A Personal Assesment of the Legal Situation About Property

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 15:27

Before I say anything I would like to emphasize that I am not a lawyer and never had any official training in law. However I have been interested in law since the year 1961 when my mother had a civil case against her. I wrote her defence and then left for England. The case was thrown out by the court at the first opportunity. After that I had a very good track record both in England (taxman and traffic) and in Cyprus (Administrative, Constitutional, traffic, civil litigation). So be warned and consult your own advocate before you take any action.



1. Specific Performance Law (Chapter 232). According to this archaic law you cannot sue for titledeeds unless you bring an action within two months of the date of the contract. Thus your only remedy is to sue for damages. This is the general prevailing view amongst lawyers and the judges. I beg to differ.

If, as in most cases, the title deeds were not ready to be transferred to the buyer when the contract was signed,

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 15:28

this law is not applicable i.e. for all intents and purposes it does not exist. Therefore we can rely on the Contracts law which allows for an action for specific performance. This should be possible once chapter 232 is considered null and void in this instance and therefore should not hinder the application of the contract law in the general sense. I am aware that this is a very radical thinking and your advocate should be able to argue this point thoroughly and if need be must be prepared to appeal to the higher court.

2. Registration of contracts with the Land Registry Office. Once you get this done, the vendor cannot sell or mortgage your share of the land however any previous mortgage on it has priority. So if you have your contract registered, your vendor cannot sell or mortgage it. Thus if you have a dispute with the developer and wants to sell it to someone else, he will have to go to court first and have the sale agreement considered null and void because of your serious

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 15:29

breach. This is not an easy task especially if the developer is at fault as well. The general rule is that the plaintiff must go to court “with clean hands”.

3. Breach of Contract by the Developer. Suppose the developer is very late in delivering the keys to you and you give up hope. You can sue him for breach of contract and ask for rent. If the developer has breached the contract in any other way to your detriment, you can sue him for that too. I am sure the developer will threaten you with no title deeds since now everybody is aware of the Specific Performance Law. Even if you cannot force him to transfer the title deeds to you (which I dispute as explained above), nevertheless he cannot sell it to others. Indeed, if the title deeds are ready for transfer, one should test my argument as explained above. So if

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 15:35

you sue a developer for breach of contract, it does not mean that you may lose the property you paid for. You do not have to accept to give back the property and accept compensation. As long as you had the keys, he cannot take it back from you. If you have not had the keys yet, he may be ordered to pay you a monthly rent for not delivering the keys to you as stated in your contract. So in my view it is about time to deal with unscrupulous developers.

ismet

http://www.elkocyprus.com

petez


Joined: 04/12/2008
Posts: 560

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 15:48

Thanks for the advice Ismet.. .

catalkoykid


Joined: 15/02/2009
Posts: 1190

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 16:16

excuse the pun but this has not come as a shock you would find a loophole lol

pinkchilli


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 689

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 17:09

Does Mrs. Elko agree with you?

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 17:26

As an advocate she has to be more conservative. Of course at the end of the day its your money and you have to decide after evaluating all the risks.

ismet

banjo


Joined: 28/01/2009
Posts: 113

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 18:49

It's always a pleasure to read your answers, or in this case assesment. Thank you.

Moover321


Joined: 11/04/2009
Posts: 649

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 19:26

Salaams Izmet!



I am not entirely sure in your point 1. Specific Performace - whether 'common law' would allow moving from the particuar law 'apparently' designed to deal with the issue and move it to the general law on contracts.



Secondly, as a lawyer my primary advice to anyone is to use the law as a last resort not only becasue it is time consuming and expensive but it generally fails to deliver true 'justice'.



My concern about the TRNC having now been here for just over 3 months is that the law is in a "state of chaos" by which I mean uncertainty in the land and property transactions - and where there is chaos you will find many who will many unscrupulous people taking advantage of the more shall we say, less informed people.



What I and I am sure many cannot get their heads around is that by having the system that exists here it is not doing any favours to anybody be it local CT or foreigners but more importantly than that, if they a coherent system the investment...cont

Moover321


Joined: 11/04/2009
Posts: 649

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 19:33

..the investment that would likely come in to the TRNC would outstrip anything some are making through shall we say foul means!



The economy would benefit and so everyone would benefit.



The same applies to the rules and regulations governing opening a business here...



To me it seems odd that a country that could be the envy of most others in the Med is taking the low road.



Finally, to round off the point about the law - take good advice from everyone, understand how the systems works (or doesn't) and the apply a large dose of commonsense to your particular situation before diving in to any kind of agreement with anyone!



The old adage: 'Caveat Emptor' should be kept in mind at ALL times!

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 20:43

Ismet



You and I attended the Bar Council meeting a few weeks ago at the Pia Bella Hotel and if your memory serves you correctly, as mine is somewhat diminished, there would be a reply to all Emails, Fax's etc to all enquires. I'm still waiting for a reply from the fax I fired off to them later on that day! What a bunch of self-serving liars!



Richard

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 23:04

Issmet



You're on line, please reply!

An organisation not fit for purpose!



Richard

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 23:09

Richard,

Looking at the past performances of successive TRNC governments, I would go further and say that they are not fit to govern. In the past I hated UBP for they way they governed on an individual basis rather than on principles. Then we had CTP in power and they were no different plus they were impotent. What can we do? Please be positive and tell me what to do?

ismet

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
24/10/2009 23:27

Salaams Moover321,

You wrote:

"I am not entirely sure in your point 1. Specific Performace - whether 'common law' would allow moving from the particuar law 'apparently' designed to deal with the issue and move it to the general law on contracts."

Please read Specific Performance Law here: http://www.mahkemeler.net/ifasil/Cap232.pdf

and also have a look at Contracts Law paragraph 76 here: http://www.mahkemeler.net/ifasil/Cap149.pdf

paragraph 76(1)(d) and (2) and make your own assesment.

ismet

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
25/10/2009 00:54

Ismet



Very simple, you are appointed Pasha of TRNC, name me as your number two to take care of the Harem, matters of State, International and Internal affairs with a small Council of erudite personal as advisors and this then would be one of the wealthiest places on Earth!



Richard

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
25/10/2009 06:27

Richard,

Would you care to elucidate about your duties as the caretaker of the Harem? Can we appoint one of the girls from C44 to be the inhouse instructor? I can think of a few volunteers

ismet