I have just been reading about how the people in the south who had stealth mortgages applied to their property seem at last to be making a breakthrough.¹
Just as in the north, errant developers used already sold property as collateral for a mortgage or indeed in some cases multiple mortgages. This should not and could not have been possible without the collusion and connivance of lawyers and banks.
In the south, it looks as if the chickens have come home to roost for ROC banks and it is possible and indeed probable that they will have to release the charges they put on innocent purchasers homes, without their knowledge and consent and accept that these loans were taken using security the developers no longer owned and had not right to use. In effect they granted huge loan which were entirely unsecured.
Of course in he case of Akfinans Bank Limited the mortgage was very small, less than 100,000 lira (today it would be £27,000) but put a charge on the whole of the development known as K5, claiming it was only land, a claim that has been proved to be a lie. The reason the debt grew was not because of the amount borrowed, more because it started life with an outrageous interest rate of 250% p.a. later changed by a District Court Judge to 80% per quarter compound which is greater that 250% p.a
Is it time for the TRNC GOVERNMENT TO PICK UP the baton and run with it. Is it time for the Government to tell all the banks who gave stealth mortgages “You were wrong, remove all the charges on innocent people’s homes and chase the developer for your money”. Is it time for Central Bank to step in and tell the banks to stop behaving badly.
Enough with lawyers and advocates getting rich on the misery of the victims. Enough with pushing the victims into an early grave. How many more of us must die without obtaining justice?
The TRNC Government can put this right in one fell swoop. So why don’t they?
Source
¹ http://cyprus-mail.com/2015/03/12/our-view-voices-of-reason-at-last-on-title-deeds-debacle/
Pauline Ann Read
The link is not working above.
Interesting reading the article in CM and the following comments that the practice of giving mortgages against already sold properties is not against the law. Can anyone give a definitive on the legal position in the rest of EU? Also any view of what ECHR would make of this nonsense?
I cannot understand why this practice is considered legal in Cyprus, or indeed anywhere. It is theft, fraud and grossly immoral in the view of everyone I know.
CIH, I believe that when a mortgage is placed on a property all those with an interest must agree, even in Cyprus.
You are correct Dom. unfortunately the Tapu, lawyers and banks have conspired to keep the real owners in the dark. I call it the Mushroom In Cyprus Syndrome MICS and they have taken the Micsy once too often.
Thank you Malcolm.