Review by A&G Kouzali Lawyers in Cyprus

For Cyprus Lawyers Title Deeds have been an ongoing battle. Title Deeds in Cyprus have been the topic of controversial discussion more and more of late.  Although, the government is taking steps to help solve this issue within a certain amount of time, Cyprus Property Investors are not happy and are not prepared to wait for this belated course of action.  As a result, 24 investors who have yet to receive their Cyprus Title Deeds are proceeding with a civil court case at the High Court in London, against several Cyprus Developers and Lawyers.

There have been many problems as to why Title Deeds have not been issued and in some cases this is down to the Cyprus Developers and the Cyprus Lawyers.  However, the applicants who are of British, Cypriot and other nationalities want this dilemma changed to prevent future buyers experiencing the same problem.   They are also proceeding with the civil case in the hope that the developers will be forced to issue the Title Deeds.

Compensation is being sought for buyers who have incurred losses and for their properties to be given back to them.  It is reported that these civil cases will also be addressed in the Cypriot Courts and could even go even further and taken to the European Court of Human Rights. 

Depending on the outcome it could be a rough and expensive road ahead for Developers and Lawyers in Cyprus who have not performed there due diligence regarding Title deeds.

We at A&G Kouzali Law Office have continuously been fighting for recognition of this problem and striving for a solution to be found.  We sent letters to the Minister of interior, and spoke with him on many occasions about the Title Deed problem, of which resulted in our Company Director Mr Giovannis Kouzalis attending a meeting with the Minister at his office in Nicosia.  

On conclusion of the meeting it was evident that the Minister was doing all in his power to rectify this issue and was confident that the new changes would endeavour to bring a solution to this litigious affair.  At this stage the political parties in Cyprus are about to approve all legislations proposed by the minister.  We do urge clients to contact their Cyprus MP’s and request their party to approve the new legislation as a matter of urgency.

Visit us at www.lawcyprus.org PUBLISHED BY A&G KOUZALIS LAW OFFICE ON 22^ND NOVEMBER 2009.

PRESS RELEASE July 26^th, 2009

ΜINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR  

The Ministry of Interior considers it necessary to announce the following concerning some comments that were allegedly made by the Minister in an announcement during a conference held on the 20^th of June.  Specifically, the Minister allegedly declared that the possibility of small businesses going bankrupt is of no concern to the Government, since that will caution developers to be more careful during business and when investing.

(a)   The Minister has never mentioned anything even remotely pointing to the above unfortunate statement, and could not have done so, given that he very well knows the importance of small and middle businesses in the field of construction and development. These businesses have an important function in the field of land and housing market, forwarding competition as part of a healthy economy, providing work places, and influencing various other specialized businesses of the specific field.

(b)   Apparently, some of the Minister’s  answers to questions were misinterpreted. The Minister, when asked on the possibility of the government’ s intervention in case of  mortage on a property, in order to safeguard the rights of buyers, and to provide a guarantee by the government itself to the buyers, stated that as in any state, the government does not intervene in private contracts and agreements between free parties (between the seller and the buyer), neither before the signing of the deal or agreement, nor afterwards, to safeguard any of the parties.

(c)   The Ministry of Interior wishes to inform the public that the Ministry is not only studying a new legislation, for a comprehensive amendment of three different laws concerning property registration and building permission procedures, but is also completing the amendment of a fourth law; all four legislative amendments will remedy and provide feasible answers to a number of problems that many buyers in Cyprus have been facing when dealing with matters concerning property and permit procedures.  The amendments will be actually a significant reform of the planning system and will largely improve the system of issuing immovable property titles, providing solutions to a lot of the problems of the present system.

(d)   The Ministry of Interior wishes to once again advise every future buyer of immovable property, whether a buyer of a part of or of a whole building (whether it be an apartment, a single detached house or a house in a housing complex), to go forward in agreements to acquire immovable property with caution, and after carefully examining the content of the agreement, the guarantees given by the seller for the issuing of the title for the immovable property in a defined period of time, the measures obliging the seller to deliver what has been agreed, whether the property has a planning and building permit etc., with the advice of relevant professionals (a lawyer or an architect). As stated before, it is not possible nor desirable that the Government take on any responsibility as to any of the agreements made between a seller and a buyer, to the benefit of any of the parties concerned.

MINISTRY OF INTERIOR

July 26^th, 2009

REPLY BY MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR MR NEOKLIS SYLIKIOTIS – 17.06.2009

It is obvious from the content of the question as well as from other recent reports in the Press and on the Internet that the statement by the Minister of Interior has been misinterpreted as regards the measures the Government is willing to take for resolving the problems that many buyers of holiday homes or other buildings in Cyprus are facing.

The Minister of Interior had stated that with the modifications that are in the process of elaboration, the content of immovable properties sale contracts that have already been signed between sellers and buyers cannot be altered. This fact should be self-evident and not surprising.

The Interior Minister has not stated that the measures that are being studied will not concern those who have already bought houses or other buildings. On the contrary, the measures that are being worked out by the competent Services of the Interior Ministry and concern the amendment of four legislations are aimed primarily at abolishing the full dependency of issuing separate title deeds for each housing unit at housing blocks or buildings from the initiatives of the original owner and seller. Measures will be introduced which will allow the competent authorities to intervene independently in cases where the original owner-seller is indifferent or refuses to implement his obligations regarding the issuing of separate title deeds and additionally, various counter-motives will be provided in order to avert such behaviours.

Moreover, the measures, for which the study is almost complete, entail new regulations allowing the legalisation of some irregularities made to buildings during their construction by imposing appropriate countermeasures, issuing title deeds of various types – depending on the type of problems each building is facing – and other additional powers to the competent Authorities in order to facilitate buyers to evade the various difficulties they might come across in trying to acquire a title deed for the housing unit they bought.

Lastly it is noted that despite the complaints expressed by various buyers, unfortunately there are very few cases where a buyer has sought recourse to the courts against a seller who is not fulfilling their contractual obligations as these are outlined in immovable properties sale contracts. Consequently, the protest of a buyer is not always fully justified, especially when that buyer has signed contracts, without particular study and vigilance, without having secured legal advice for protecting his own rights and without having sought recourse to the courts against the seller, when the latter does not fulfil his own obligations.

The Ministry of Interior will oversee the amelioration of the legislation. However, the buyer must always act with vigilance and secure his own legal advice so that he protects his rights and interests.

17.6.09

EFFECTIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE MEASURES ARE INTRODUCED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF TITLE DEEDS IN CYPRUS

MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR MR NEOCLIS SYLIKIOTIS

22 July, 2009

 For some time now, there has been an attempt, driven mainly from foreign media, to present the Republic of Cyprus as an unreliable place for investment in the property market due to a problem of issuing title deeds. The Ministry of the Interior and I have repeatedly, and in multiple ways, stated that those allegations are entirely unsustainable, and, in any case, they ignore our serious efforts for the reformation of the whole system of issuing property titles in Cyprus.

Our policy aims to boost the property market in Cyprus, introducing effective and comprehensive practices for solving this problem. Within this context, the Ministry of the Interior has already completed the drafting for the amendment of four legislations concerning property registration and building permission procedures. The amendment of the four legislations primarily aims to address the current full dependency of the procedure for issuing title deeds of separate housing units in comprehensive housing projects from the will and initiative of the owner-seller. Also, provisions will be introduced which will allow the competent Authorities to encourage developers to apply for the issuing of title deeds. In addition, the measures entail new regulations, which will enable the issue of permits for certain irregularities to buildings that are not covered by permit, by imposing appropriate conditions and obligations in respect to the compensation of such irregularities. In fact, the amendments will be a significant reform of the planning system, and will largely improve the system of issuing property titles, providing for solutions to several problems identified in the current system. Overall, the proposed amendments will contribute to the speeding up of the issuing of title deeds, whilst our goal is the issuing of some 20.000 title deeds by mid 2010.

In essence, since proposed legislative amendments accelerate the process and remove obstacles for the issuing of separate title deeds for each individual unit in larger developments, any aggrieved buyer will have readily available the option of applying for a court order, which in effect will order the seller to transfer the title deed on the name of the buyer. If the seller still refuses, the court orders another party to compulsorily transfer the title deed. Furthermore, amendments will allow authorities to enforce a penalty fine to any unwilling seller, in order to encourage timely responses and the cooperation of sellers, while the Minister will have the power to publicize the names of sellers who are not cooperating with authorities on these procedures. These significant improvements will surely benefit, not only new buyers, but also people who have already signed such a contract for buying a housing unit that is part of a development project, and find difficulties in having their title deed.

Despite our determination to cut this Gordian knot with the introduction of new legislation for the improvement and reformation of the planning system, as well as the system of issuing property titles, it must be clarified here that even the current system and the existing legislation protects buyers and their ownership status. In this regard, any aggrieved buyer can appeal to courts against the seller who refuses to abide to his obligations and transfer the title deed to the buyer-owner. It must also become clear that the ownership status of a buyer-owner of immovable property in Cyprus is definitely secured and cannot be challenged, as long as the buyer-owner has submitted the buying-contract to the Department of Lands and Surveys.

In conclusion, I should stress that in the Government controlled part of Cyprus, the case of a property-seller bankruptcy is quite rare; in fact, our record on this is much better than most other European countries. In that sense, the property market in Cyprus is stable and secure, and property buyers must be absolutely certain that their investments are safe here; indeed, property investment is much safer in Cyprus than anywhere else. Indicatively, I could mention that despite the global financial crisis and the collapse of the property market all around the world, and in much of Europe, the estate market in Cyprus is quite healthy and still in positive growth rate. Furthermore, there is something that one must not forget. Nobody and no Authority anywhere can ever challenge the property rights or the ownership status of buyers of immovable property within the territory which is under the control of the Republic of Cyprus.

Welcome to CyprusTitleDeeds.org!

Our website will be publishing helpful  information on title deeds in Cyprus.

It is by no means fortunate that is issued is not resolved already.  The legal system in Cyprus provides all the necessary legislation in order to avoid this kind of a problem.  The unfortunate is our culture and way of conducting our business on this island that allows the problem to exist. 

While many associations, individuals and organizations (as our office) attempted to assist the minister in his effort to change the legislation in order to tackle the problem, we would like to bring to your attention certain points that you can apply in order to at least safeguard your investment.

1. Do not buy a property without legal advice.
2. Due Diligence must be exercised by your lawyer before you buy any property.
3. Make sure you know all about Planning Permits and Final Building License before you make the purchase.
4. Your contract must have written evidence of the above Planning Permits and Final Building License.
5. Your contract must be Land Registered.  You should have evidence of this.
6. Do not accept delivery of your property without Final Building Permit.
7. The Developer must take all necessary steps for the Title Deeds, starting from immediate actions as soon as you take delivery of the property.
8. Do not stop any pressure to the developer or do not stop your actions until you take title deed in your hands.