23.11.2022
The Parliamentary Committee on Law, Justice and Public Order discussed a bill today to create a mechanism to protect the interests of property buyers, ensuring in advance that the transfer of real estate will be carried out immediately and as soon as the buyer fulfills his contractual obligations.
The purpose of the bill, in essence, is to protect the buyer so that the phenomenon of “trapped buyers” disappears before it arises. That is, new buyers must know the procedure that will provide them with a legal guarantee that, in fulfilling their contractual obligations, the transfer of property will proceed smoothly.
In his speech after the meeting, the Minister of Finance, Konstantinos Petridis, spoke about a rather important draft law, which was consulted with all interested parties and legal technical control, the purpose of which is:
1) Guarantee that the project will be completed.
2) Bank mortgages will be eliminated.
3) Buyer’s interest in ownership, without mortgage, will be foreclosed.
According to Mr. Petridis, this is achieved through the following steps:
1. If the developer’s project is a bank mortgage, the seller-developer must inform the buyer about it.
2. Gradually and depending on the progress of work on the project, the entire amount of the sale must be paid by the buyer to the bank, to the account of the seller-developer.
3. The bank, at the expense of the developer’s funds, bank financing and proceeds from the sale, will ensure the completion of the project.
4. The Bank undertakes in writing to the buyer that by paying the entire amount, he releases the project from the pledge.
5. If the bank does not fulfill its obligations, the director of the Land Registry will intervene and release the property from the mortgage.
As the Minister of Finance emphasized, this procedure is in line with the best practices of other countries and is in line with the Directive of the Central Bank.
“I think,” Konstantinos Petridis concluded, “that there was a good discussion today. Some technical issues have been raised and there is a willingness on the part of the Ministries of Finance and the Interior to consider some of the details that have been reasonably raised by MPs so that the bill can be passed and we can also complete the recovery phase.”
