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Help for problems with common expenses

property

By Antonis Loizou FRICS

Our protests about the non-functional common expenses law and other related legal disputes are well known. While the issue is very serious and its results are obvious (non-maintenance of apartment buildings, non-functionality of common services, social problems between owners, etc.) we do not see any action on the part of the state and this inaction will soon find us in a situation similar to that we saw with the delay in issuance of license/titles etc., where the intervention of the EU and the local pressure group woke us up.

After 20 years or so, there is now an attempt by the Legislation Commissioner for a new common expenses legislation and it may be an opportunity to include it in the new expected bill to introduce the institution of small claims court.

The days of ‘all matters’ courts are over and in the real estate sector we believe that we urgently need:

Court of Land Matters – which will include expropriations, real estate disputes etc.

Small Claims Courts – even with a maximum claim of ±€20,000 that examines various issues, such as damage to property, accidents, minor medical omissions, etc. Common expenses disputes with hundreds/thousands of pending cases.

These courts to handle in summary proceedings without necessarily having lawyers which will reduce drastically the costs. If we follow the example of the British Lands Tribunal, or Magistrates’ Courts and that of the American Small Claims Court system, decisions are issued immediately and for the most part at the end of the hearing.

For the above court restructuring, large public funds are not needed, because there will be a partial reclassification of judges and recruitment of new ones with some kind of specialisation.

Perhaps the system of hearings at court needs some kind of ‘modernisation’ so the system is not abused by witnesses, litigants, lawyers with endless ‘speeches’.

Employing judges by type of court in the above areas of specialisation is the best place to start. The salary of these judges should be the normal one but should also increase according to the number of decisions and with a reduction in the case of wrong decisions where these are decided by the appeals court.

There should also be some clear message that the party that ‘loses’ also pays all the costs of the opposite side and the court cost.

These are some of the ‘hot’ issues that concern the citizens of this Republic and for the presidential candidates to express their views and not only to concentrate primarily on the trivial matters and other political issues.

For us who are not lawyers but we are involved as expert witnesses in numerous legal matters concerning real estate, it is a starting point for discussion.

We expect the progressive (really who are they?) political parties and organised groups to submit proposals. We also expect the scientific chamber Etek to have some input as well as property owners/developers and others. We also expect the auditor general to intervene on the matter because it is also about the poor functioning of the courts and the waste of public money (when the Republic owes at least ½ billion in expropriations that are pending and for which it pays interest).

Do you think any of these suggestions will be heard? No, because our wrong mentality here with the main blame lying at the feet of all the political parties that have little interest in the proper functioning of the Republic.

 

Antonis Loizou & Associates EPE – Real Estate Appraisers & Development Project Managers, www.aloizou.com.cy, [email protected],cy

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