Cyprus Property Forum for Buyers, Sellers & Investors

Firstly congratulations on the site, forum et all. The quality of information offered to prospective buyers is priceless.
I trust the following helps someone else to avoid what I have endured.
Two and a half years ago (June 2005) after nearly a year of research, searching & availing myself of all information I deemed to be necessary I agreed to purchase a piece of land upon which I planned to build the family home by the end of September 2008, the date I had set for me to retire for the second time & for good (hopefully).
I agreed on price & appointed an independant lawer having declined the services of the lawyer enthusiastically offered by the (registered) estate agent.
I was assured that title deeds would be transferred to me in a matter of weeks once a few incidentals had been cleared up & that if I could see my way clear to pay for the land in full it would do the vendor a very big favour & solve the problem which had necessitated the sale of the land in the first place. On agreement via a contract of sale that certain matters would be addressed by the vendor such as securing permission for unobstructed access & grading of the access road to facilitate access by family saloon car. Clearance of all debris & grading of the land etc. etc. I agreed to pay in full to assist in my small way what I considered to be a family in need.
Two and a half years and countless e-mails, telephone calls, faxes & trips to the Island have not resulted in any tangible progress except that the only excuse for not transferring title to my name I have yet to hear is that there has been a thermo nuclear blast or tidal wave to hit the Island. The lawyers involved have it seems been a total waste of Oxygen exhibiting neglect & incompetance on an unprecedented scale.
Needless to say my contract of sale although bearing the rubber & postage stamps of the land registry department has not been lodged with them but was sent to me under the pretence that it had.
I still await news of any progress & am in touch every 3 or 4 days being given the same answer of 'next week' each time I phone or mail.
I guess the moral of the tale is to not pay for anything until such time as title is effectively in your name & agreement to transfer is secured via land registry. The system is open to vast abuse & where one would normaly expect the lawyer to work for & safeguard the clients interests this is obviously not the case in Cyprus, in fact I struggle to identify whose interests the lawyers in this case represent.
I hope this serves as a warning to others & if per chance any official or lawyer of integrity reads this & can offer advice it would be appreciated.

Hi MC and welcome.

I'm sorry to hear of your situation. I know it's of little comfort, but believe me you're not alone. I'm a member of the Cyprus Property Action Group and in the four months we've been running the website, more than 2,000 people have contacted us, expatriate & Cypriot.

We're currently writing a report for the Finance Minister, Michalis Sarris, describing the problems and our suggestions for putting things right. But when you look at the situation here, it really boils down to one basic problem - people respect money in the bank more that their good name and reputation.

I've put together a checklist, with Louise input, regarding the minimum that lawyers should do when their clients are buying property:

For all types of property

• Confirm their terms of engagement, their fees and other disbursements in writing.
  
  Confirm that the person selling the property is its legal, registered owner.
  
  Confirm that the property is free from any claims/encumbrances (such as a mortgage) and prohibitions. If the lawyer finds any encumbrances or prohibitions, they must advise buyers of the risks they present and possible steps that may be taken to protect their interests.
  
  Confirm that the vendor is in a position to deliver title of the property to the buyer.
  
  Ensure there is free and legal access to the property from a public highway.
  
  Deal with buyers' obligations to pay property taxes in a fair manner.
  
  Draft and finalise the legal contracts.
  
  Arrange for the payment of Stamp Duty and the stamping of the contact at the tax office.
  
  Deposit the signed contract at the Land Registry for Specific Performance.
  
  Ensure that the vendor pays any taxes due by him, thereby ensuring that a tax clearance certificate to be issued.
  
  Check that the property is not affected by town planning proposals.
  
  Facilitate the transfer of ownership of the property from seller to buyer and the payment of Property Transfer Fees.

For ‘off-plan’ property (property that is bought before it has been built or during construction)

• Establish the credentials and credit worthiness of the developer.
  
  Confirm that the required Town Planning Permission and Building Permits have been issued for the construction of the property.
  
  Establish that work has been completed, as reported by the developer, before handing over clients’ money.

For resale property

• Ensure that the property is shown on the Title Deed or that a Certificate of Final Approval has been issued (as appropriate).
  
  Obtain a structural survey and professional opinion on the asking price from a RICS surveyor.

For land

• Establish the precise location of the land.
  
  Establish that the land may be used for the buyers intended purpose.
  
  Obtain a survey of the land to assess its suitability for the buyers intended purpose.

For properties sharing common facilities such as entrance halls, stairways, exterior walls, swimming pool, tennis courts, gardens, etc.

• Determine whether the required administrative committee for the management of the common areas has been established.
  
  Draft and finalise the legal contracts associated with the payment of management fees and insurance of the common facilities. (This only applies to resale property as there cannot be a management committee for properties that do not exist.
  
  For off-plan purchases, provision should be made for the establishment of such a committee with responsibility for common areas resting with the developer until such time as the committee is formed).

There's probably another 101 things that should be on the list, but at least it's a start.

I hope you manage to resolve your problems - I'm surprised to hear that your contract has been stamped by the Land Registry, yet they have no record of it?

Regards

Nigel
Thanks for that. Much of what you mentioned I requested but all good info nonetheless. My contract was delivered & stamped in at land registry in 2005 but returned to the lawyers as they were unable to accept it as there was an issue outstanding with the land as they discovered. I was not told this until mid 2007 having been led to believe that my contract was safely lodged for specific performance & being told it was land registry who were holding up procedings. Not so, as I discovered when I wrote to land registry myself. I can only assume my only available course of action now is through the courts but I cannot bring myself to believe that the process will bring a just or fair or even speedy conclusion & all the time there I was for years thinking that Nigeria was the most corrupt nation on Earth.

Nigel
It has just occurred to me, would you per chance have an e-mail contact address for the Attorney Generals office. The Government web portal seems to offer contacts for complaints against all manner of ministries & departments but none for the Attorney General's office in order to lodge a complaint about a lawyer or lawyers.
Many thanks

Hi MC

If you want to file a complaint then you should write a letter to the Cyprus Bar Association's Disciplinary Board and send to their offices:

Disciplinary Board
1 APELIS
1403 Nicosia
Cyprus

For every complaint filed, you pay 40 CYP fees to the Disciplinary Board.

Or you could try the Attorney General’s Office:

Mr Petros Clerides
President of Disciplinary Committee of Lawyers
Attorney General’s Office
Law Office of the Republic
1403 Nicosia
Cyprus

(I don't have any email addresses I'm afraid)

Regards,