The occupied properties are a disaster if we take into account that about one in five properties (19,81%) has not been declared as owned by someone, while about two hundred percent properties are claimed by two or more alleged owners.
As if all this were not enough, owners of occupied properties resort to the so-called Land Registry and, after securing copies of property titles, demand from the Land Registry to accept something that would involve recognition of the occupying authorities.
The above data were submitted yesterday before the Parliamentary Committee for Refugees by the representative of the Land Registry, Louisa Malai.
At the same time, other attendees stated that there are false statements by people who claim that some properties belong to them, without this being the case. After all, there are those who sold their properties before the Turkish invasion and emigrated, and the descendants found the titles held by their parents or grandparents before selling the properties in question, and now claim them, even if they were purchased and paid for by others without being filed with the Land Registry so that they can be transferred to the new beneficiaries.
The chairwoman of the Commission, Mr. Skevi Koukouma, stated that the owners should not be encouraged to resort to the services of the pseudo-state.
Ms. Koukouma, citing an earlier report by the director of the Land Registry, said that the disputed, ie the properties claimed by more than one alleged owner, range between 4-5% and asked to be informed "how the situation is today".
Commenting on the percentage of the disputed, Ms. Malai stated that 1,83% of the properties in Kyrenia and Famagusta are in dispute. Of these, 0,68%, which translates to 3.138 properties, is located in the province of Kyrenia, while 1,15%, corresponding to 5.275 properties, is located in Famagusta. Subsequently, Ms. Malai stated that the percentage of undeclared people in both provinces amounts to 19,81% corresponding to 91.200 properties. Asked to comment on the large percentage, he said that probably the largest percentage of them belong to Turkish Cypriots, who may not have considered it appropriate to come to the free areas to declare them.
The chairman of the Commission stated that the website of the Ministry of Interior states that the percentage of real estate of the Turkish Cypriots in the occupied areas amounts to 21%.
Ms. Koukouma suggested that a committee be set up with the participation of the local authorities of the occupiers, which, among other things, will undertake to explain to some who are claiming real estate why they do not own the specific property. In this regard, the representative of the Land Registry stated that in the past she and the mayor of Agia Irini tried to solve property problems in the form of an exercise, but found that, due to the fact that the original owners died, the number of heirs was large and impossible. to conclude with certainty who the owner was. "It is difficult and dangerous to get into the process of deciding what belongs to whom, without convincing evidence," he said.
They did not accept the pseudo-state document
Ms. Malai stated that in order to deal with the false statements with which some people claim that they own some real estate, they are asked to submit an affidavit. Some, he said, bring mortgage documents from the occupied areas (where the records of the Land Registry of the Republic remained) in order to write off mortgages or for other reasons.
Ms. Malai added: "We asked the applicants for a court order and they secured an order that we, as the Land Registry, consider to consider (the document that is presented) as an exact copy of the original copy that they brought from the occupied areas. We did not accept it and asked for an opinion from the Attorney General ".
The manager can not decide who the owner is
The representative of the Land Registry referred to a recent decision of the District Court of Nicosia - Kyrenia (concerning a disputed person) based on which it was suggested that article 61 of Law Chapter 224 limits the power of the director to exclude the resolution of disputes related to real estate. In other words, the director of the Land Registry cannot decide who is the owner of each disputed parcel (without certain conditions being met) and this despite the fact that the court recognizes with its decision “that the director retains, by law, the power to modify, correct the New Registers of the Provincial Land Registries of Famagusta and Kyrenia, which were created in accordance with the provisions of the legislation ".
Following the court decision, a circular was issued according to which in order to register in the registers of the Land Registry a disputed property in the name of anyone, there must be not only information or oral testimonies, but written consent of the co-owners and even "duly certified".
Based on the same circular, where there is no written consent of the co-owners to remove the dispute, they should be called to the offices of the Land Registry and every effort should be made to resolve the dispute and register the real owner in the new registers of the Department.
At the same time, and always on the basis of the circular, when the co-owners do not respond, or their written consent is not obtained, to inform the applicant that the issuance of a decision is beyond the responsibilities of the director of the Land Registry and that they should go to court.
Chaos with the quarrelsome
On behalf of the displaced communities of Famagusta, Mr. Giortas said that some disputed cases were settled while others were not because they concerned deliberate false statements. He also said that some who sold their properties before the invasion and emigrated, when their heirs found the old titles, claimed the properties, although there are evidence that they were sold.
Moreover, Mr. Yagou, speaking on behalf of the communities of Kyrenia, said that the older ones are leaving and the new community leaders do not know the facts of that time, so they can not or do not testify about disputes.
The director of the Equal Weight Allocation Body, Mrs. Loukia Efstathiou, answering a relevant question, stated that disputed properties are not accepted for mortgage purposes.
Ms. Koukouma pointed out that some apartments that were sold are not registered in the registers even when the company that sold them declares that they no longer belong to her.
A spokesman for the Famagusta Chamber of Commerce and Industry expressed dissatisfaction with the way state representatives operate because, he said, they are seeking evidence and evidence 45 years after the invasion. "Even if people are found to testify, they will be 80-90 years old," he said.
MPs Mariella Aristeidou and Kyriakos Hatzigiannis suggested that ways should be found to eliminate, if possible, the disputes, in order to remove both the outstanding issues and the differences between refugees.
Source: philenews / Vassos Vassilios