Notary public

The property market appears to have been in hibernation mode over the first few weeks of the year, firstly as a result of the abstention of notaries from implementing transactions and secondly because the clauses regarding the suspension of the 24 percent value-added tax have not yet been applied since the necessary circulars or ministerial decisions have still not been issued.

The preparations for the second judicial reform package and amendments on the law on execution of sentences are ongoing and will be submitted to parliament by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in a few weeks, the Turkish justice minister has said.

Greek pensioners will henceforth not be able to get a monthly pension higher than 4,608 euros, after an amendment to the government's omnibus bill that was tabled just minutes before MPs were to vote.

The coordinating committee of Greece's bar associations on Friday lashed out at suggestions that the results of the elections for European Parliament and local government later this month may be tampered with, saying that a fair count is "guaranteed by the representatives of the judicial authority."

A group of four property fraudsters was detained in Sofia on 27th of February. According to the investigators, the arrested have committed frauds with 23 properties in the capital city of Sofia. Their victims were lonely elderly people, as well as people with mental health issues.

Five people were given suspended prison terms of between five to 13 years for active and passive bribery and money laundering in a long-running case into a major trial-fixing ring.

A court gave former lawyer and ex New Democracy MP Petros Mantouvalos and the former appeals court judge Yiannis Efstathiou a 13-year suspended term.

Greek property transactions took off in the second half of last year, due to the increase in the taxable rates - known as objective values - from January 1, 2019, and the the growth of investor interest due to the rise of the short-term rental sector.

Property owners are rushing to notaries to transfer their real estate assets to their children before January 1, when the new taxable rates for properties, known as objective values, come into effect. However, most give up when they figure out just how much such a transfer would set them back.

The Greek islands and the center of Athens have recently seen a high number of property transfers - either sale transactions or parental concessions - carried out with the aim of avoiding the heavier tax to be imposed by the full implementation of the new objective values - property rates used for tax purposes - from January 2019, after their partial application for the Single Property Tax (ENF

A group of unknown individuals threw stones and paint at a building where a notary's office is housed in the city of Patras early Monday morning, according to local media.

The attack caused minor damages to the building and broke the window of a car parked at the scene. tempo24.gr reported.

Police is searching for the perpetrators.