The Cyprus Title Deeds Problem makes it onto the UK Prime Minister’s e-Petition Website

Whether you’re a Cypriot or an ex-pat your property in Cyprus might be at risk in this recession - even if you’ve paid for it in full!
Why? Because many thousands of Cyprus residents don’t yet have their title deeds.

So, what’s the problem? Many property developers don’t start the process of getting title deeds issued because they can still use the land they’ve been paid for as security for loans. In the current economic situation, if they went bust, the bank they borrowed from has legal title to the land – and all of the property standing on it. So, if you owned a property, you might find yourself having to pay off the developer’s loan – if you could afford it – in order to get back into your own house.

To try to get the problem solved there’s a petition on the No. 10 e-petitions website asking the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to get the Cyprus Government to solve the problem.

If you want to sign it go to: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/TitleDeedsCyprus/

There has been a lot of publicity about this issue recently in the Cyprus Press and questions have been tabled in the UK House of Lords.
 

The petition reads:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to exert pressure on the Government of Cyprus to protect property rights in Cyprus in compliance with Article 17 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Cyprus is mis-described as having a property registration and ownership system based on the British Legal System. In fact it’s based on archaic Turkish law which allows the removal property ownership rights from both Cyrus and foreign nationals. It works like this: The developer builds a property, sells it, is paid in full and releases the property without providing final title deeds. They are only issued by the local authority if the developer applies for completion and has met all of the planning requirements for the project. Until they are issued the developer can use the land as collateral for further loans!

The Cyprus Land Registry figures show there are 29,949 transfers of Title Deeds to foreigners still pending and are only being issued at the rate of 1,600 a year! The numbers of Cypriots waiting for title deeds dwarfs that of the foreigners.

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