Handing property back to the bank

[michaellowe]

We purchased a property a couple of years ago for approx 145.000 euro. We owe approx 104.000 to the bank on a mortgage. We are struggling with the repayments and are considering handing the property back to the bank. We believe a realistic current valuation is about the same amount as we owe. We would like to know where we stand legally and the process for handing back. We are resigned to the fact that we will lose our initial investment and past mortgage payments but do not want to owe anything after handing back. We would be grateful for any advice.

[Nigel Howarth]

Hello michaellowe and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear of your problems and I can assure you that you are not the only person having problems maintaining their mortgage repayments.

Is your mortgage denominated Euro or some other currency (it may make a difference as to how you approach the issue)?

Handing it back may not be an option.

As well as the currency of your mortgage can you also let me know the date on your mortgage agreement and your contract of sale.

Regards,

[michaellowe]

Thanks for your speedy response. On checking the purchase price was 162,000 euros. The mortgage is in euros and is with LAIKI Bank. Date of Contract 23/10/09.

[Nigel Howarth]

OK - I thought you might have been one of the many thousands witch a Swiss Franc mortgage.

A new law was introduced in December 2007 that may help. Basically if you bought a property built on land that the developer had previously mortgaged and the developer did not notify you of that mortgage, he is in breach of the law.

In this situation you should complain to the Cyprus Consumer Protection Service - more information about this on the CPAG website at http://cyprus-property-action-group.net ... n-service/ under the heading 'COMPLAINTS TO THE CCP SERVICE'.

But you will need to first check whether the developer has a mortgage on the property. You can find out how to do this at New title search procedures in Cyprus

You could also try negotiating with the bank if you feel the above approach is inappropriate - there are some notes at HELP – I can’t pay the mortgage!

There is also a company that may be able to help you renegotiate your mortgage - you can find details and contact information at Glimmer of hope for distressed borrowers?

You may also be able to get advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau - I believe they have access to specialists who can help you work through this.

Regards,

[michaellowe]

Hi Thanks again for the swift response.Our urgency to sell or dispose of the property is connected to ongoing health problems which I won,t go in to detail about and our concerns that we will not be able to continue for any length of time with our mortgage payments and so a mortgage holiday or renting the property is not really an option.
We had a look at the link that you sent for complaining if the developer has remortgaged the property. We do not know at this time if this is the case or not. The link to the land registry seemed to be available to potential purchasers to go in to the land registry in person with their passports. Is there a way of us doing these checks from the UK via the internet.
If it was the case that the developer has remortgaged and we complained to the relevant body what are their powers that would assist us in the short term. It is unclear from the link exactly what they can do for example would it make our purchase contract void or would it make our mortgage advance void.Have this organisation succesfully taken action or against developers. I realise that we are asking a lot of ifs and maybe,s and asking you to generalise but we are looking (probably like many others) for a quick solution to end our mortgage payments. We accept that we will have lost a substancial deposit but the ongoing payments are where our difficulties lie.

[Nigel Howarth]

I'm sorry to hear of your on-going health problems.

As you want the issue resolved quickly, I think the best option is for you to speak with the bank and see if they can help. They may ask for medical reports to confirm your situation. Obviously, I cannot speak on behalf of the bank but I hope they will be sympathetic.

The information held in the Cyprus Land Registry is not available on-line. You will need give a limited Power of Attorney to a lawyer to visit the Land Registry on your behalf and get the Title Search. I know of many people who have complained to the CCPS and have got absolutely nowhere - some of these have taken their cases to Europe. There will be no solution in the short term and bearing in mind the urgency of your situation, I doubt whether this would be a practicable step to take.

Regards,

[donnamaria1969]

Hi ,I am new to the forum and not quite sure what I am doing! We too purchased off plan approx 5 years ago at forest park Oroklini...........we were totally mis lead and invested in something that we then thought was going to be 76000 gbp but ended up being 176000!!!! We were also given a mortgage in swiss francs! We now have a huge mortgage of 190000 euros approx plus have to pay fees for the cemetery,sewage,service charge ,community tax etc! Considering the cost of living here in England it is now impossible to continue payments. We have had considerable problems with the property which is 2 years old, it is riddled with damp and the problem has been addressed twice but to no resolve. The walls are cracking and mould is every where,my furniture is ruined and the developers,Africanos do not even reply to emails.We have had 2 tenants but due to the low rental rates there rent doesn't even cover the interest on the mortgage! The Alpaha have been quite understanding and have let us pay interest only for approx 10 months but even that now is 600 euro plus all other mentioned payments! We have no tenant and are not likely to with the damp issue! We have NO money and are living in rented accommodation in the uk!! Do we wait for the bank to repossess.....keep desperately trying to get a tenant to pay some of the interest......we just dont know what to do!!!! We are making regular contact with the bank so they are informed..we owe about a 1000 euro if not more in service charges and cant take any more!!! HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!! We have not purchased the title deeds allthough the property developers were pushing us to do so several months ago and the bank would give us yet anither loan to do so. My self and other buyers were suspicious of this and many of us have just sat tight not knowing what to do!

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi Donna,

I have just sent you an email with details of various groups that may be able to advise and help you.

REgards,