All auctions to be online by April

All property auctions are gradually being transferred to the online platform. Already 1,341 auctions – mainly by banks, and a few by individuals – have been transferred to the electronic system.

The curtain on physical auctions at courts will officially fall on February 28, after which all foreclosed assets will have to be auctioned online.

To facilitate the transfer, a special clause in the omnibus law at the start of the year requires that parties calling auctions must inform the judicial authorities about the change in the way the process will be implemented (from the courthouse to the online platform) within 20 days of the sale, instead of three months.

The government’s aim is to see through the complete shift to online auctions within the first quarter of the year, or at least to bring the bulk of them to the electronic platform.

The issue of auctions was discussed on Tuesday between President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and the head of the Hellenic Bank Association, Nikos Karamouzis, with the latter stating that foreclosures are the last tool banks use. “It is not pleasant for us, but this way we also send a message to strategic defaulters,” Karamouzis said.

Source: ekathimerini.com