I had thought that 2013 would be the worst austerity year for the average Greek. But I was wrong. The worst is still to come and thus right with the beginning of 2014. After the immense pressure by the country’s lenders – the Troika – the Greek government announced the ‘gradual lifting of the ban on home evictions on the primary residence of people who cannot pay back their mortgage.
Deputy Development Minister Thanasis Skordas said on Wednesday that the government seeks to implement a plan that will provide specific criteria so that not all properties will go under the hammer.
Such criteria would be social (unemployed property owners and large families), income criteria, the period of auction freezing, amount of mortgage, the size of the property.
The ban of home eviction for primary residence and property commercial value up to 200,000 euro was implemented in 2008. An extension was given end of 2012 for one more year. Greek government was shocked by the wave of suicides in Spain committed by property owners who had lost their home. The Troika had approved it under the condition that the period of mercy would end up December 31st 2013.
readying to get hold of your home
The Greek government bowed for one more time to lenders’ commandments. Again it’s the average Greek who will pay the price for decades of mismanagement and waste of public money.
So far nobody has been held responsible for the economic squalor of the country and the hardship for million of Greek people.
PS Ops! I forgot! “The country was saved”…
SPIN thats what we call that in ireland we are being told that we are about to exit the ‘bailout’we have just brought in new laws around insolvency to enable the [w] bankers to grab your house thats real progress private pensions are insolvent in a large number of cases eg. our electricity company they have a 7oo million hole in theirs so they will strike unless the government[taxpayers] agree to plug that hole LOL
What would happen if an epidemic of house fires hit repossessed homes?
I wonder if many repossessions would be pursued if the financial institutions knew they would end up with a mountain of ash and cinders…
The Irish media have reported on a number of repossessed properties in Ireland being stripped of everyting inside, kitchen units, window frames, heating systems etc, the moment the bank gets its court order and takes possession. There is also a campaign by leading Irish psychiatrists to give written notice to the individual bank managers of the mental health condition of those they are bullying, and holding those managers personally responsible in case of self harm or suicide by their targets. The rationale is that once they are aware of the health condition of the individual being threatened with repossession and eviction, enforcing it can be seen as a deliberate, pre-meditated act of mental violence, which is a criminal offense. Strangely enough, the simple threat of possible litigation against them personally seems to have resulted in a serious reduction in repossessions being pursued…
I know a case of the bank seizing the home of a woman for debts and loans. Woman died 15 years ago, the home is still sealed by the bank. no win-win situation.
Indeed a no-win situation. At the last count, there were 570,000 empty, brand new houses in Ireland. There are also about 25,000 known homeless, many as a result of Troika imposed austerity.
Repossessions serve one thing only, they ensure the financial vultures and preditors still have “the asset”, which it is all about. I personally know one individual (UK) who did indeed have her house repossessed, and subsequently got sued for the value of the “negative equity”. She is still paying those vultures, and has had her mind so twisted she actually believes this is the right thing to do.
The financial criminals couldn’t give a monkey’s about the people who live(lived) in the house, they are only interested in protecting their “wealth”, at any cost. If “the asset” turns out to be a worthless heap of ash, they might just end up acquiring a conscience in order to protect their “wealth”…
Today, the Irish Minister for Injustice enacted the “Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013”, which removes all legal protection an individual in Irland had against repossession and eviction.
The first to react was the CEO of Allied Irish Bank, one of Ireland’s biggest, and very much bust banks on ECB life support.
Mr. David Duffy who claims that 20% of mortgage defaulters are “strategic defaulters”, meaning people who can but will not pay. He did however not offer any proof of this allegation. What he did do is start the scare mongering tactics which, until today, were illegal in the country. The Troika strikes again. And once again it is Joe Soap who is at the receiving end of it, while those responsible for the whole scam play golf a 4,500€ per month, paid by the Irish taxpayer. Thousands of repossessions are expected over the next few months.Who said Ireland was not Greece?
In USA this is frequent phenomenon.
The banks repossess and confiscate the property if you default and pass the grace period. No mercy where the tenants or the owners if they live in will go. It is hard and I feel sorry for their misfortune BUT if I was a bank or if I had given those loans out and I can not collect my money I will do the same thing the banks do. What is so difficult to understand. You are living in a house on borrowed money.
If the people miscalculated their ability to repay their loans then it is their fault. They should not take their loans to begin with.
If they lost their jobs that is not the bank’s problem of the banks’s fault they are doing t he foreclosure of their properties. Unemployment is the government fault for poor planning for work and the wealth of the people or for being crooked and stealing people’s money – the case with Greece. In the case of Greece that other problem is people’s fault for voting for the last governments. They knew about the corruptions and they kept to vote for the same and the same crooks. I hope by losing their homes the Greeks learn their lesson and put their crooked politicians in jail. If not, then they deserve what the European and the Greek government sharks are doing to them.
The way the politicians don’t feel mercy for them the people should not feel mercy for their politicians. Take Greece off Europe’s control. Some times people should listen to Golden Dawn. So far they are the only ones that go against the government gangsters.
blame the banks too for being ‘so generous’ and give loans without enough guaranties.
But you should not forget to take into consideration the economic crisis that hits suddenly and leaves many people without jobs and income or very decreased income.