The first weeks of the New Year (2014) have seen no let up in the activities of the Cyprus Banks against UK buyers of Cyprus properties, as they continue to serve Writs of Summons on clients at their UK residences for defaulting on their obligations against loan agreements taken out for the purchase of property in Cyprus - reports Judicare.
The vast majority of these Loans being in the Swiss Franc denomination.
There appears to also have been a more aggressive approach being adopted by the Cyprus banks, this is evident in the allotted time frames in which purchasers must formally file a Notice of Appearance against the Writs.
This required filing of a Notice of Appearance gives the client anywhere between 10 and 30 days (although the 10 day period is more prevalent) to make legal representation in the Cyprus Court of issue, this period starts to run from the receipt of the Writs of Summons in the UK.
This is quite understandably causing panic for UK clients who invariably have no knowledge of how to address the situation and in most cases we are seeing clients simply ignoring the Service to them, in the hope matters will be dealt with in Cyprus and the problem will eventually be forgotten.
Regrettably, once the client fails to make the filing in the Cyprus Court acknowledging the service to him/her, they will lose the opportunity to defend any claim thereafter and the bank will be awarded a judgement in default - the Cyprus Court deeming the client in agreement with the claims made within the Writ and so awarding judgement to the bank.
With the judgement in hand the banks are now actively seeking the enforcement of the judgements via European Enforcement Orders and will seek such execution against the UK assets of clients.
This is now happening more frequently as clients (for various reasons) are leaving the Writs of Summons undefended in Cyprus - with all of the consequences and procedures above being sought by the Cyprus banks thereafter.
Therefore, should any client receive a Writ of Summons in the UK from the Cyprus Courts it is critical that the Writs are not left undefended.
If you have any concerns in this area or would like any advice on your situation, or if you have recently received a Writ of Summons and are unsure of how to respond please contact Judicare via email at [email protected] or confidentially on 01438 840258.
