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107 National Land Registry Offices to Open Soon: Government Directive to Property Owners to Register by Anna Haughton, Gianna Zafeiropoulou, and Evridiki Lerou, Attorneys at Law |
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Greece has never had a central computerized system for the inventory and tracking of property. However, during the last decade, Greece has been working towards the creation of the National Land Registry (ETHNIKO KTIMATOLOGIO) in an effort to create a functional system to record property and its ownership. This system will hopefully bring Greece’s title offices into the 21st Century. The National Land Registry requirements are more stringent and detailed than the ones previously used by the Mortgage Offices. For a property owner to be recognized, they have to produce a series of current certificates, titles, e.g., which will be required to support their claim of ownership. On March 2007, the Ministry of Land Planning and Public Construction issued a new directive (9.400 of 1/28.3.2007) declaring 107 additional Municipalities that are to be surveyed and incorporated into the National Land Registry System. The Municipalities which are coming up for the required registrations are listed below. When this directive becomes effective, (which may happen in as little as two months), each of the Municipalities listed below will begin opening area based National Land Registry Offices. There will be different opening dates for each office. When filing, property owners will be directed to submit their application along with the necessary documents: official copies of deeds, recent certificates of ownership from the Mortgage Offices, e.g. Once these documents are submitted the Land Registry offices will research the documents produced by the owner and compare them with existing documents/maps and topographical data to validate the property owner’s claim. Once this is done the property owner’s documents will be listed (or rejected) by the Land Registry. The National Land Registry system will be particularly beneficial for property owners living abroad since it will help protect their property ownership. This system makes challenging a land claim much more difficult. Property owners should take the time to make sure that their “titles” are in order, so as to be prepared for when the Land Registry registration process begins. If they have acquired property through inheritance, which they have never legally claimed, (such as accepting their inheritance) or if they do not know the status of their property they need to follow up on these issues now to make sure they hold all the necessary paperwork. Failure to register the necessary documents at the National Land Registry will result in the land being registered as “of an unknown owner.” The Greek Government could within its rights, claim ownership if no other owner, with the correct paperwork and worthwhile claim, claims the land and all means of appeal have expired. What you can do to prepare: a. look through the areas listed below to see if your property is located in one of the areas and; b. look through your archives to see if you have your paperwork in order. Within the next six to eight months, if your property is located in a Municipality listed below, you will need to register your property at the Land Registry. If you take the time now to organize your documents and to follow through on any unresolved legal issues pertaining to your property, you will be ready for when these offices open. Preparation at this initial stage of the Land Registry registration process could save you from unnecessary headaches later on. PREFECTURE OF ATTICA - MUNICIPALITIES
PREFECTURE OF SALONICA - MUNICIPALITIES
OTHER AREAS OF GREECE (In these other areas of Greece, only local areas from the Municipalities are being enlisted. So, you need to be careful in determining if your property is located in these areas)
ATTORNEY CO-AUTHORS: Anna Haughton, J.D. – Member of the Massachusetts Bar Contact information: ahaughton@greeklandlaw.com, annahaught@aol.com, www.greeklandlaw.com |
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(Posting date 18 April 2008) HCS encourages readers to view other articles and releases in our permanent, extensive archives at the URL http://www.helleniccomserve.com/contents.html. |
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