By E. Sakellari
[email protected]
A new meeting was convened on Wednesday at the Maximos Mansion government house between top ministers and the heads of Greece’s four systemic banks to finalize a new legal framework for protection of primary residences in the country from creditors.
Greece’s European creditors are pressing for the Tsipras government to present the new draft framework to protect primary residences, as the current one expires in days. Once it receives the “unofficial” approval by Europeans, the draft will be tabled in Parliament for ratification.
According to sources this week, the banks have focused on two points, the first being for an automatic subsidy, forked over by the state, to be tacked on to mortgage payments of eligible beneficiaries — i.e. homeowners who can prove that they cannot meet monthly payments. The banks want the monthly payment subsidy to be approved – or rejected – after relevant documents and information has been submitted to an online platform, bypassing the need for a local court decision.
The idea is to dramatically speed up the process and avoid Greece’s creaky judicial system.
Additionally, Greece’s four systemic banks do not want the new framework to extend protection to primary residences when the owners of the latter – who are deemed as ineligible – apply to the courts to reverse the decision. Again, the lengthy process by which court cases are adjudicated in the country is the reason cited by the banks.
