Foreclosures debate renewed in parliament

The issue of foreclosures is to be raised again on Monday in the parliamentary finance committee, as well as before the legal committee, in the presence of the Minister of Finance Makis Keravnos

The minister is expected to present seven government measures for a comprehensive response to issue.

The session takes place following last Thursday’s plenary decision to postpone a vote on a controversial Akel law proposal, co-signed by Elam, Edek, Depa, the Greens and MPs of Diko, which gives the mortgage debtor and other interested parties the right to apply to a competent court for the suspension of foreclosure procedures, in specific cases.

At 11.30am the joint session of the two committees will be held, during which the bill will be presented that provides for the creation of a special jurisdiction in the district courts for adjudicating borrower and creditor disputes.

The bill provides for the issuance of instructions by the Supreme Court, so that the president of the district court may appoint a number of judges for the purposes of adjudicating cases concerning disputes arising between the borrower, the guarantor and the collateral provider with the creditor in relation to a credit secured as main residence, the estimated value of which does not exceed €350,000.

The finance committee will take up the discussion after 1pm and re-examine the postponed law proposals in the presence of the minister.

The committee will also consider a proposed law tabled last Thursday, on a mechanism through which the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) could safeguard the rights of eligible borrowers, on a primary residence assessed at up to €350,000, via appeal to the district court to set aside the auctioning of the property within 21 days from the date of receipt of the notice. The proposal, as originally submitted, had set the maximum value of the property at €250,000.

The proposal is signed by Diko MP Christiana Erotokritou and Chrysis Pantelides, Edek’s Marinos Sizopoulos and Depa’s Alekos Tryfonides.

The session of the finance committee, expected to be a mammoth one, will also involve discussion of the supplementary state budget of €361 mln.