The House Legal Committee on Wednesday discussed draft legislation, according to which a buyer will pay the price for the purchase of property directly to a bank and not to the seller.
In this way, the purchase money will be funnelled directly to repay any outstanding loans that the seller has with a bank, and immediately any mortgages will be removed and the property will be transferred to the buyer after the payment is completed.
The draft legislation aims to establish a mechanism to protect the interests of immovable property buyers and eliminate delays in transferring title deeds.
According to the Ministry of Interior, with this legislation, the transfer of the property is safeguarded provided the buyer fully fulfils any obligations to the seller. In case the bank does not free the property off a mortgage, despite the submission of the payment by the buyer, the Land and Survey Department will issue a certificate to release the property and transfer it to its buyer.
In this way, the buyer will also become aware of any mortgages attached to the property.
The Ministry noted that what is new with this legislation is that the money will be paid directly to the bank with the agreement of all parties involved and when the full payment is received, the property will be transferred to the buyer with no outstanding obligations attached to it.