Dear Readers,
Today, I thought we would talk about kicking tenants out in Greece. Interesting subject? I think so. Evil? It has an uneasy aspect to it, I admit, but I hope “not evil”. Kicking tenants out in Greece or anywhere else is not something that should be done lightly. And I want to emphasize this point. It’s certainly not funny getting kicked out of your house. Sometimes though, tenants will leave you no choice. In that case, it’s important to know what you’re doing.
Now there are lots of articles about how to do this in the UK, but probably not that many in Greece. So, this might be an internet first! (OK, probably not… but I’m a cup half full kinda guy).
First, we need some background! Why would you even want to kick someone out? Well, if you’re a landlord, it’s normally because you’re not getting paid. Many times though, it’s a certain point you get to with a tenant, where you realise that “this is not getting anywhere” and you have to kick them out.
Unfortunately, it’s a “thing” now in Greece, not to pay your rent. Some people honestly can’t pay the rent. Everyone knows about the situation in Greece, so it’s not very surprising that many people can’t pay their rent. Many people though, can afford to, but make a choice not to pay the rent. They milk it as much as they can, and then they leave. As one can imagine, these are generally young, single guys.
It’s when you come across people like these (in Greece), that you need to know how to kick tenants out in Greece. But how is it actually done? OK, I’m getting to that… (You all know I’m a bit slow in getting to the point).
Kicking Tenants Out In Greece (The How)
So, in Greece, if you want to kick someone out legally, they will need to have been in the Property legally. Meaning… there should be a contract and that contract must have a stamp by the Greek tax authorities. Actually, in recent years, things have changed a bit. Now, you don’t need to get the contract actually stamped, just submitted online.
Just to clarify:
If you have a new contract (from around 2014 onwards), then you submit this online. Upon submission, you can print out a receipt, and this receipt can be used as evidence of the contract (so you give it to your lawyer).
If the contract is old (from before 2014), then this should have the tax office stamp on it (you would have taken it to your tax office and they would have stamped it).
So, “item 1” to give to your lawyer is the stamped contract or electronic receipt of contract submission.
Then you need to tell the lawyer what the tenant owes you. Here, funnily enough, you don’t need to give your lawyer any evidence. Just figures! Work out the amount you are owed and give that number to your lawyer.
Keep in mind also that a tenant can owe you more than just rent. In Greece, most properties are flats or apartments (which are inside buildings, obviously). These buildings have running costs similar to service charges in England (or factor fees in Scotland). If a tenant has not been paying these fees, you (the landlord) are liable for these. So you can add these to what he owes you. If his electricity or water bills are unpaid, you can add those too.
So, let’s take a practical example. The rent is 500 euros a month. The tenant has not paid you in 6 months, so that’s 3000 euros. However, you have a security deposit worth 1000 euros, you’ll need to subtract that. Also, you know that he owes 100 euros to the electricity company and the property manager says he has not paid €98.33 in “common running costs”.
Hence your calculation is as follows:
3000.00 (6 months of rent at 500/month) 100.00 (electricity bill) 98.33 (running costs) ------- 3198.33 owed to you less 1000 euros for the security deposit 3198.33 -1000.00 -------- 2198.33 TOTAL BALANCE (tenant's debt to you)
Giving this calculation to your lawyer will normally suffice. We’ll call this “item 2”. And that’s all you need to give the lawyer! The contract receipt and your calculations. And he can get started.
At a later date, if the tenant disputes the debt, you’ll need documentary evidence (i.e. a bill from the electricity company, paperwork from the property manager who says he is owed €98.33 etc).
Your lawyer then sends him an official document, which says “you owe your landlord this money”. The tenant at this point has a certain amount of time to respond to this letter (I think two weeks). If he does not respond, then your lawyer submits more papers to a court (or judge maybe?) in order to get an official decision (judgement?) to kick out the tenant. The judge normally needs 20 days to make an official decision. It’s much easier to get such a decision, if a tenant is a single guy, without dependents etc. However, even if not, if enough rents are due, the decision will be in the landlord’s favour (as per my understanding).
(I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what happens if you try to kick out a family of 6 where 4 members are below 18 and no one has a job. I hope you never need to do that…)
Getting the Bailiffs
Once that decision is out, the tenant has a certain amount of time to vacate the property (not a lot, maybe one week if my memory serves me). If in the allotted time, he’s not out, you have the right to get a bailiff and kick him out (though you don’t have to).
The bailiff will show up with a locksmith and the police (just in case). If the tenant is not at home (or does not open the door), the locksmith will open the door, and the bailiff will enter the property. If there’s a kerfuffle, the five-0 will take care of it. The bailiff will then take an inventory of everything in the property.
All the belongings in the property, remain in the ownership of the tenant, and must be returned to him upon his request (more on this later). However, the locksmith will change the lock, and the bailiff will place a notice on the door, informing “all” that the property is now in the possession of the landlord. If the tenant re-enters the property, you can call the police, who will arrest the tenant.
And that’s it! You got your property back, and you can rent it out again (and you can kick someone else out again a few months down the line).
The Possessions
A “nice guy” bailiff, upon entering the property, will call the tenant, and say “I’m here, I’m taking possession of the property. If you want, you can come now and take your stuff. Unless you come now, I’m going to have to lock the house up… and you’ll have to coordinate with the landlord to get your stuff back”. If your bailiff is not a nice guy, you can ask him to do this. The bailiff will not normally refuse, since this will save him the time of making the inventory (which can take a lot of time).
Now, if the tenant does not take his possessions then and there, you can move the possessions to another suitable location (i.e. not the street). However, you can’t nick anything! The possessions must go back to the tenant! You can leave them where they are, or you can move them so that you can re-let your property (as you see fit).
Once you move them, you tell the tenant where they are, for him to go and pick them up. However, your behaviour must be reasonable. You cannot do things like not tell him where they are, or not let him into the new location upon his request. Taking the mickey can get you into trouble. Having said that, most of the time a tenant who is being kicked out cannot afford a lawyer (which would be necessary for you to get into trouble). When the tenant takes his stuff back, you should get him to sign a paper saying “I got everything back”.
Getting Your Money
At this point, the debt has probably grown. For example, if you pay someone to move the tenant’s possessions, you can add that to the debt the tenant has towards you (if I remember correctly!). However, collecting that debt is no easy task. Angry former tenants will not pay you any money, and all you can do is seize their property or assets (normally of higher value then their debt) so as to force the tenant to pay you back.
For this to happen, the tenant (debtor), must have some assets (e.g. a house or car). If there is a house or car, it must be in his name (and his name only), for you to have a decent chance of recovering your debt. If he has half a house with his brother, then that will complicate things. The name of the assets must match the name on the tenancy agreements.
On final tricky aspect to kicking tenants out in Greece, is that you must know where the tenant is (after he has left your property), in order to serve more papers for you to get your money back. You must also know where his car is for you to seize it! I have heard of stories, where the tenant hides his car…
Conclusion
Alas, kicking tenants out in Greece (or anywhere else really) is not a pleasant business. The truth is that, as a landlord, one should try one’s best to solve issues amicably. In all aspects of life, it’s important to see things from the point of view of the person facing you, whether that’s your tenant, your landlord, your better half or your kids.
As for those that try to get revenge, the truth is that revenge will not make you happy. It’ll keep you angry. Actually, it can have bad side-effects (I’ve heard it turns normal people into Trump supporters). So, let it go (like Elsa would…) and you’ll have a happier existence!
That’s what I think dear Readers, but is that important? No, it is what you think dear Readers that is important. Firstly, as always, am I making sense, do my numbers add up? You gotta let me know. And secondly, what do you think dear Readers? Revenge or not? Metallica (Kill ‘Em All) or Elsa (Let It Go)? It’s like the Clash dear Readers, you gotta lemme know…
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