Authorities are considering measures to block property transfers when owners have unpaid maintenance fees, as it has become a persistent issue, according to real estate insiders. Required funds for utilities such as electricity and water are harder to obtain, due to the rising rental prices, negatively affecting shared living spaces and the necessary upkeep of apartment buildings.

Stratos Paradias, President of the Hellenic Property Federation (POMIDA), notes that outstanding maintenance fees are increasingly tied to apartments bought by foreign individuals or entities. Building managers often lack contact information for these owners, many of whom fail to pay maintenance fees. When the properties are sold, these sellers often ignore their debts.

Upon learning of the sale, building managers turn to the new owners for payment, but buyers typically refuse, arguing that they have no legal responsibility to settle prior debts. This leaves other co-owners to absorb the costs to maintain the building’s functionality.

New buyers commonly decline to pay the unpaid common charges left by sellers, citing legal protections under two Civil Code articles:

• Article 525 states that buyers assume the property’s burdens and benefits from the moment of transfer.
• Article 965 specifies that responsibility for periodic charges depends on the ownership period unless otherwise agreed.

Legal interpretations assign responsibility for unpaid maintenance fees to the owner during the relevant period, leaving many building managers struggling to recover these funds and creating financial strains on shared living arrangements.

Paradias suggests holding buyers partially liable for unpaid common area charges from the past five years. POMIDA has submitted a letter to Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis, advocating for an amendment that would require property sellers to provide a notarized statement confirming no outstanding maintenance fees exist.

The proposal has gained the backing of notary associations, which believe it would streamline property transactions while protecting the financial stability of building management systems.