selling without title deeds

[mdonnelly]

I have a property I purchased in 2008. I received a request for payment of appr 4000 euros which said was for title deeds. When I contacted the bank to enquire about this they advised that this was the 'mortgage fee for my share' and was not the actual title deeds. I do not understand what this is - can somebody please advise. Also I now wish to sell my property can I do so with having no title deeds.

[Nigel Howarth]

Hello again,

I suspect that Title Deeds are in the process of being issued. Let me see if I can explain about this charge:

When you bought the property you took out a mortgage - and at that time, your developer acted as your guarantor. This was because the property you were buying was not registered in your name and so it could not be used as collateral for the loan.

But now that the Title Deeds are in the process of being issued, your mortgage has to be registered as a claim against the property at the Land Registry. The Land Registry charge for registering a mortgage is 1% of the amount advanced under the mortgage.

So I would guess you took out a mortgage of somewhere in the region of €400,000 ? (There is also a 1% mortgage fee imposed by the Cyprus Government - this may have been added to your original loan amount).

As for selling your property without deeds, you will find it extremely difficult. But from what you say, I suspect it is just a matter of weeks before your Title Deeds will be available.

Regards,

[pafos105]

Hi Nigel,
I was just flicking through the items on the Forum and I found this message from a while ago. We are in the process of transferring our mortgage to an English bank against our home in England to reduce our enormous interest payments we are paying to Alpha bank. Does the fact that we have no mortgage of the property mean we can avoid paying this 1% fee when the time comes to transfer our title deeds. I am assuming that this fee is in addition to the transfer fee and the immovable property tax? Thanks, Helen

[Nigel Howarth]

Does the fact that we have no mortgage of the property mean we can avoid paying this 1% fee when the time comes to transfer our title deeds.

That's right Helen - as the UK mortgage will not result in a charge being placed on the property in Cyprus, you will not have to pay the 1% fee.

Regards,