New Property Registration Law in North Cyprus

davidoff


Joined: 21/04/2007
Posts: 438

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 17:52

Hi all,



Recently noticed this information in an alternative forum and just wanted to make sure all people buying in NC were aware of the changes:



'The new Estate Agency Law which has been passed to monitor and keep under strict regulations all those who are involved in the selling and marketing of properties. is aimed at safeguarding and securing your interests in the property which you have purchased until the time that you are able to register the title deeds of the property into your name.'



'It will further ensure that no bank charges, or mortgages can be placed on the land without your written consent as the purchaser'.







'The process requires that all Sales Agreements are deposited to the Land Registry Office within 21 days of signing by the Estate Agent or developer. However all Sales Agreements signed before the passing of this new law have 3 months from the date the Law was passed (until 1st March 2008)in which to complete the necessary procedure and deposit the Sales Agreement to the Land Registry Office. All purchasers are legally required to fulfil this obligation, and currently The Land Registry Office has advised that the legal representative of such purchaser may complete this procedure on their behalf together with a specific Power of Attorney. In the event that your Sales Agreement is not deposited to the Land Registry Office within the specified time period, it will cause you problems when you come to transferring the title deeds of the property into your name, as the Land Registry will not permit you to transfer the deeds into your name unless a new sales agreement is drawn up, signed and re-stamped and deposited. Thus incurring higher taxes'.





'In order for us to carry out this procedure on your behalf it is necessary for us to obtain a new Power of Attorney stating the specific law to which the power of attorney applies to, allowing us to submit your Sales Agreement to the Land Registry Office. The Power of Attorney must be written in Turkish and must be signed at the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Consulate in London, and the original posted to our office in the TRNC. We will not be able to complete this procedure unless the POA is witnessed in this way and until the original POA is received by our office. When sending you the POA we will also send a translation in English so to enable you to understand the content of it.'



A fee of £250.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Great British Pounds) is currently payable for the depositing of each Sales Agreement inclusive of the relevant taxes and duties payable to the Land Registry Office at the time of depositing each Sales Agreement.





The contact details of the TRNC Consulate are as follows:





29, Bedford Square



London WCIB 3EG







Tel: 0207 631 1920



Fax: 0207 631 1948







Opening times: 10.00am until 13.30pm Monday to Friday





Take care-D

davidoff


Joined: 21/04/2007
Posts: 438

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 17:55

Hi all,



I phoned the trnc office today and spoke to a poliute lady in the legals department who said that this is correct!



You need to get your solicitor to deal with it for you in north cyprus if you have given them power of attourney already as it needs to be registered in kyrenia and not in the uk!



Take care-D

pilgrim



Joined: 11/05/2007
Posts: 1404

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 18:56

Does this apply to purchases already waiting for permission and deeds that applications were sent to land registry nearly 3years ago and still waiting.

davidoff


Joined: 21/04/2007
Posts: 438

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 20:19

Hi pilgrim,



Im not sure but phone the trnc embassy on 0207 631 1920 and ask for sarap from legals she seems very helpful!!



Take care-D

McSteviet



Joined: 11/05/2007
Posts: 1089

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 21:56

Davina,



This sounds like a major issue, thanks for the info.



Steve



PS glad to see you back after a while

lippylush


Joined: 29/12/2006
Posts: 197

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 22:12

Can I just check with all of you 'in the know' by sales agreement you mean the 'contract' is that all the legal paperwork required to register the document in kyrenia and are we able to do this ourselves in person. Does this also mean that we will need to pay 'stamp duty' at the same time?



regards Sue and Dave

McSteviet



Joined: 11/05/2007
Posts: 1089

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 22:15

Sue & Dave,



Good question and I'd like to hear everyones opinion, but I need to contact my Lawyer tomorrow for clarification/action.



Steve

suntanman



Joined: 18/04/2007
Posts: 721

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 22:36

There seems to be some confusion here!

davidoff, what you were told on the phone by the nice lady at TRNC legals dept. seems to contradict what is being said in the original message.

From what I have read, we appear to need a new Power of Attorney (in Turkish) relating specifically to the new law, which can only be signed and stamped in person at the TRNC Consulate in London.

I have contacted my Solicitor today, and she is sending the new POA with further instructions.

I will keep you all posted.

pilgrim



Joined: 11/05/2007
Posts: 1404

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 23:00

davidoff, many thanks will do tomorrow.

regards

p

Dusterbruce


Joined: 03/08/2007
Posts: 1125

Message Posted:
23/01/2008 23:06

Suntanman



Are you saying that everyone in UK who is buying a property in North Cyprus has to travel to the KKTC Consulate in London in person?



For me that would be a 400 mile round trip. I'm sure for others it would be more.

davidoff


Joined: 21/04/2007
Posts: 438

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 01:43

Hi all,



I know Im a bit confused aswell as she asked me if I had a solicitor in NC and if they had power of attourney and she said if they had then they could do it for me in kyrenia!



I asked her if to save the hassle etc could I come to the london office to do it and she said no It had to be registered in kyrenia only!!



So from the article originally posted it does seem to contradict it so after speaking direct to the trnc embassy/consulate I am taking their word for it!



I have also contacted my solicitor and will wait for her response also!



Sorry I couldnt be of more help right now as this is all new to me also!



Oh well at least one way or the other we know that it needs to be done!!



Take care-D

Dusterbruce


Joined: 03/08/2007
Posts: 1125

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 09:14

Thanks Davidoff. I will phone this lady today and also my solicitor in Kyrenia. I will be in Kyrenia before the deadline date so hopefully can sort something.



Thanks again

Milou


Joined: 15/10/2007
Posts: 425

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 10:16

When we bought last February we had an option of paying 0.5 percent stamp duty if we did this at the time of signing instead of the 1.5 percent - surely this means that we have already registered at the land registry. Do they propose that thousands of us should turn up in London in the nex 2 months - we live in West Yorkshire! Furthermore, didn't we all give Power of Attorneys to deal with our purchase which should include registration?



As and when anyone finds out, pleae keep the rest of us informed - many thanks.

Milou


Joined: 15/10/2007
Posts: 425

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 10:20

UK Turk



I keep telling my husband that you know everything! He's just informed me that you don't know everything as you can't fix our forum! I defended you with my life - love you

Milou

Dusterbruce


Joined: 03/08/2007
Posts: 1125

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 13:54

I spoke to Sarap at the KKTC consulate earlier who repeated much the same as above, we need to contact our solicitors in KKTC to ascertain if the powers of attorney already granted will cover what is required.

Failing this, a personal trip to London is not required. You need to find a Notary Public locally to you who can draw up another p o a ,sign it and witness it, then it can be posted to the KKTC Consulate.



Nothing is ever straightforward when dealing with North Cyprus, one of the things I love about it I suppose

McSteviet



Joined: 11/05/2007
Posts: 1089

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 13:57

I have contacted my solicitor this morning in TRNC and I await a reply, which I will share with you all when received.



Maybe we can compare replies from the same Law firms, to ensure they are taking a consistant approach.



Steve

paul90


Joined: 07/11/2007
Posts: 350

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 14:04

Received following email from Naomi Mehmet today:



"Thank you for your email. The information contained in your email is broadly correct. We are currently in the process of contacting all of our clients one by one to inform them of the new regulations and the procedures involved. You will appreciate that we have a large number of clients in the same situation so we are unable to reply to individual requests for further information at this time. You will receive full details in due course."

davidoff


Joined: 21/04/2007
Posts: 438

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 14:27

Hi all,



Glad to hear were all getting their and helping to piece it all together!!!



Also I wish my solicitors were as prompt and polite as yours- But unfortunately they always repl saying "SLOWLY, SLOWLY" Which basically means if ever and whenever we are ready and feel like it!!!!!!!!!!



Take care all-D

jacko


Joined: 20/11/2007
Posts: 193

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 17:03

Hi all



contacted my solicitor yesterday and he came back to today and has informed me of the following so i hope this helps some of you so that youcan compare it with other responses. I must admit im abit p....d off as i was never given the option of paying within 28 days by my solicitor at the rate of 0.5% so do you think that it may be (which i hope not) that they are making abit more money out of us



""Yes, a new law passed effective from 1.1.08 to register the contract of sale with Lands District Offices to protect your rights of specific performance against the vendors, but at the same time to ask you to stamp your contract of sale at the Tax Office and collect more Taxes. The date you signed you will be asked to pay 1% of the purchase price plus registration charges about £150. I will not join the last few sentences as no-one seems to be in hurry but still this is the law and you should do it sooner or later and if we do not do it soon your charges will increase to 1,5%. Thanks.""



Jacko

davidoff


Joined: 21/04/2007
Posts: 438

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 17:45

Hi all,



I was never told about the option of 0.5% straight away either instead of paying 1.5 % later on!!!



Also I contacted my developers sweetwater bay and asked them about the registration process!



BASICALLY all estate agents and developers had a deadline last year to apply for a licence to trade etc!!

Which is good news as this process will sift out alot of unauthorised developers , builders and agents who arent permitted or legal to trade, build or sell property in NC -SO FROM THAT ANGLE ITS A HUGE POSITIVE FOR THE PROTECTION OF PURCHASERS!!!



Once they have been authorised to trade in NC by the trnc government they get a licence number and certificate which means they are legally aloud to trade in NC !!!



My developer has this certificate and she said that what happens is they forward a copy of the licence number and certificate to my solicitor who will then take my sales contract and the licence certificate to kyrenia to get it all stamped and logged onto the system officially!



Hope this helps abit!

I know most of us will get slightly different responses but Im sure it all more or less means the same!!



NOW THE HARD PART IS GETTING MY SOLICITOR TO DO THIS FOR ME ON TIME AS THATS THE REAL CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!!1



Take care-D

lippylush


Joined: 29/12/2006
Posts: 197

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 18:15

Well this has been so helpful but still doesn't answer the question about whether your PTP is needed before you can register the contract. Also what if the contractor/builder hasn't applied for a licence to trade etc? If the building is finished how then can you register the contract? Any answers would be appreciated.Dave is busy trying to contact Solictior while I'm busy at work.



Sue and Dave

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 22:44

Received this from my solicitor yesterday so thought it might answer some of the questions being asked.

Dear Client,

I am writing to update you about a new law which has been put into effect in the TRNC as of 1ST January 2008. It is part of the new Estate Agency Law which has been passed to monitor and keep under strict regulations all those who are involved in the selling and marketing of properties. This new law is aimed at safeguarding and securing your interests in the property which you have purchased until the time that you are able to register the title deeds of the property into your name.



It will further ensure that no bank charges, or mortgages can be placed on the land without your written consent as the purchaser.







As a law firm we are confident that It will prove to be a very important and beneficial law to all purchasers.







The process requires that all Sales Agreements are deposited to the Land Registry Office within 21 days of signing by the Estate Agent or developer. However all Sales Agreements signed before the passing of this new law have 3 months from the date the Law was passed (however please ensure to submit the POA to us by 1st March 2008 to give us time to prepare the documents and deposit the agreements)in which to complete the necessary procedure and deposit the Sales Agreement to the Land Registry Office. All purchasers are legally required to fulfil this obligation, and currently The Land Registry Office has advised that the legal representative of such purchaser may complete this procedure on their behalf together with a specific Power of Attorney. In the event that your Sales Agreement is not deposited to the Land Registry Office within the specified time period, it will cause you problems when you come to transferring the title deeds of the property into your name, as the Land Registry will not permit you to transfer the deeds into your name unless a new sales agreement is drawn up, signed and re-stamped and deposited. Thus incurring higher taxes.







In order for us to carry out this procedure on your behalf it is necessary for us to obtain a new Power of Attorney stating the specific law to which the power of attorney applies to, allowing us to submit your Sales Agreement to the Land Registry Office. The Power of Attorney must be written in Turkish and must be signed at the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Consulate in London, and the original posted to our office in the TRNC. We will not be able to complete this procedure unless the POA is witnessed in this way and until the original POA is received by our office. When sending you the POA we will also send a translation in English so to enable you to understand the content of it.







A fee of £250.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Great British Pounds) is currently payable for the depositing of each Sales Agreement inclusive of the relevant taxes and duties payable to the Land Registry Office at the time of depositing each Sales Agreement.







The contact details of the TRNC Consulate are as follows:







29, Bedford Square



London WCIB 3EG







Tel: 0207 631 1920



Fax: 0207 631 1948







Opening times: 10.00am until 13.30pm Monday to Friday







I do realise that this will prove to be time consuming for all involved, however it is a very important development in terms of making your property purchase in the TRNC even more secure, and giving you that extra peace of mind, and opportunity to enjoy your investment to the fullest.







Please kindly confirm if you are happy for us to complete this procedure on your behalf. Within a couple of days of receiving your confirmation your Power of Attorney will be prepared according to the names of the purchasers on your Sales Agreement and emailed to you. Once you have signed the POA at the TRNC Consulate and posted to us please email and let

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
24/01/2008 22:54

Sorry,

just noticed its the same as Davidof's post. Well maybe we all needed to read it twice?

davidoff


Joined: 21/04/2007
Posts: 438

Message Posted:
25/01/2008 00:06

Hi all,



Dont worry Im sure we are all confused enough anyway!!



Im sure well all have this pieced together by the end of the week!!!



Many heads, thoughts and minds are better than one!!!



Take care-D

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
25/01/2008 00:11

As I understand it, this means that people have to travel all the way to London to the TRNC consulate? I'm lucky enough to be going over there 1st week in Feb so hopefully will be able to organise everything from there. Bit of a bind to have to travel to London for those living north. It does however appear to be a step in the right direction in terms of making it safer to buy in the TRNC.

Sue

Dusterbruce


Joined: 03/08/2007
Posts: 1125

Message Posted:
25/01/2008 10:14

I will repeat what I was told by the lady in the legals dept at the TRNC office.

It is NOT necessary to travel personally to the office in London if you can get a NOTARY PUBLIC in your locality to draw up this poa and witness your signature on it. It can then be mailed to the TRNC office in London.

paul90


Joined: 07/11/2007
Posts: 350

Message Posted:
25/01/2008 10:39

Hi Dusterbruce / Bradus

Reading the letter from Dusterbruces' solicitor it is clear that the signed/witnessed POA must be sent to the Land Registry in TRNC.

If it is true that we can get a local Notary to witness the signature then surely there is no need to send the POA to the London office - it can go straight back to our solicitor in TRNC who will lodge it in TRNC and pay the £250.



Or I am I missing something???



The £250 is said to include taxes and duties - does this include Stamp Duty at 0.5%.



Any thoughts??

spook


Joined: 23/01/2008
Posts: 244

Message Posted:
25/01/2008 11:43

It never ceases to amaze me that here we have what is perhaps the most significant development in the property market and if we did not have access to this and other boards would we have known?

There again appears to be a total lack of information from this government, they now have a web site which could have been used to publish a full explanation and offer advice as to what actions should be taken,why has there been no press coverage or of more concern i would have thought that this would have prompted some form of comment from the HBPG.

My feelings are that this may open up a whole new can of worms, if every contract now has to scruitinised before it can be stamped and registered we may find out the true extent of what has been going on i.e how many plots have been mortaged,given as security,double sold,built on without all the necesary permissions etc etc this may well be why certain "solicitors" have unless pressed failed so far to advise their clients of the action they should take, i can imagine that the s**t may hit the fan in many cases if they have to reveal all the facts, would there be a case for suing your "solicitor" if anything of this nature is revealed?

My own situation is that i am still awaiting answers to my emails, i like so many other purcasers was not advised that the contract should have been lodged within 28 days, this is no doubt because they failed to tell me that i should have had my PTP before i signed, as far as i understand the situation has always been that you could not lodge your contract until you had your PTP.

The other frustration i am suffering is that whilst the leval of "stamp duty" has been set by the govenment for the " late filing" they have made no attemt to limit the charges that we may face, this gives the legal "profession" another liecense to print money, surely there could have been some agreement via "BARO" for a flat fee that all "solicitors" would charge.

I also feel that we need far more clarification with regard to the Power of Attorney situation i e many of us will have given this to our "solicitors" why should we have to undertake this again the practicalites of having to undertake this are enormous, from where i live it may be cheaper to hop over to the TRNC rather than Travel to London, or do i just wait until my next visit to the TRNC ? as far as i can see there is no extra "stamp duty" to pay if i do not complete the reg within the stated time.

Dusterbruce


Joined: 03/08/2007
Posts: 1125

Message Posted:
25/01/2008 11:43

It is not my solicitor's letter above it is Bradus.



In my post above I am only repeating what I was told by the lady in the legals dept at the TRNC consulate in London.



Admittedly if the original POA is lodged with the Land Registry in Cyprus I cannot really see the necessity of having a copy in London but who knows?



I will be seeing my solicitor in Cyprus next month so hopefully I will be able to sort it then for myself. I realise this doesnt help all you people but I can report back when I return and relay what has happened in my case.

Geoff1131


Joined: 12/07/2007
Posts: 276

Message Posted:
25/01/2008 21:20

Hi if anyone is interested there is quite a good post full of information about this on TRNC villa owners.com forum. (phpbb) I asked Ismet who is the local Ukturk, and he has come up with a lot of information that I think everyone should be aware of.

Milou


Joined: 15/10/2007
Posts: 425

Message Posted:
26/01/2008 14:34

Geoff1131



I can't find it - can you give us a link please.



Regards

paul90


Joined: 07/11/2007
Posts: 350

Message Posted:
26/01/2008 14:35

This should be it:

http://trncvillaowners.phpbb3now.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1664&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
26/01/2008 14:36

http://trncvillaowners.phpbb3now.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1664



Hope this helps Milou

Milou


Joined: 15/10/2007
Posts: 425

Message Posted:
27/01/2008 11:45

Paul90 and Bradus



Thank again, I have looked at the site - I think it's a good thing to have the sales agreement registered but I am still not sure whether we need to go to TRNC office in London - I'll email my solicitor



Thank you

Geoff1131


Joined: 12/07/2007
Posts: 276

Message Posted:
27/01/2008 12:13

Hi Milou, sorry I have'nt been on computer for a couple of days, but see you must have got the link. Just been on Villa Owners again and there is another bit of information there saying 'if your contract is already stamped it would be possible for someone to take it to the Land Registry for you to have it registered' the cost for this is about 45ytl.

spook


Joined: 23/01/2008
Posts: 244

Message Posted:
28/01/2008 00:14

Everyone should read the press notice just posted on the offical HBPG web site before taking any further action

spook


Joined: 23/01/2008
Posts: 244

Message Posted:
28/01/2008 03:51

PLEASE SEE MY PREVIOUS POST - DO READ THE STATEMENT POSTED ON THE OFFICAL HOME BUYERS PRESSURE GROUP SITE http://www.hbpg-trnc.net/

spook


Joined: 23/01/2008
Posts: 244

Message Posted:
28/01/2008 03:52

PLEASE SEE MY PREVIOUS POST - DO READ THE STATEMENT POSTED ON THE OFFICAL HOME BUYERS PRESSURE GROUP SITE http://www.hbpg-trnc.net/

Milou


Joined: 15/10/2007
Posts: 425

Message Posted:
28/01/2008 11:43

Geoff1131



Thanks for the information, I'll contact my solicitors.

Regards

wynyardman



Joined: 15/12/2007
Posts: 4580

Message Posted:
19/02/2008 11:18

Hi All,



The HBPB state that buyers have to pay the builders 0.5% Stamp Duty when requested.

IT IS THE VENDORS responsibility to pay the Stamp duty plus any late payment penalties to the TAX OFFICE. Quote Law 19/1963. THEY STATE RESIST ANY DEMANDS for any amounts in excess of the 0.5%.



What happens if the builders do not pay over the TAX? It is Estate Agents law that is supposed to protect the homebuyers from unscrupulous builders by registering a charge on the property at the Land Registry? Clarification anyone?