Notary public

Auctions of homes of major debtors can resume on Wednesday following the decision by the Coordinating Committee of Hellenic Notary Associations to bring an end to its members' long abstention from such procedures.

Law enforcement authorities in the Greek capital have arrested 24 people so far in an ongoing operation to crack down on a racket that provided women from the former Eastern bloc with European work and residence permits through sham marriages.

The central coordinating committee of Greece's unions of notaries on Tuesday called on its members to abstain from Wednesday's weekly auctions of foreclosed properties.

This week's ban on auctions of primary residences belonging to individuals with debts to the state comes in the wake of dozens of similar actions protesting the scheme that have delayed sell-offs.

A notary who forced a Turkish Paralympic athlete to pay an extra fee because the notary descended 25 steps to bring documents to the woman, who was unable to climb the stairs because she is confined to a wheelchair, has been fined 15,000 Turkish Liras as part of an administrative sanction, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 
  

A Turkish Paralympic athlete who became the first Turkish tennis player to appear at the Paralympic Games, was forced to pay an extra fee to a notary because a notary descended 25 steps to bring documents to the woman, who was unable to come upstairs because she is confined to a wheelchair.

Notaries came under attack from members of a protest movement opposed to foreclosures of first homes at courts in Athens and Thessaloniki on Wednesday.

At the capital's main court complex, two notaries and a lawyer managed to break through a crowd of protesters and enter the courtroom where auctions were to take place but they were subsequently surrounded by demonstrators.

After months of protesters blocking notaries' access to courthouses around the country in protest at property foreclosures, the government has drafted legislation that will allow the auctions to take place online.

The coordinating committing of the Greek union of notaries on Tuesday announced its members would not be taking part in home auctions initiated by the Greek state, banks, pension funds and municipalities on Wednesday.

However, certain auctions could go ahead if permission was applied for by notaries, including those aimed at collecting unpaid wages or alimony, for instance.

The coordinating committee of Greece's union of notaries said its members would not be attending home auctions initiated by banks, the Greek state, pension funds and municipalities on Wednesday.

Demonstrators scuffle with riot police during a protest against home auctions outside the Bank of Greece offices in Thessaloniki on Wednesday. Early last month the association representing the country's notaries called on members to boycott repossessions of primary residences.