Similar to the draft law that makes property buyers free from obligations to banking companies or the state for sellers who have refused to pay their obligations, developers also want that kind of protection from customers who cease to pay their own.

Pantelis Leptos, a man chairing the association, referred to the developers which agreed to become backers in loan contracts between estate buyers and banking companies.

There are possible situations when the buyer is either incapable to pay the loan or simply don’t want to do so, said Leptos in an interview by telephone.

“We made a perfect proposition to the parlament that in cases like these, the property must be relocated to the bank for a period of time,” said the chairman, adding that the sellers company should then be freed of any other possible obligations. Leptos also mentioned that the relocation of the collateralized estate to the banking company should only include nominal payments.

“The draft law, if form it was recommended, offers insurance to good customers from bad developers but somehow there must be a way that will offer security to good developers from bad customers,” Pantelis Leptos mentioned the statement submitted to the government which has a goal of releasing customers from indebted sellers’ obligations. Legislators will vote on it at an plenary session on September 3.

Christos Panagi, who is a partner in the Limassol-based Pandomus Real Estate Developers, happens to be one of the damaged sellers who sold a flat to a customer back in 2009 for a total of 160 thousand Euros and agreed to become a backer to the loan contract between the customer and his banking company.

While the seller’s company completed construction of the estate as agreed, the customer dropped paying the debt at the moment when he saw the bill of his investment drop, said Panagi. He also mentioned that the company is ready to relocate the estate to the customer and hand over the documents confirming ownership to him .

As the price of estate in Limassol decreased up to 25 percent since the year 2009, foreclosing the estate would still mean that Panagi’s company is going to have to cover the debt to the banking company up to 40 thousand Euros.

Panagi added that around 15 percent of his company’s sales finish up in cases when customers refuse to repay their debt, for which the company is a backer and in some cases customers have already left Cyprus.

An official at the banking companies association claimed that the business group has not received any requests referring to the matter from the association of developers or the government yet and if it does, banking companies most certainly won’t agree to obey.

“When we get a call to look into the case we will certainly argue about such matter at a meeting,” the banking company’s association official replied. “Nonetheless, we must to remember that banks have no desire to make themselves real estate agencies nor does the Central Bank have any reason to want that to happen”.