A viewing form (hoja de visita) is the document in which an estate agency records that it showed a property to a person, on a date and with an agent. It helps prove the agency introduced that buyer or tenant. It is not a contract with the visitor: on its own, it does not make them pay a fee.
In practice
Its real value shows when seller and buyer later close the deal without the agency. Spain's Supreme Court grants the broker the full commission when their work was "decisiva o determinante" (decisive or determining) for the deal, even if the owner sells without the agency knowing and at a different price (judgment 228/2014). But if another agency stepped in and the instruction was not exclusive, the first has to prove its work was decisive (judgment 448/2014). There, the viewing form is one piece, not the whole proof: keep the emails with the buyer, the offers and your call notes with it.
Using it to charge the visitor is another matter. The Provincial Court (Audiencia Provincial) of Almería put it this way: "La hoja de visita no es una hoja de encargo" (the viewing form is not an instruction to sell). Of the six Provincial Court judgments we analyse in the property viewing form, five reject the idea that a fee clause slipped into the form binds the buyer. The one that did, in Valencia, relied on two clear fee documents the buyer signed. If you want to charge the buyer, agree a separate written instruction to buy. The contract with whoever instructs you to sell is the listing agreement.
In residential lettings, agency and contract-drafting costs have been for the landlord since Law 12/2023 (art. 20 of the Urban Leases Act).
What the law says
No law regulates the viewing form as such. These rules affect it:
- GDPR. Ask only for the data you need (art. 5.1.c), have a legal basis (art. 6.1) and inform people when you collect the data (art. 13). The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) considers processing the ID card excessive when you only want to identify someone (Report 0048/2023).
- Article 11 of Organic Law 3/2018. Allows layered information: the basics on the form and a route to the rest.
- Article 80 of the General Law for the Protection of Consumers. Non-negotiated clauses must be clear, simple and legible.
- Article 21 of the LSSI, the e-commerce law. You need permission to email more properties.
- Comunitat Valenciana. Decree 98/2022 requires anyone acting as a property intermediary on a regular basis to register in the regional register of agents.
Common mistakes
- Hiding a payment commitment in small print. The Seville court found it a surprise term, and the Granada court an unfair one.
- Photocopying ID cards as a matter of course. If you need to check identity, seeing the card is enough.
- Keeping it with no end date. Decide when you delete it, once it no longer serves to prove the introduction.
Sources
- Supreme Court, judgment 228/2014 of 21 May.
- Supreme Court, judgment 448/2014 of 30 July.
- Provincial Court of Almería, judgment 1165/2023.
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), arts. 5, 6 and 13, and Organic Law 3/2018, art. 11.
- AEPD, Report 0048/2023.
- Law 29/1994, Urban Leases Act, art. 20.
- Decree 98/2022 of 29 July of the Consell.