Deeds fiasco in the South

andre 514


Joined: 31/03/2008
Posts: 1163

Message Posted:
05/12/2008 01:17

"British property owners in South Cyprus

have to wait 10-15 years for transfer of their titles



It has been reported that 100,000 homeowners in the South

are still waiting for their title deeds, many of whom are

distressed due to the global credit crisis



Despite the efforts of the Cyprus Star to talk with the

Cyprus Property Action Group (CPAG)

they refused with the shocking comment that



"It is politically very difficult to co-operate

with the media in the North""



As reported in today's Cyprus Star

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
05/12/2008 07:37

Why in the North? This is in the south is it not? Oh I see... CPAG would be victimised by those nice people from the south...

gibson335


Joined: 01/11/2008
Posts: 325

Message Posted:
05/12/2008 10:30

Surely not. After all everything is perfect in the Paradise South according to certain people on here!!!!!!!!!!!!

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
05/12/2008 10:34

Graeme, I can't wait to see the responses you'll get to your message 3.

rocky


Joined: 17/10/2007
Posts: 1749

Message Posted:
05/12/2008 10:50

how many are awaiting deeds in the north? isn't this a big the scam in South Cyprus also is it possible in the north? where developers do not proceed to parcelistaion as they retain a slice of the development and hock the whole development to the Bank. I dont know how it works in NC praps some of you knowledgable individuals living in NC can educate us????

Holly


Joined: 27/05/2008
Posts: 67

Message Posted:
05/12/2008 15:48

This formed part of an article on property in the south in the Daily Express this Wednesday. There was no mention of the north.

Turtle


Joined: 28/05/2007
Posts: 2669

Message Posted:
05/12/2008 22:16

Paradise or concrete jungle

PtePike



Joined: 20/05/2008
Posts: 2334

Message Posted:
05/12/2008 22:23

andre,



I may be wrong but isn't the Cyprus Star a vanity publishing piece run by a property developer in the TRNC?



It's just that this is the kind of scare story a developer would plant to discourage buyers from one area and encourage them to his.



Any primary sources about these people supposedly waiting for their deeds in the south? Also any explanation as to the delay?

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 15:29

Suzanne, you a mermaid then?

windmill


Joined: 06/07/2008
Posts: 143

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 16:20

Holly,love the spaniel

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 17:27

Pike,

"Any primary sources about these people supposedly waiting for their deeds in the south? Also any explanation as to the delay"



There has been a wealth of publicity regarding the pitfalls of buying in the South recently. Unscrupulous property developers and the ROC legal system and business practices of the legal fraternity do not protect the interest of the buyer adequately. The justice system has been described as unfit for purpose.



Research teams from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 who have recently visited the island interviewed many of the dissatisfied buyers and have identified several scams in areas across the South. As a result The Property Action Group was formed to address many of these issues, including the delay in obtaining title deeds.



One only has to google "buying in Cyprus" to conclude that the South has many property nightmares and that property sales are dwindling because of the negative publicity and tarnishing of their once good reputation.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 17:33

South Cyprus: Buyers have paid in full for their property, in good faith, only to discover they are not the legal owners. This seems to be in total conflict with the spirit of Article 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.

While waiting for their Title Deeds, property buyers find themselves in a ‘Title Deed Trap’. Whilst in this Trap, property developers illegally demand (in the good name of the Government!) huge amounts of ‘Immovable Property Tax’ from unwitting buyers;

such demands are often accompanied by the threat of withholding Title Deeds to elicit payment.

Developers and other vendors defraud buyers, sometimes with disastrous consequences. This results from the lack of regulation, the laxity of enforcement of planning and other laws and the ineffectiveness of the legal system. Buyers are unwittingly ‘encouraged’ to break the law by being allowed to occupy property that has not been inspected by the Planning authorities and issued with final Certificate.

Aussie


Joined: 17/06/2007
Posts: 657

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 18:24

Pike



Haven't you been reading the Cyprus Mail (an ROC paper) which has been publishing many articles and comments about this for quite a while some of which I have posted on this site.



Even Clerides the former ROC president was mentioned in this paper as not receiving his title after many years.



There was also mentioned some months back a case where the Orthadox Church sold a property and wouldn't transfer titles after something like 15 years for no good reason and the buyers were struggling to find legal means to force them to do so.



Interestingly even more Greek Cypriots are enduring unreasonably long waiting times for their ROC titles than foreign buyers





Aussie

Aussie


Joined: 17/06/2007
Posts: 657

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 18:26

Also refer to the Law Lords questions into the same issue



http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/7692.asp

britvic



Joined: 05/09/2008
Posts: 3039

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 18:32

Msg 5 Praps?

Aussie


Joined: 17/06/2007
Posts: 657

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 18:46

I also posted a letter from the Property Action Group in the South as well on this issue





http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/8183.asp

gibson335


Joined: 01/11/2008
Posts: 325

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 19:16

msg 9



Much like the way your chums have tried to frighten off buyers from the North then eh!!!



Doyen msg 4



I expected more from the usual suspects. Very disappointed!!!

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 20:27

As has been reported on a number of occasions... some properties being sold in the south are Turkish Title or on Turkish Land and those sales scams (it being against ROC policy to re-use Turkish Land and properties) that have come to light have been prosecuted for commiting fraud...



It's just a thought but it may be that this is the tip of an iceberg of a substantial nature that they don't want talked about or brought under the glare of public scrutiny ... as they have always maintained their innocence and good faith in this regard...



It would explain why some 'deeds' are not forthcoming...

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 22:44

It would appear even Church Leaders have jumped on the band waggon in the South!

THE AYIOS Pavlos Church in Paphos is facing legal action, accused of failing to obtain a completion certificate and title deeds for 22 properties it sold over ten years ago.



"We found out that soon after the construction of our site had started in May 1995 the Church had taken out a mortgage of 850,000 pounds on the land and to date this has not been repaid. A visit to the District Office in Paphos revealed, Planning Permission was not granted till 1999 and the Building Permit was not granted till 2002. This meant that the site had been started illegally and we had paid for and taken possession of our house long before the St. Paul's Church of Paphos had completed their obligations to the government and the occupiers of the houses.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 22:45

The Community Committee wrote to the Ombudsman in August 2003 and informed her of our plight about living in a part completed gypsy encampment and she instructed the District Officer to issue court action against the Bishop of Paphos, which of course they were reluctant to do.



Eventually we found out in 2005 from the District Officer that because the most important document for any construction in Cyprus the Certificate of Final Completion had not been obtained by the Church that we were living in our house illegally and that we were common criminals. This document is most important before occupation of any property and the developer can then apply for the Title Deeds and finally transfer them to the purchaser at the standard fee.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 22:46

In May 2005 we received a letter from the District Officer to warn us of impending prosecution concerning the Street and Building Law, Cap 96, and on 13th February 2007 we received our summons’s from the District Officers Lawyer to appear before the judge in the District Court of Paphos on 15/05/07, charged with breaking the Law of the Land.



Fortunately our developer The Church of St. Paul's Paphos has a much greater problem with the law as it is their responsibility to obtain the Certificate of Final Completion and until they complete the construction of our site they were being prosecuted as the main offender.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 22:47

On Tuesday 15th. May 2007, the Lawyer of the District Office withdrew the case from The District Court of Paphos and decided to give the Church until the end of September to achieve completion of the site construction. He advised them to complete all the necessary work to comply with the planning consent granted in 1999 so that they could then apply for the Completion Certificate. In the meantime the case against the residents has been rescinded and we watch with interest to see if the Church of St. Paul's Paphos will honour their obligations in this limited time. In the last eight years the developer has not has not convinced us that there has been enough effort, inclination, or the expertise to complete this project successfully.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 22:48

To obtain our Deeds of Title and to own the land on which our houses have been built and to obtain possession of the community pool will surely be a great achievement after twelve years in this lovely land of Cyprus, but, as one high ranking Lawyer in Nicosia an ex British Barrister once said to us "Cyprus is very much a country of BUYER BEWARE !"



Graham John Cooper-Selley

Armou

Paphos

BillyB


Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 436

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 23:03

God works in mysterious ways.

roachie


Joined: 25/04/2008
Posts: 31

Message Posted:
06/12/2008 23:17

How nice of Mr Safar to use his newspaper to highlight the problems faced by buyers in the South. Perhaps he will back up these words by action and give the people who have bought their houses from him their title deeds. Perhaps he will also remove the mortgage that he placed on the land where those same houses were built.

BillyB


Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 436

Message Posted:
07/12/2008 12:23

Rochie

Unfortunately Mr Safer thinks he's God.

PtePike



Joined: 20/05/2008
Posts: 2334

Message Posted:
07/12/2008 14:01

roachie msg 27,



Exactly the point I was making. Does any amount of people banging on about what's happening in the south make any difference to the situation in the north, which is truly horrendous on a massive scale?