Power of Attorney

Granting Bulgarian Home Loans power of attorney and details of our authorised person in Bulgaria

We understand that providing Power of Attorney to somebody is something that we very rarely do in the UK but it is very standard for most other European countries, especially when undergoing a property purchase.

What is the process to establish a “Power of Attorney”?

We have tried to make this as simple as possible and eradicate the need for you to travel to Bulgaria in order to sign the necessary documents.

1. We will use the information from your application form to prepare the Power of Attorney document and Agent Agreement document,  to do this we must have your full name (as per your passport), UK address, property purchase price, full address of Bulgarian property and passport number.  We will need a Power of Attorney form completed for each applicant.  We will complete this form and it will be in English and Bulgarian.
2. We will then email these forms to the UK where we will check them and print them out and post or email them to you.
3. You will then have to take these forms to a UK practicing solicitor who will need to witness your signature and add their full name, practice name and address to the forms.  If you have a friend who is a solicitor (not retired) then they could do this.  The solicitor does not need to give you any advice and hence the cost should be no more than £50, typically they will do this for £10-£20.
4. You should then send the forms to us via recorded delivery to: Bulgarian Home Loans, Nursery Works, 100 Little London Road, Sheffield, UK, S8 0UJ.
5. We then need to get the documents legalised.  Under article 7 of The Hague Convention, Bulgaria accepts all documents as being legal if they carry the apostille stamp provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.  We have negotiated a special deal for our clients at a cost of £75 per document (as we need two documents legalising this will cost £150 inc VAT) including all administration and postage.
6. We will then have the documents couriered to us and we shall then courier them to Bulgaria.  All though the above seems costly and time consuming it is easier than travelling to Sofia, Bulgaria.
7. We will then have Power of Attorney to enable us to conclude your mortgage application and manage your relationship with the bank.

So what does the Power of Attorney allow us to do and why is it necessary?

It is necessary as DSK Bank will not enter into a relationship directly with you.

1. We will open a bank account on your behalf and transfer the necessary funds into that account (once you have paid them to us in £ in UK). (3 monthly mortgage payments plus your 1.3% DSK completion charge).
2. We will be sent your current account statements and loan statements from the bank and we will then forward these to you in the UK.  We plan to send the current account statements quarterly and the loan statement annually.  We could email the current account statements more regularly if required.
3. If you do not make your payments then the bank will write to us and we will then urgently correspond with you.  You would not want to receive an arrears letter in Bulgarian.
4. We would ensure that your property is insured to the banks satisfaction, pay for this insurance from your account and renew it annually.
5. We would also receive any summons from the bank addressed to you and, if legal defence is required, empower a lawyer on your behalf.

You also need to complete a Agency Agreement form that grants the power to DSK Bank to serve any summons and additional documents to Bulgarian Home Loans on your behalf,  we will have part-completed this for you before it is sent out.  You will need to sign it, get it witnessed by a solicitor, who should provide their full name, practice name and address and then return to us. 

It will also cost £75 to get this document legalised and couriered to Bulgaria (making a total of £150 inc. VAT).  We wish this was not necessary but unless you fly to Bulgaria and sign in front of a notary (which will also cost money) there is no other option. Sorry.

This obviously gives us a considerable level of responsibility and one which we know we are capable, responsible and trust worthy enough to accept.  We also are aware that it is uncomfortable for you to give a stranger such control over your affairs, but until Bulgaria improves its European links this is necessary.  We wish it were not.

If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact us.  You can also contact us directly via email on info@bulgarianhomeloans.com.