DEBTOR’S RIGHTS & POSSIBILITIES
The day after the auction and the award of their property to the successful bidder (new owner) is a cause for particular stress and justified concern for millions of over-indebted borrowers, as they will soon be asked to move away from their home, for which they often have paid all they made in a lifetime.
This article will attempt to shed light on certain aspects of the eviction process, which is strenuous for many debtors, so that debtors are roughly aware of the process and their relevant rights.
According to the provisions of Article 1005(1) of the Civil Procedure Code, after the auction and after the summary of the auction report has been transcribed, the successful bidder acquires the right of the person against whom the foreclosure was carried out, while according to the second paragraph of the same article, the summary of the auction report is an enforceable title, on the basis of which foreclosure can be carried out in favour of the successful bidder and their successors.
In effect, the new owner receives an enforceable copy of the summary of the award report and serves a cheque for execution in order to evict the debtor and gain access to the property.
Completion Times for eviction: normally, the time to complete the preparation, service and transcription of the summary of foreclosure is estimated to be approximately 6 months after the auction.
Potential Legal Actions of the Debtor to protect their residence:
An order of suspension of the auction report and its summary (suspension under Article 934 of the Civil Procedure Code), by which the debtor may raise all the grounds against the auction, the auction report and its summary. The time limit for lodging the said order of suspension is sixty (60) days from the date of transcription of the summary of the award report.
If, upon receipt of the inventory and the delivery of the cheque for payment, the new owner initiates new enforcement proceedings, the previous owner of the property and debtor, who still resides in the property, may stop the latter by a suspension order under Article 933 of the Civil Procedure Code and may stop the proceedings initiated by the new owner to evict them from the property.
Here we must emphasise that in case the debtor does not wish to stay in their residence, they should take care of collecting their movable property (household appliances – furniture – clothes – personal belongings), otherwise the provisions of article 943 of the Code of Civil Procedure apply, which among others stipulates the following:
“…The bailiff shall deliver the movable property which is in the property and which is not the subject of the execution to the person against whom the execution is carried out, against a receipt. If the latter is absent or refuses to receive them, the bailiff shall deliver them either to a person belonging to the family of the person against whom enforcement is sought or to a person authorised to receive them.
If the persons referred to in paragraph 2 are not present or if they refuse to take possession of the movable property, the bailiff shall deliver them to an appointed trustee and, after obtaining the permission of the magistrate of the district of the place of enforcement responsible for the case in accordance with the provisions of Articles 686 et seq., the movable things will be auctioned…”
Although not provided for by law, there are individual cases where it has become possible for the debtor to remain in their residence under conditions and always in agreement with the new owner, in the spirit of the provisions of the legislation on property leasing and the Real Estate Acquisition and Re-leasing Agency.
Concluding this article and fully understanding the above-mentioned unpleasant process of expulsion – eviction of any debtor from his real estate, we must note that given the multitude of debt settlement and debt relief tools that exist, such as the out-of-court mechanism, bankruptcy, bilateral debt settlement agreements etc., over-indebted borrowers must turn to experienced lawyers in order to receive immediate and appropriate legal guidance to protect their home, to avoid reaching the point of eviction and expulsion from their property.
Our Law Firm, with its excellently-trained legal department, can be a valuable consultant for any debtor that wishes to protect their home both before and after the auction, counting already several cases of Debt Settlements and Red Loan debt cancellations.
