Amendments to the Transfer and Mortgage of Property Law Ν. 9/1965 concerning the Mortgage to Rent Scheme.
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Cyprus Parliament modifies the Transfer and Mortgage of Property Law Ν. 9/1965 in order to suspend the foreclosure process in cases where mortgagors apply to the Mortgage to Rent scheme.
On 25 January 2024, the Plenary of the House of Representatives introduced the Transfer and Mortgage of Property (Amended) Law of 2024 (the Law) which allows the suspension of the foreclosure process of the primary residence of a mortgagor, by applying to join the Mortgage to Rent Scheme without the need to be approved to the scheme. The Mortgage to Rent Scheme is a governmental initiative designed to assist borrowers facing the risk of losing their primary residence due to the arrears on their debt.
A submission to join the Mortgage to Rent Scheme provides the mortgagor or any other interested party with an additional ground for filing an application/appeal to the district court within 45 days from the day of receipt of notice type IA, in order to set aside the notice and the sale of a mortgaged property until the examination of the said application is completed.
According to the aforementioned amendments, the Law provides protection to the primary residences and gives the right to the applicant to suspend the sale of his mortgaged property. It is noted that 600 applications have already been submitted to date in order to join the Mortgage to Rent Scheme.
Moreover, the protection extends to applicants who were initially rejected from the Mortgage to Rent Scheme in cases where a rejected applicant appeals the decision.
On the one hand, the amendments which have been recently approved by the Parliament empower mortgagors to contest the sale of mortgaged properties through additional legal measures and seeks to contribute to the stability of the financial system. However, on the other hand, those amendments could be used abusively or in bad faith by a number of borrowers and mortgagors which are not eligible to join the Scheme, with the aim to delay and suspend the foreclosure process of their mortgaged property.
By Margarita Avraam
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