Using Your Property In Greece Vital Against Trespassers
By Christos ILIOPOULOS*
Most people who buy or own real estate property in Greece, believe that if they have their deeds on the properties properly done at the notary’s office, and registered at the land registry, they have safeguarded their ownership on the properties no matter what. However, reality in Greece could be somehow different. Yes, the deeds, titles and survey maps of the properties are very important for the owner of the property. Possession of such deeds, contracts and topographic plans (survey maps) by the owner are very significant for the owner’s ability to prove to any authority, court or third party (like, real estate agents) that they own the property and what are the specific characteristics of the property, including its surface in square meters of the land, the plot and / or of the house or apartment, its boundaries, possibly names of neighbors etc.
The deeds, though, the titles and the survey maps only, may not be enough for the owner to protect his/her property in the long run from trespassers or others, who may claim all types of rights on the same property. The main risk a property owner may face is potential claims of adverse possession by a third party on his own property. The nature of the adverse possession claim is that someone claims that he/she has a right on a certain piece of property, without having titles and legal deeds about this property. The foundation of an adverse possession claim is basically the argument that someone has been using the property in question for a certain period of years, acting towards others as the owner of the property and that such long usage has given him/her property rights through adverse possession, even if he/she does not have titles on the property, because he/she never purchased it or never had it legally transferred to him/her by a third party.
The legal owner of a land, plot, house or an apartment, who has paid money to buy it, has signed notarial deeds with the seller, and has also registered the deed of purchase with the local land registry, is not 100% safe from adverse possession claims by a third party, if the owner does not exercise his/her property rights in practice every day, every month, or at least every few years. This can be done either in person, or through proxies, who act on the owner’s behalf. One may have paid money to buy a property in Greece, may have signed the most perfect and accurate deeds, which are registered with the tax office (E9 form) and the land registry, having also done a very modern survey map. But if he/she does not visit the property, does not inspect it from time to time, does not check on trespassers, does not make sure that the boundaries are not changed, or that the house has not been occupied by third parties who may have also changed the locks, runs a risk of losing the ownership of the property if the case goes to court.
The longer a property is left unattended by its owner and the longer the legal owner does not check its actual status, the more significant the risk is to face an adverse possession claim by a third party. This is the reason why the owner – foreign resident of a property located in Greece, must visit the property as often as possible, and take pictures of its present condition, of its boundaries, of the parts of the building or of the trees in it. The owner must also make sure he/she keeps all the receipts for expenses done for the management of the property, including receipts from workers, developers, builders etc. who have done any type of work on the property. The receipts must state the name of the owner as the person who paid the expenses for all sorts of work done at the property or for the property. If the owner rents the land to a tenant for cultivation or for pasture rental, a lease / rental agreement must be signed clearly mentioning who is the owner of the property, who is entitled to receive the rent, in whatever form this rent may be.
If the owner of the property can’t visit it very often, he/she must instruct or request trusted persons on the spot, acting on behalf of the owner, to inspect it periodically and to check that its boundaries, fences, doors and other identification elements of the property have not been damaged or changed and that there are no signs of trespass.
*Christos ILIOPOULOS, attorney at
the Supreme Court of Greece , LL.M.
e-mail: bm-bioxoi@otenet.gr
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