14.11.2022
The law passed last week by the House of Representatives, which should freeze the foreclosure of property until the end of January 2023, has many questions of interpretation, financial ombudsman Pavlos Ioannou said on Monday. Sending it back to Parliament will give lawmakers a chance to fix some of those problems.
For example, according to him, it is not clearly defined how primary property should be determined. He noted that although the legislation considers the main property to be the one in which the owners live for six months, there are no clarifications on how this should be proven.
The moratorium on foreclosure applies to the main residence of the debtor with a value not exceeding 350,000 euros, commercial premises with an annual turnover of not more than 750,000 euros, and land plots with a value of not more than 100,000 euros.
A similar problem exists with the interpretation of agricultural land: “if one has land in a village that he cultivates, is it classified as agricultural land?” John said. “To protect the honor of Parliament, this law must be clearly defined.”
Returning the law to parliament will give lawmakers the opportunity to create a better system of protection for truly vulnerable groups.
The latest comments to John follow calls to President Nicos Anastasiades by his Finance Minister Konstantinos Petrides to bring the law back to Parliament. He warned that this would have implications for interest rates, the availability of loans and the credit rating of Cyprus, as well as non-performing loans.
On Sunday, Anastasiades said he would seek the opinion of the attorney general on the law’s constitutionality before making any decision.
