REAL ESTATE ADVERSE POSSESSION

The (extraordinary) adverse possession is recognized as a way of acquiring ownership and during the land registration process these rights can be declared.

For the possession acquisition method to be accepted, it is required during the land registration stage to submit various documents that prove the county and as such are identified by the Δ10/A1116248/3696 ex/14-8-2012 circular sent by the Greek State to the local land offices services that the following documents prove county acts:

• Court decision recognizing ownership by possession.
• Notarial documents and court decisions of mortgages and in general encumbrances on the properties for which the use is declared as the reason for the acquisition
• Notarial preliminary agreement for the transfer of real estate, in which the delivery of the county to the beneficiary from the preliminary agreement is confirmed (not a contractual preliminary agreement).
• Co-Owner Agreements listing the declarant as the owner of the declarable property
• Boundary recognition act
• Leases that show the declarant as the lessor, as long as they bear a certain date
• Statements before Public Authorities, especially tax authorities, such as e.g. declarations in form E9 of the tax return•
• Documents granting the grant to the declarant, from which it appears that he was treated as the owner of the property to which the declaration relates
• Receipts of payment of fees of any kind borne by the owner of the property in the name of the declarant•
• Receipts from PPC, OTE, water supply companies, etc. to the declarant
• Receipts of payment to a contractor who fenced the property or possibly for other works, as long as they are punched or in any case their date is not disputed
• Old advertisements from the declarant in the press for the sale of the property
• Old topographic maps drawn up on behalf of the declarant and listing him as the beneficiary
• Certificates of the president of the Community / Mayor regarding the rights on the property of the declarant or his predecessors or the exercise of jurisdiction over it for at least twenty years
• Building permit in the name of the applicant
• Document imposing a fine on the declarant due to urban planning violations
• Old (20 years old) private agreement (e.g. sale or distribution) listing the declarant as the owner of the property
• Usufructuary requires that there be a person’s jurisdiction over the property for 20 years, with the option to include the jurisdiction of the inheritor or the original beneficiary in this period of time. It is also acceptable to submit declarations of ownership by presenting the available evidence of use even if these do not cover the 20 years required by law, in order to record and further process your right.
• In the future, you can supplement the submitted declaration with additional documents as evidence of the 20-year prefecture or correct it by submitting, free of charge, a request to submit additional information or a request to correct declaration information.
• In practice, the land registry offices accept declarations that have as the method of acquisition usufructuary if they are presented
• Copies of E9s from past years with a date on the document header, without date and signature of the recipient, are acceptable as proof of ownership documents.
• E9 of 1997 and 2018 is sufficient to establish usufruct
• Affidavits of any date (even during the collection of statements) are acceptable to establish ownership
• Affidavits attesting to a 20-year estate in the person of the deceased are acceptable to document usufruct in the person of the deceased in order to file a declaration without acceptance of inheritance.
• A document from PPC for electrification of the property in the year 1980, a copy of the E9 of the year 2005, and a topographical diagram of 2017 or
• An affidavit stating that the declarant has been using the property as his own for at least 20 years and a copy of E9 within the above period.

Legal services for adverse possession

• Documentation review and checking if the documents meet the requirements for the adverse possession.
• Drafting the lawsuit and proceeding to the competent court
• Representation to the court.
• Receipt of the decision and register to the land registry.