The president of the Athens Bar Association, Dimitris Vervesos, the president of the Coordinating Committee of Notarial Associations of Greece, Giorgos Rouskas, and the general secretary of the Federation of Court Bailiffs of Greece, Maria Bruzoukis, gave a press conference today on the ongoing dysfunction of the mortgage registrars and land registry offices in Attica.

All three made extensive references to the effects on the economy, on the sale and transfer of real estate, as well as on the banking system (in addition to the suffering of citizens), from the lack of manpower in the mortgage and land registry offices, the problems that exist in the electronic platform, but also the existing legislative gaps.

As they typically reported, two hours after midnight the queues and priority registrations on a pile of paper outside the mortgage offices begin, for those who need to enter them, while there are not a few arguments and tensions that are created.

The main problem, they noted, is the lack of staff, which tragically burdens the time it takes to receive the necessary documents. For this reason, the three representatives of the agencies requested the immediate announcement of a tender for the recruitment of staff.

At the same time, the good operation of the mortgage offices of Peristeri, Chalandri and Ilioupoli was mentioned.

In more detail, Mr. Vervesos pointed out the problems and what their immediate and long-term solutions should be. In particular, he stated:

* Understaffing, small numbers in cashier service,

* Immediate payment of the fees of lawyers who are members of the Register of Legal Advisers,

* Immediate completion of the procedures for starting cooperation with the deputy members of the Register of Legal Advisers,

* Immediate creation of a legal team for the immediate recruitment of lawyers and a transaction processing team in land registry offices where there are delays in the issuance of certificates,

* Expansion of digital services for the issuance of CDs and certificates also in the transitional land offices,

* Immediate operation of the electronic appointment system to avoid waiting, starting from the Athens mortgage office,

* Expansion throughout Attica,

* Simplification of electronic submission of deeds for registration (e.g. posting of all documents in a pdf) and completion of the registration process by employees of the land registry offices,

* A unified way of dealing with problems following the formulation of rules in cooperation with scientific bodies (lawyers – notaries – bailiffs and the Agency), and

* Single service/payment process (e.g. by card and using POS).

Mr Rouskas mentioned as the main problems:

1. Delays in completing registrations of registrable deeds,

2. Inflating manifest errors that delay transactions, and

3. Unjustified rejections of registrable deeds.

And for the solution he proposed:

1. Simplified optional electronic registration process by simply sending scanned documents,

2. Establishment of a simplified procedure, so that specific manifest errors can be resolved from home,

3. Establishment of uniform rules of legal control and that legal control be limited only to the elements of the deed under penalty of absolute nullity as well as to those whose registration is prohibited by law and

4. It is necessary to hire specialized personnel to staff the cadastral offices.

Mrs. Bruzouki mentioned that there should be:

1. Common treatment of obvious errors by solving from home:

a) inscription other than the name,

b) notation of transcription of volume, number and mortgage registry of the title deed,

2. Compliance with the deadlines for the granting of the encumbrance certificate in order to draw up the “excerpts” of the confiscation report and

3. Electronic appointments and other measures, in order to avoid hours of waiting and inconvenience for registration of deeds.

Finally, next Friday, 31-3-2023, at the request of the three agencies, a meeting has been scheduled with the Deputy Minister of Digital Governance, Theodoros Livanios, to discuss the problems of the mortgage offices and land registry offices.