Foreclosure

European officials have given the government an ultimatum to proceed with electronic foreclosures on homes later in the month or else the country's third bailout review will not be concluded.

The government is seeking to break the impasse created by Greek notaries who on Monday announced a boycott on property foreclosures, citing fears for their safety amid violent protests. 

The outlook for property foreclosures in Greece is unclear after notaries announced a boycott on auctions until the end of the year, citing abuse by protesters, though foreign creditors expect the first online auctions to take place this month. 

Apartments, plots of land, stores and office buildings belonging to people or businesses with debts to the tax authorities will soon be auctioned at prices below those used for tax purposes ("objective values") as the law dictates foreclosure sales at market rates instead of objective values, as in the case of debts to banks.

Athens's intention to begin online foreclosures on November 29 was reiterated at a meeting between government officials and the technical experts of the country's creditors in the Greek capital.

Sources said there was an effort made to change the bad atmosphere created in the last few weeks due to the delay in launching the online auction platform.

Greek banks' business plans provide for a greater reduction to non-performing exposures (NPEs) than what has been agreed with the European Central Bank's Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) in an effort to illustrate to monitors their resolve in tackling the problem in a dynamic manner.

Foreclosures, which have been practically frozen for the last eight years, represent the credit system's Achilles' heel. The impact from the paralysis of the auction system is already obvious in banks' financial results on the reduction of nonperforming loans and threatens to undermine the target set for containing nonperforming exposures (NPEs).

The union representing notaries in Athens, Piraeus, the Aegean and Dodecanese islands on Friday protested against a recent spate of initiatives by activists opposing foreclosures on homes, noting that the auctions in question related to people owing millions of euros.

Notaries who had been walking off the job every Wednesday when foreclosure auctions are usually held because of protest action that had been targeting them on Friday decided to call off their protracted action.

A group of masked assailants Thursday smashed the windows of an office building in the southern Athens neighborhood of Kallithea.

The office is being used by a company that expressed interest in taking part in the electronic auction of homes foreclosed upon due to their original residents being unable to make payments.