Community fees

[SimonG]

Can you please clarify?

Do all the owners on a complex of 90 apartments have to accept their Title Deeds before an owners committee can be formally registered? Does an owners committee have to be formally registered before a memo for unpaid community fees or a repair bill can be attached to a property? Can fees be collected through a memo, for the period before the committee becomes registered?

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi Simon,

I suggest that you download a copy of the law concerning jointly-owned property (in English) that you will find at http://www.cyprus-property-buyers.com/f ... gs-law.pdf . (The House of Representatives is currently considering some changes to the law, but who knows how long this will take - or whether the changes will be agreed).

And as I mentioned in my earlier reply you do not own a property until you have paid the Property Transfer Fees - the local equivalent of the UK's Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) - and its Title has been registered in your name.

Can those who have bought property but do not have Title to the properties form a Management Committee? They certainly can at the Eastern end of the island, but I'm not sure about Paphos (which seems to interpret the law differently). Furthermore the need to register a committee is questionable as some Land Offices say you must, while others do not. It's a mess!

I suggest you seek clarification from your local District Lands Office (and set up your own Management Committee a.s.a.p.)

A 'memo' is lodged against the Title of a property following a court judgement against a debtor. This memo prevents the sale or transfer of a property until the debt has been repaid. Fees cannot be collected though a memo, it merely prevents the sale/transfer of a property until the debt has been repaid.

Take a look at the discussion at http://www.cyprus-property-buyers.com/f ... =18&t=1033 - which gives some advice on dealing with these issues.

Regards,