Certificate of non-payment of communal charges by the administrator or the management office will now be required by those wishing to proceed with property transfers, under the government’s plan. The measure is aimed at addressing chronic problems with common property debts.
It is an additional certificate, equivalent to a tax and insurance certificate, which will be presented to the notary to ensure that the property is not burdened with debts to the state, the National Insurance Fund, or the condominium.
The Ministry of Development is considering a relevant request, which was submitted in a joint letter by the president of POMIDA, Stratos Paradias, and the president of the Coordinating Committee of Notary Associations of Greece, Lena Kontogeorgou.
The proposal stipulates that each transfer contract should be accompanied by a solemn declaration from the manager, certifying the absence of common charges debts for the property to be transferred. If there is no manager or if he/she refuses to issue the declaration, the seller will submit an affidavit with the same content to the notary.
The aim is to reduce non-payment of common charges, which often unfairly burdens other co-owners of condominiums. The problem occurs most often in cases of sales by foreign owners who leave behind debts that buyers refuse to cover
As stated in the letter from representatives of owners and notaries, “the problem faced daily by condominium managers – whether private individuals or professional management firms – is the refusal of a portion of owners and tenants to pay their common charges. Litigation is time-consuming and costly in relation to the amounts owed, with the result that managers have to cover the shortfalls from the condominium’s reserves and, when these are exhausted, ask the consistent co-owners to cover the debts of the inconsistent ones, which leads to tensions and dysfunction of the condominium.”
The problem becomes more acute when an inconsistent owner sells his property, leaving unpaid debts that the new owner does not assume, based on legal provisions (Articles 525 and 965 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
According to notaries and owners, the problem has been exacerbated by property purchases by foreign individuals and companies, often through the Golden Visa program, who fail to pay utilities and provide contact information to administrators. As they often have no other assets in Greece, when they finally sell the property, they escape paying the common charges, with the burden falling on the other co-owners.
The Consumer General Secretariat is working on the details of the plan and will soon submit the proposal to Takis Theodoricakos, the minister in charge.
