Kronidis attended the House Committee on Finance which convened on Monday to discuss the issue. He also told the MPs that of the remaining 4,500 applications that were not completed, only 8% were fully completed with all the necessary data. The deadline for filing additional data expires on March 31.

A representative from the Ministry of Finance said that in relation with those applicants who are considered not eligible, the Ministry is examining some other alternatives, pointing out however that the whole discussion is still at an early stage and nothing concrete can be said at this point.  She went on to explain that all those borrowers deemed first not eligible would not receive a negative response from the Ministry of Labour and would be referred to the ministry of finance which will finalize the reply.

Responding to questions from MPs as to whether house foreclosures still take place, she said that some were stopped by the Ministry which contacted the banks.

Stavros Papadouris, chairman of the association for the protection of primary residence said that legal foreclosure measures were still in progress, adding that for the same case there is an application for the Estia Scheme dated December 24, 2019 and a Court call dated January 18, 2020. He also asked for an additional period of one or two weeks to allow some borrowers to apply for the Estia scheme, who for various reasons, were not able to do so on time.

According to Papadouris on March 19, there was an auction for first residence, worth €220,000.

SYPRODAT Director Jenny Papacharalambous also said that some borrowers contact the Association saying that they applied for the Estia and at the same time they are faced with charges in court. She also said that banks still send letters to borrowers, despite their commitment, that they would not do so.

Source: In-Cyprus