28.02.2022
The real estate auction, scheduled for March 7, has been suspended after accepting the financial commissioner’s proposals, Pavlos Ioannou himself said on Thursday, noting that the cancellation of the sale is of particular importance. The real estate represents a professional housing, producing a strategic value for activities related to the tourism sector.
The suspension has been resolved by the Office of the Financial Commissioner in cooperation with APS Debt Servicing Cyprus Ltd (“APS”) as the legal and duly authorized representative of Hellenic Bank Public Company Ltd (“Hellenic”). This settlement came after the acceptance of Mr. Ioannou’s proposals by the APS (and therefore the creditor, i.e. Hellenica).
The complaint was filed with the office of Mr. Ioannou on 15.02.2022 against APS and Ellinika, and it is noted as particularly important that the plaintiff is a legal entity, that is, a company that is engaged in tourism.
In the complaint, the interested party asked the Financial Commissioner to suspend and cancel the planned auction of her property and its contribution, so that Hellenic Bank / APS reinstates its original offer to redeem debts, with payments of its debts. 245,000 euros, not 271,000 euros, the amount , which she said the creditors then demanded despite the original agreement.
Mr. Ioannou reports that 21.02.On 22, he sent a letter to a competent Hellenic Bank / APS officer and offered the opportunity to reconsider the borrower’s request for the initial required amount of 245,000 euros (with immediate payment), for the planned process of selling his professional real estate.
The APN responded to the request with a letter dated February 28, 22, specifying, as the Authorized Representative stated, that despite the fact that the borrower’s applications were not accepted by him, “nevertheless, he decided to cancel the planned auction and re-set the date for the sale of the property in question.”
The Company also advises that “the cancellation of the auction does not accept Ms. xxxxx’s claims and the Bank and/or APS fully reserve the right to reschedule the auction date for the property in question at a later date.”
The Commissioner, in a letter to the media, states that he is required to “call (and ask) Hellenic to take very seriously the circumstances of the owner of the complaining company, as well as the fact that any sale of its assets in question, a sharp disinvestment that hinders overall development efforts.”
“Among many others, this is contrary to the general interests of the national economy, as well as the banking system itself,” he said.
Regarding the circumstances of the owner, he points out that “they are shaped by a series of unpleasant events that have very clear characteristics of a humanitarian nature.”
“I also commend her heroic efforts to save the property of her five orphaned children, as well as her own.But despite this, I urge the applicant to work in good faith with her lender and APS, to find a final solution to the problem, excluding the possibility of recourse to the sale process,” says Mr. Ioannou.
He also notes that due to the fact that for several months now there have been a number of requests for the cancellation or suspension of upcoming real estate sales procedures, which the interested parties consider unfair and objective, these requests are currently sent to the Registration in the form of complaints and their submission is made in in the manner prescribed by law.
Mr. Ioannou points out that, in many cases, relevant applications for cancellation or suspension of an auction are made only a few days in advance (and in some cases even before the date of the auction is set), making any attempt to achieve the expected result completely impossible.
It calls on the parties concerned to act in a timely manner, not only to cancel the scheduled auctions, but also to settle their obligations through the stipulated restructuring procedures, using, to the extent possible, the Code of Ethics contained in the 2015 Delay Management Guidelines of the Central Bank of Cyprus.
