“When you see property in poor condition or underused, consider that a very large percentage of it is property that has a percentage of ownership distributed among a wide range of people.” Michalis Hatsifotis, a lawyer from Athens specializing in real estate, explains to “K” that stories of family disputes often unfold behind the “languishing” under-listed housing in our country..

“Disagreements between co-owners of real estate are found, on the one hand, in the ways of its use – operation, and on the other hand, in the costs of maintenance, repair or repair work, which usually constitute the biggest headache. If the property was inherited by at least two persons who cannot – for financial or personal reasons – agree with each other, then the decision on its future fate becomes impossible,” he explains.

Property Auction for Revenge

In these cases, courtrooms are a one-way street. Based on legal experience, as a rule, cases that reach the court concern either the reimbursement of expenses for the maintenance and repair of property, or disputes between co-owners over the results of property management (for example, whether the management was correct or whether money was correctly deducted from the property’s rent for maintenance costs). Seeking justice in these cases, although time-consuming and costly, is ultimately the only solution, since regardless of the financial side, there is also a desire for moral satisfaction, which, as a rule, concerns close relatives.

“Going to justice is sometimes the only solution”

“I remember an incident with one “cruel” litigation between two brothers: One of them was permanently residing abroad and demanded compensation for using an inexpensive vacation home that was exclusively used by his brother. His goal was to auction the property in retaliation.“, says Michalis Hatsifotis.

“He who dares to make excuses loses sleep”

The gamble of a Greek businesswoman permanently residing abroad is typical. For the last 5 years she has been trying to resolve a number of legal disputes with a relative over an apartment of 75 sq.m. in the southern suburbs.

“My cousin and I inherited our aunt’s apartment in 1990. Since I live and work abroad, we decided that someone who lives in Greece will take over. Of course, he will need to get my approval and show solid evidence that the work has been done before the repair, as I will not be able to verify that it was actually done,” he says. LB. “However, he withheld from me the amounts for which either he did not have receipts, or the receipts he presented were unacceptable. I questioned the performance of the work and asked for the opinion of the engineer, who confirmed that the work claimed by the co-owner was not carried out,” he adds.

Delay of Greek courts and deterioration of mental state

The co-owner of a small apartment in Nea Smyrni cites the mental damage she suffered in recent years due to a years-long dispute with her cousin, which she says was caused by “a serious delay in the Greek courts.” “The suffering of the victim when he demands to be rehabilitated in accordance with the current legislation is indescribable. Anyone who dares not sleep for many years, stress affects health and in addition to overwhelming financial costs. But it’s a matter of justification“.

As a result of the dispute, the undivided apartment has not been rented out for the past two and a half years due to its poor condition, as the co-owner now refuses to share in the repair costs.

“He offered me to buy his share at its fair value. I agreed, although I knew that its commercial value was much lower. But when we started the transfer process, at the last minute, he added a condition that I drop the claim I filed in 2018 for the amounts he withheld from me for repair costs. I refused, and in October 2022 he transferred his share to his lawyer, not only at a lower price than he offered it to me, but without notifying me and without giving me the opportunity to redeem it as a co-owner at the same price as co-owners are forced to do it is in other states through the “first failure” process.

In Greece, there are no procedures that give priority to co-owners when buying a share of the rest, says Mr. Hatsifotis.

“The owner of a share of property cannot be forced to transfer property to another owner or to buy a share of another. Accordingly, there is no possibility of preference in favor of other co-owners if someone wishes to transfer their share. In all these cases, the law provides, as the only way to force the solution of the problem, judicial distribution, with all the resulting costs of time and money, in urban centers.

Long-term or short-term lease disputes

Those who do not agree on how to exploit the property that is in their common property also find themselves in the courtroom. What happens, for example, if one owner wants to rent it out long-term and the other wants it short-term? “The method of exploitation of property is determined by the decision of the majority of owners based on the size of their shares.“, emphasizes Mr. Hatsifotis. “If its management and use have not been determined by common agreement or majority, then each of the owners has the right to apply to the court to regulate it in the most convenient way.”

Bureaucracy and costs hinder the use of real estate

Even if all owners decide to sell their property, either because they cannot agree on its use or because they are unable to maintain it, a series of bureaucratic and costly procedures often act as a deterrent to selling it.

“Drawing up a contract of sale of real estate with a notary becomes more and more difficult over the years“, – says Mr. Hatsifotis and explains: “The transfer of property requires at least tax and insurance awareness, an electronic property identifier, a certificate of no violations or their settlement, an energy efficiency certificate, a certificate of non-payment of property contributions, while depending on the case may required eg. certificate of the forest or non-forest nature of the property, if it is an unplanned property, or which must be preceded by the correction of the act establishing the property to be divided, if it is a property to be divided.” He adds that the process of drafting a contract for the sale of real estate is increasingly reminiscent of the process of issuing environmental permits than a civil law contract.

“In this context, very often the owners of small shares of property are completely indifferent to the fate of their property, since as a result it is not profitable to deal with them,” he concludes.