Monday, June 9, 2025

IS A VULTURE FUND DEMANDING MONEY UNDER FALSE PRETENCES?

 Cyprus Property News 4 June 2025 - by Nigel Howarth



In what appears to be a deeply troubling development, a Vulture Fund is demanding more than €625,000 from an elderly British woman, despite the fact that she no longer owns the property in question. This outrageous demand raises serious legal, ethical, and moral questions.

The woman had received the Title Deed to her property through Cyprus’ “Trapped Buyers” law, before the Court of Appeal ruled it unconstitutional last year.

The law was designed to protect innocent buyers who had paid for their homes in full but could not secure legal ownership due to their developer’s unpaid debts. Importantly, she sold the property four years ago, and it is now fully registered under the name of a new owner.

Yet, a Vulture Fund has come knocking, claiming a right to money tied to a property she no longer owns, under a legal scheme that was valid and upheld at the time of issuance. She now fears she may be forced to sell her UK home to settle a debt that was never hers to begin with. How is this justice?

Not an isolated case

Worryingly, this appears to be far from an isolated incident. Several other former buyers who received their Title Deeds under the same 2015 law have also reported receiving demand letters from the same Vulture Fund.

Strangely, instead of pursuing the current property owners, this Vulture Fund is targeting former buyers – individuals who complied fully with the law, sold their properties, and moved on with their lives. Is this strategy a legal loophole – or a deliberate intimidation tactic?

Legal grey zones and government silence

Following the June 2024 ruling by the Court of Appeal, which found the Trapped Buyers law unconstitutional, Cyprus’ Interior Minister publicly reassured buyers that Title Deeds already issued could not be taken back. However, he failed to clarify whether those same buyers might still be pursued for their developer’s debts.

That omission has left thousands in legal limbo.

In April this year, Nicos Tornaritis, Chairman of the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee, sent a strongly worded letter to the Association of Credit Acquiring and Credit Servicing Companies (ACACS), urging Vulture Funds to pause auctions, sales, and repossessions until legal clarity is reached.

But has this appeal been ignored?

A question of legitimacy and morality

So let’s ask the critical questions:

  • Is this Vulture Fund demanding money under false pretences?
  • How can it be legal to pursue former property owners for debts tied to a developer’s loan?
  • What protections are in place for the 11,000 buyers who obtained Title Deeds before the law was overturned?

And most worryingly, what about those who purchased these properties second-hand? These new buyers, and even their lawyers, likely have no idea they may be sitting on a property burdened with legacy debt claims.

Time for urgent action

This situation is not just a legal mess, it is a moral failure. Vulture Funds, with no connection to the original transactions, are exploiting the confusion left behind by incomplete legal reforms and weak political will.

The Cypriot government and parliament must act immediately to clarify the legal status of these claimsshield innocent buyers, and hold these predatory Vulture Funds to account.

Otherwise, thousands of homeowners – past and present – may be forced to pay the price for someone else’s debt, all while being misled into thinking their ownership was secure.

Have you been affected or know of similar stories?  If so please contact Cyprus Property News - https://www.news.cyprus-property-buyers.com/2025/06/04/is-a-vulture-fund-demanding-money-under-false-pretences/id=00170519?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_source_platform=mailpoet&utm_campaign=Cyprus%20Property%20News%20weekly%20newsletter