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29th March 2024
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Foreclosures law to Troika

Cyprus foreclosure law to TroikaCYPRUS President Nicos Anastasiades said on Sunday that he will hold talks with European leaders and officials over the content of legislative documents on foreclosures adopted on Saturday by the majority of the House of Representatives.

He also promised to review the amendments adopted by MPs “very seriously”.

He was replying to questions on the side-lines of the inauguration of a park in Germasogia, at the coastal city of Limassol, in honour of the 13 people who perished as a result of a deadly blast at the Evaggelos Florakis naval base, near Mari village, on July 11, 2011.

The House of Representatives approved during an extraordinary plenary on Saturday a bill on foreclosures together with a series of other bills, amendments and other legislative proposals tabled by the political parties.

Adoption of the bill constituted a precondition for the disbursement of the next tranche of the island’s €10 billion financial assistance programme. The approval or not of the disbursement of the next tranche of the Cypriot programme, is expected to be decided by a Eurogroup meeting next Friday.

Invited to comment on the fact that parliamentary parties have called on him not to refer any of the adopted documents back to parliament, he said that apart from thanking political parties for their responsible attitude, he wishes to assure that he will “review very seriously the amendments achieved in the separate bills and will fully respect everyone’s wish to protect vulnerable groups”.

At the same time, he announced that he is launching as of Monday “a round of intensive negotiations on a political level, so that before I decide, I will have the reaction or I can take into consideration the risks involved”, adding that through the way they handled things political parties have also tried to avoid such risks.

Asked with whom he will be holding the talks, President Anastasiades said that negotiations will take place with various leaders, whether they are called Barroso, Juncker, or Merkel or with any other leaders in order to achieve the approval of provisions which in essence do not alter the philosophy of the bill adopted.

That is to say, he explained, the fact that an anachronistic system which has been in place until today, has now been modernised and that at the same time vulnerable groups of citizens will be protected in view of the crisis and the austere measures adopted by the Troika.

Inaugurating the park the President thanked parties for their “responsible stance” in voting the bill on foreclosures and pledged that the government will do its utmost so that conditions which fully safeguard vulnerable groups of the population will be created.

In these difficult times for our country due to serious economic and political challenges we are faced with, we will have to find, as a people, the important elements uniting us, he pointed out.

“Unity and cooperation should be our beacon forward in order to deal with the diverse difficulties ahead”, President Anastasiades stressed, adding that this was also evident from the decisions parliament took yesterday.

Referring to the tragic blast of July 2011, he said that the “Park of Immortals” will remind everyone including the future generations, not only of the heroic sacrifice of the 13 people who lost their lives that fateful day but also of the accountability and the responsibility the state has vis-à-vis its citizens, for the benefit of who it has a responsibility to ensure conditions of prosperity, security and dignity and of preventing such tragedies from taking place.

– Cyprus News Agency

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15 COMMENTS

  1. According to the foreclosures bill, ratified by the President of the Republic, which ensures the protection of property buyers who have deposited their sale contract at the Land Registry, but have not secured their title deed, the sale of the mortgaged property is suspended until 30th of April 2015.

    Why the above date has been included in the bill. Does it imply that the buyer will remain unprotected, in case the title deed will not be issued by that date?

    • @sotiris on 2014/09/10 at 10:03 pm – I have no idea what goes through the minds of the politicians in this country, so your guess is as good as mine as to whether buyers will remain unprotected if the Title Deed is not issued by 30th April 2015.

      Not only does this contradict a written statement by Cyprus government spokesman Nikos Christodoulidis when he said that one of the amendments ensured the protection of property buyers who have deposited their sale contract at the Land Registry, but who have not secured the property’s Title Deed. (Was he being ‘economical with the truth’ I wonder?)

      But the a spokesman for the European Commission has said in a statement that “it appears clear that parts of the legislation voted through last Saturday, together with the foreclosures bill, are not compatible with the requirements of the MoU in this important policy area”. See EC rejects foreclosures laws.

      (I’ve also seen elsewhere a report that says buyers without Title Deeds will only be protected if they’ve paid 50% of the purchase price).

      It’s a monumental, copper-bottomed, gold plated farce – I doubt Catastrophias could have made more of a hash of it.

  2. If the Troika accept these amendments then we know where their priorities lie. I am told protection is sought for those with homes valued at up to €350K. That is one hell of an extravagance even on this Island that talks in telephone numbers for a pitifully inadequate product. Where else in the world could this happen or be tolerated? We must all be held responsible and accountable for our actions and that includes choice of investments or homes we choose.

    Never have I seen or heard of a government so petrified of taking a decision for the benefit of the country at large.

  3. The EU are not going to consider the Cyprus foreclosure bill at their meeting this Friday, as they say they never received the bill.

    Reading between the lines, the Troika have told the government that the bill as passed, with all the additional bills is a non starter & told them to revise it, or no cash is forthcoming.
    A reality check is going to hit very soon.

  4. Am I to understand our Pres intends gaining the support of the leaders of countries who’s citizens have, and continue to be, screwed by Cyprus? Any leader worth his salt should tell the Pres to get stuffed until such time as Cyprus stops it’s artful ways and not only frees innocent investors from the burden of other people’s debt but gives them what they bought and paid for.

  5. Indeed nobody can say where the money will come from! Again off topic but it seems that Nicos is pushing for a prompt result regarding all those deposit holders who lost out at ex-Laiki….and mixed in with this the prospect of those who were mis-sold bonds, getting some compensation in 2017 when Cyprus is out of the mnimonia as they put it (again where will the money come from) without dashing the hopes of so many people who lost out or were conned how can anyone believe what politicians in Cyprus say given their track record…?

  6. It is hardly surprising that President Nicos Anastasiades needs to try to sell the adopted Foreclosures bill (along with all its potential amendments) to the likes of Barroso, Juncker and Merkel when it clearly still runs counter to the provisions of clause 1.25 of section ‘C’ of the 42-page update to the Memorandum of Understanding, a fact already observed by the Cyprus Mail.

    While the legal framework in relation to foreclosures and the forced sale of mortgaged property will be amended with immediate effect for all mortgaged properties except primary residences, provisions will still enter into effect by end of December for the foreclosure and forced sale of mortgaged primary residences subject, however, to personal insolvency legislation to be adopted at the same time.

    So I would endorse Nigel’s comment to GermanSixth that we’re certainly not out of the Troika woodlands yet.

    • ALL – Today’s Phileleftheros reports that one of the amendments to the law agreed on Saturday changes the commencement of the foreclosure procedure from 90 days (as agreed in the MoU) to 120 days! I don’t think the Troika will be too impressed!!

  7. GERMANSIXTH
    There are also lots of unfinished sites where the developer has disappeared and has been paid in full for the properties. These site are also worthless to the bank unless they wanted to just sell the land. Take out the admin and legal costs and you end up with nothing again. What happens to these people. Live there until you die or until the bank comes up with another scheme. Until then you would not be able to pass the property on or sell it and your asset is also worthless.

  8. Ah, yet more of the ‘what can we get away with?’ culture! If the Troika have any backbone, they will reject all this flim-flam presented by the Chief Chancer.

    Vulnerable groups? Loan defaulters are not ‘vulnerable’- they are loan defaulters who have to shoulder the consequences of their default.

  9. @Nigel, it’s all become very confusing, I think we have to wait for troika to turn down all the amendments that Parliament approved …and see what is left…one thing is for certain parliament parading as the protectors of the down trodden and misfortunate yet pass laws on IPT tax, income tax VAT etc. etc. they are sucking the people of this island dry…and one other interesting point off topic but shows how ‘they’ work in Cyprus…for purposes of IPT taxation your plot of land is worth 200,000 euros…if the govt needs that plot for the public good e.g pass a public highway through it, . then your compensation is not based on the 200,000 but a value they see fit (and there is a massive backlog 660 million worth of monies owed or 66 if Nigel can verify) ! it beggars belief how ‘they’ can get away with this daylight robbery and humiliating the public…previous example was highlighted today by a very astute and straight speaking lawyer costas velaris

  10. Okay, the defaulters are “protected” now. The british expat, who paid for his home in full, is not protected. Instead, his home is currently and in future urgently needed as collateral for the banks (if “hidden” mortgaged).

    A seller/developer is a third party at the moment he got the money. He has no longer a right on the property. To mortgage sold land/property abusing the intransparency of the Land Registry, is theft or fraud – call it what you want.

    How silly is this? They have to clear the books (of the banks) from such fraudulent mortgages and to remove them from the sold properties. By the way, the banks can’t sell “protected non performing loans” to e.g. Hedge Fonds as “Asset Backed Securities”, because these ABS are simply worthless.

    • @GermanSixth on 2014/09/08 at 1:47 pm – According to a written statement by Cypriot government spokesman Nikos Christodoulidis on 4 September, the Government has included seven amendments into the foreclosures bill, one of which ensures the protection of property buyers who have deposited their sale contract at the Land Registry, but who have not secured its Title Deed.

      But the law has still to be ratified by Pres. Anastasiades and, as you will see from the article, he’s seeking the approval of the Troika before he ratifies it.

      So we’re not out of the woods yet.

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