A case, of vital importance to all purchasers of property in Cyprus. It is essential that all owners of immovable property know and understand not only their obligations but also their legal rights as owners of immovable property in Cyprus.
Recently, G KOUZALIS LLC had a profound victory in the lawsuit with action number 1472/2011 at the Famagusta District Court under the company name Seldemosa.
Our legal team fought this case on behalf of our clients, who purchased a property and sought their title deeds. A court order was filed ordering the issuance of the title deeds on behalf of our client, however, a local bank issued a temporary court order to prohibit the transfer of the deeds after we have launched the contract with the land registry. There was no connection of the money owed and this property. The original owner (Developer) owed the bank for some other matter, and the bank tried to link the property with other loans.
Due to the existence of two opposing court orders, the officer from the District Land Registry Office requested the court to give instructions how to proceed. The court following the hearing decided the following:
“The Contract of Sale, as an encumbrance created earlier than the temporary Court Order (which was prohibiting the sale of the property) precedes the 2nd prohibition and it has priority over it”.
In simple terms, the court rules that the purchaser cannot be prevented from taking full title deeds of the property, because the order to prohibit the transfer came after the deposition of the contract of sale, according to the ‘Sale of Property (Specific performance) Law 2011, Article 8 (1).
Therefore as long as your contract is registered before any prohibition orders, loans, memos or other encumbrances, by banks, or tax authorities you cannot be prohibited from taking your title deeds.
If you would like any further information or would like advise on how to proceed, please do not hesitate to contact us.