End of November Deadline For Ktimatologio In Greece

End of November Deadline For Ktimatologio In Greece By Christos ILIOPOULOS* Athens, 26 November 2024 The Ktimatologio is the new, modern land registry in Greece, where all private and public properties of all types must be registered. This new land registry replaces the old one, called Hypothykophylakeeon. Irrespective of the fact that the property owners had registered the acquisition deeds at the land registry at the time they obtained the ownership of the property, few or many years ago, they now have to declare their property rights again, even if these have not changed since the last time they registered their deeds. This new land registry, already operating in a large number of areas all over Greece, provides a very accurate data basis for the technical and legal characteristics of all property rights, including size and form of the plot or land, surface measurement, boundaries definition, building technicalities and floor surface, GPS coordinates and other data. It also provides interconnection with other government sectors, primarily with the tax authority, in order to ensure that the state has harmonized its books and that all properties are accurately and uniformly registered with all state agencies. The new land registry called Ktimatologio started operating in many parts of Greece more than twenty years ago. Recently, however, the government has tried to speed up the registration process, so that within two years from now, almost the entire Greek territory must be covered by the Ktimatologio property data base. To this end, the most recent deadline is the 30th of November 2024, by which any property owner who has not yet filed their property with Ktimatologio, must do so. Filing your property at the Ktimatologio means filing, in person or on line, a copy of the deed(s) by which you have obtained the ownership of the property, its survey map unless it is an apartment, the certificate that you had registered your deed(s) with the old land registry, your passport or id card and proof of your AFM or Greek tax number. Depending on the case, there may be more documents needed in order the Ktimatologio service to accept your filing and later on to recognize you as the property owner. In cases where the heirs have accepted the estate of a deceased owner of property, there is a number of documents related to the inheritance, which must be filed, so the inheritance rights are recognized and the heirs become property owners at the Ktimatologio land registry. If a property owner does not file his/her deeds and other documents with the Ktimatologio, the owner will lose the ownership. There are areas of Greece where owners have already lost their property rights, which have been taken by the state. In the vast majority of cases, however, there is still time to file your property rights with the Ktimatologio or at least to initiate a court case where the court will recognize your property right, since you failed to file it on time. If you do not file, you will not be able to sell or rent your property and soon you will lose the ownership completely. Checking whether your property has been accurately filed with the Ktimatologio falls within the basic requirements of any property owner in Greece not only to physically inspect their property from time to time to make sure no trespassers are claiming the property, but also to be up to date with property taxes and with regards to any paperwork which must periodically be filed to various government agencies. *Christos ILIOPOULOS, attorney at the Supreme Court of Greece , LL.M. www.greekadvocate.eu e-mail: bm-bioxoi@otenet.gr