Last chance for… abandoned property. What should owners do?

In November hundreds of thousands undeclared real estate objects classified as “unknown owner” and become the property of the state.

This means that from now on they will be transferred to the statewhich, at least for now, does not have a plan for their management and use, just as it does not have a plan for the approximately 450,000 properties that were transferred to it during the crisis as a result of massive alienation of inheritance (!).

November 30, 2024 – the last date on which the owners of these properties can apply to the court to retain their undeclared assets in the Land Registry. The latest delay gives breathing space and room for maneuver to many thousands of property owners in the country's 111 regions where land registration departments are already operating, including 23 regions in Attica, to correct inaccurate first registrations and save properties.

It is noted that in these areas, according to sources knowledgeable in this matter, out of 7,090,110 rights (objects), 389,836 (5.50%) have an “unknown owner.”

They lose all rights

At this stage, it should be clarified that if the inaccurate first registrations are not corrected today, then the owners, according to current legislation, will forever lose all undeclared property rights, and then they will be able to go to court, but only to demand monetary compensation, and not for the return of property, unless the court prefers a decision on reposting instead of compensation.

Meanwhile, the state has already received 14,484 properties that were classified as “unknown owner.” These facilities are located in 36 regions of the country, where land registration was completed in 2018. Now, as the Ministry of Digital Governance says, based on the relevant law (Law 5076/2023), introduced by the responsible Deputy Minister Konstantinos Kiranakis, for this case it is possible until the end of November next year to correct the situation through the manifest error procedure.

The number of “unknown owners” is estimated to be 170,000, with the majority of them being land owners

In real terms, the areas with the largest number of “unknown owners” of properties are Koropi, Attica (almost 10,300), Thessaloniki municipality (almost 8,200), Acharnes (6,100), Mandra, Attica (5,800) and Patras (5,300) . In percentage terms, the regions with the largest number of “unknown owners” of real estate are Argolis (Elliniko) – 27.2%, Rethymnon (Prasies) – 15.6%, Messinia (Elaiochori) – 15.4% and Evrytania (Muzilo) – 14 %.

In contrast, in Florina, Kastoria, Drama and Kozani there are very few objects with an unknown owner – less than three per thousand with single digit real figures.

With the exception of the known 36 regions where registration completed in 2018 without any renewals, and recent legislation by the Ministry of Digital Governance has provided a solution for the rest of the country, properties are classified as “unknown owner” for legacy program regions if they are not registered by 31 December 2023, and for new ones (from 2008 onwards) if it is not registered within eight years from the start of the Land Registration Service.

Based on the current situation, the owner who was not included in the initial registrations can only demand monetary compensation for unjust enrichment in court. However, if it is not possible for the state to pay monetary compensation, the interested party may demand the return of the property as such (in the form of compensation).

TA NEA

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