Now the time is ripe for reform

NEW demands for better regulation of the TRNC real estate sector may prove bittersweet music to the ears of those already mired in problems over the properties they bought.

Well over a decade after the height of the boom fuelled by speculation over UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan’s ill-fated peace plan, many who purchased have found themselves falling foul of so-called “stealth” mortgages; loans secured against their property unbeknown to the buyer, only to rear their heads years later when they turned out not to have been paid off.

The Estate Agents’ Law effected in 2008, in part to prevent such problems, has not served everyone, and now industry professionals are calling on the government for fresh legislation to better control the sector.

That’s not all they want, though. They urge buyers to always use a lawyer, who they say will “have a duty of care” to clients — despite sometimes “astronomical” fees they say should also be regulated — and to buy through an agent offering insurance cover in the event of a “contractual failure”.

Elements of this will surely prompt hollow laughter from some buyers, who over the years have complained of their solicitors not only not showing any such duty, despite being paid handsomely, but even in some instances acting for both sides in a deal — which must make it hard to decide which one to “care” for most.

Moreover other calls over the years have demanded one key piece of legislation: enactment of a Specific Performance Law, which its advocates say would not only ensure that contracts were honoured, but also outlaw iniquitous “stealth” mortgages.

As even the professionals admit, and many a purchaser would testify, the potential pitfalls in TRNC property-buying are legion. But it need not be so, and it’s up to the government to create the legal framework that will protect the unwary.

With two lawyers in senior ministerial posts, the time is surely ripe for reform.