Buying Property in Crete - Crete Property Title

This is a complex subject, best left to the legal professionals. We will offer you a simplistic guide to how title works here in Greece. In every case title is checked by us, the Notary who writes the Contract and your appointed Lawyer. Unless all three of us are satisfied that title is good our advice will be to back out of the contract. In general, we only have to advise customers to do this once or twice a year as when we list a property we check extensively, at that time.

Good title can be through one of four channels in most cases:

• Inheritance, either with or without a will
• Purchase either with or without a Notarised contract
• Gift
• 20 years usage

Because there is an incomplete Land Registry there is every chance that your chosen property will not exist as far as the Land Registry is concerned. However, if there is a recent will, or if the land has been purchsed with a contract there will be an entry in the land registry.

If the Land Registry has no details of the property that you wish to buy we turn to tax records to verify ownership. If you own property in Greece it has to be declared on your E9 tax return. If the property is not on the owner's tax return then he or she is not the owner.

If it is on the tax return and has been for a number of years AND the owner is prepared to swear an oath that he or she has used it for more than twenty years then the title is good under the 20 years usage rule - the Greek equivalent of squatter's rights.

In the first instance we collect all the documentation from the owner(s) and deliver it to the Notary. She makes the initial decision as to whether title is good enough to write a contract of sale. She will visit the Land Registry to check the details. Once she has completed her job, she passes the draft contract to your lawyer, who then carries out his/her checks. Once satisfied we are ready to "do Contract".