a reference to determine the auction value; the reduction of preferential charges, if any, by including communications reflecting the updated status of those debts.”

D) Article 669 of the CPA.

Paragraph 1: Changes to the deposit percentage for auctions. Previously 5%, it is now set at 20%, with a minimum of €1,000. However, the Court Clerk (Letrado de la Administración de Justicia) may increase or decrease this percentage.

E) Article 670 of the CPA.

Paragraph 1: The deadline for paying the remainder of the price begins from the auction’s closing date and is reduced to 20 days (previously 40 days)

Paragraph 2: If the highest bidder is the judgment creditor, the bid must be equal to or greater than 70% and also exceed the principal amount claimed.

Paragraph 3: Updates include:

The 10-day deadline for the debtor to present a third party with a higher bid also starts from the auction’s closing date. This third-party bid must now be at least 60% of the property’s value (or sufficient to satisfy the creditor). The subsequent 5-day deadline to the judgment creditor to request the award for 70% or for the amount owed for all concepts is eliminated. The possibility of deferred payment of the auction provided for in the previous version of article 670.3 CPA is eliminated.

If the debtor has not presented a third party who improves the bid and it is not his main residence, the property is awarded to the highest bidder if: i) the bid is equal to or greater than 50%, or ii) it is sufficient to satisfy the judgment creditor (provided it is equal to or greater than 40%). In this case, “the award of the property will mean the end of the execution due to the complete satisfaction of the creditor, with the remaining assets that could guarantee payment of the claim being released.” If the above percentages are not reached, the Court Clerk (Letrado de la Administración de Justicia) may award the property anyway after hearing the parties.

If the debtor has not presented a third party who improves the bid and the property is his main residence, the property is awarded to the highest bidder if: i) the bid is equal to or greater than 70%, or ii) it reaches the amount owed for all concepts (provided it is equal to or greater than 60%). The property is also awarded in this way, even if the highest bidder is the judgment creditor and the amount offered is lower than these percentages.

F) Article 671 of the CPA.

If the auction is unsuccessful, the judgment creditor can no longer request adjudication. Instead, the seizure will be lifted unless the debtor or creditor proposes a buyer willing to acquire the property for at least 50% of its value, or an amount sufficient to satisfy the creditor (minimum 40%).

What do the changes to the Civil Procedure Act mean?

Some updates will undoubtedly be welcomed by Court Agents, such as the elimination of the 24-hour extension for ongoing bidding and the prohibition of auctions ending on weekends or non-working periods. This change spares them from monitoring auctions during their holidays and rest periods.

Other updates aim clearly to speed up the auction process, such as shorter deadlines and the commencement of these deadlines directly after the auction’s closure. The simplified procedure for assigning auction awards without court appearances is another time-saving measure. In my opinion, the possibility of formalizing it through a simple written document is right.

On the other hand, raising the deposit percentage required for participation may discourage some potential bidders.

A change that I do not consider appropriate is requiring additional notifications to debtors or creditors under threat of fines (it is no longer understood that the charge is updated), which could delay proceedings if recipients are uncooperative.

As for the possibility granted to the Court Clerk (Letrado de la Administración de Justicia) to request an update of charges if a long time passes before the auction is held, it is interesting, but frankly, it is doubtful that it will end up being used.

And finally, regarding the new system for requesting an award, I would like to point out that -in my opinion- the legislator has achieved something that was really difficult: worsening the wording of articles 670 and 671 of the CPA. It was already a complicated system to understand and they were two long and confusing articles, but in my opinion the new ones are even worse. They give the impression of being poorly ordered articles, and it is complex to know exactly what the thresholds and percentages -for which the award should be requested- are, with the corresponding differences for properties depending on whether it is main residence or not.

In short, Organic Law 1/2025 has introduced numerous and relevant changes in the various types of judicial procedure, including the system of judicial auctions of real estate.

It remains to be seen what the effects of these changes will be, and whether this Law will be in force for a long time or will be modified or rectified in the coming months. Because if there is one thing our political representatives have been doing in recent times, it is legislating “by the pound”. That is, hastily, trying to approve as many Laws as possible, regardless of their quality or the errors they may contain.

At MES Advocats we have experience in executive procedures (mortgages, judicial titles or non-judicial titles) in which there are judicial auctions of real estate. For more information or to request a consultation, feel free to contact us at MES Advocats through this link.

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2025Dret processalLey enjuiciamiento civilReforma legal

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