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Χρησικτησία

ACQUISITIVE PRESCRIPTION – LAWYER

Acquisitive Prescription & National Land Registry: Legal Securing of Your Real Property

Acquisitive prescription (χρησικτησία) is often the only avenue for safeguarding your rights over a property that lacks title deeds or appears as «owner unknown» in the National Land Registry (Κτηματολόγιο). At ZIAMPARAS & ASSOCIATES, we approach acquisitive prescription cases with the due seriousness they deserve, combining legal expertise with technical precision.

Why Our Approach Stands Out

Acquisitive prescription is no longer proven solely by witnesses. It demands precision in boundaries, surveying plans, and digital evidence.

  • Technical Analysis (Engineering Background): As lawyers and Engineers (Engineering), we collaborate seamlessly with surveyor engineers. We analyse aerial photographs and digital data of the National Land Registry to prove the continuous possession (νομή) and detention of your property over decades.

  • National Land Registry Strategy: Acquisitive prescription is the “key” to correcting erroneous initial entries in the National Land Registry. We identify the legal errors and file the necessary lawsuits for the definitive recognition of your ownership.

  • Forest & Real-Property Disputes: We have the experience to confront the State in cases where your property is claimed as forest land or public estate.

Services We Offer:

  1. Ordinary & Extraordinary Acquisitive Prescription: Legal grounding of your 10-year or 20-year possession on the basis of the factual circumstances.

  2. National Land Registry Lawsuits: Correction of «Owner Unknown» entries and recognition of ownership through acquisitive prescription.

  3. Securing Evidence: Collection and assessment of documents (E9 tax forms, utility bills, affidavits) which substantiate your possession.

  4. Protection of Possession: Immediate judicial intervention in cases of encroachment or contestation of your property’s boundaries.

“In acquisitive prescription, time is your ally, but the surveying plan is your proof. We ensure that the property you have built up through hard work will be legally and irrevocably secured.”

Do Not Leave Your Property Exposed

The finalisation of National Land Registry entries makes acquisitive prescription an urgent matter. Meet the deadlines and shield your property.

In greater detail:

Extraordinary acquisitive prescription is recognised as a means of acquiring ownership, and during the cadastral survey procedure such rights may be declared.

For a means of acquisition by acquisitive prescription to be accepted, during the cadastral survey stage various documents must be submitted to prove possession. Such documents are specified in Circular D10/A1116248/3696 of 14-8-2012, sent by the Greek State to the local cadastral offices, which provides that the following documents prove acts of possession:

  • Court ruling recognising ownership through acquisitive prescription
  • Notarial documents and court rulings concerning mortgages and encumbrances generally on the properties for which acquisitive prescription is declared as the cause of acquisition
  • Notarial preliminary contract for the transfer of real property in which the delivery of possession to the beneficiary under the preliminary contract is certified (excluding contractor preliminary contracts).
  • Deeds of adjacent owners which name the declarant as the owner of the declared property
  • Act of recognition of boundaries
  • Lease agreements showing the declarant as lessor, provided they bear a certain date
  • Declarations before Public Authorities, particularly tax authorities, such as declarations on the E9 form of the tax return;
  • Documents granting subsidies to the declarant, from which it appears that he was treated as owner of the property to which the declaration refers
  • Receipts of payment of all manner of fees that burden the beneficiary of the property in the name of the declarant;
  • Receipts from the Public Power Corporation (DEH), telecommunications and water utility companies, etc., addressed to the declarant
  • Receipts of payment of fees to a contractor who fenced the property or possibly for other works, provided they are perforated or in any case their date is not disputed
  • Old advertisements placed by the declarant in the press for the sale of the property
  • Old surveying plans drawn up by order of the declarant which name him as the beneficiary
  • Certifications by the President of the Community / Mayor regarding the rights of the declarant or his predecessors over the property, or the exercise of possession over it for a period of at least twenty years
  • Building permit in the name of the declarant
  • Document imposing a fine on the declarant for town-planning infractions
  • Old (twenty-year) private agreement (e.g. of sale or partition) which names the declarant as owner of the property
  • Old affidavits with the above content.

Acquisitive prescription requires the possession of a person over real property for 20 years, with the possession of the decedent or original beneficiary capable of being added to that period. The submission of ownership declarations is also accepted by producing the available evidence of acquisitive prescription, even if it does not cover the 20-year period required by law, in order for your right to be recorded and further processed. At a future time, you may supplement the submitted declaration with additional documents proving the 20-year possession, or correct it by submitting, free of charge, an application for the deposit of supplementary information or an application for correction of the data of the declaration.

In practice, the cadastral survey offices accept declarations citing acquisitive prescription as the means of acquisition where the following are submitted:

  1. Copies of E9 tax forms from past years bearing a date in the document’s heading, even without a date and signature of the recipient, are accepted as documents grounding acquisitive prescription.
  2. E9 forms of 1997 and 2018 are sufficient to ground acquisitive prescription.
  3. Affidavits of any date (even during the period of declaration collection) are accepted for grounding acquisitive prescription.
  4. Affidavits certifying 20-year possession by a deceased person are accepted to substantiate acquisitive prescription in the name of the deceased, in order for a declaration to be submitted without acceptance of inheritance.
  5. A document from DEH (Public Power Corporation) for electrification of the property in 1980, a copy of the E9 of 2005, and a surveying plan of 2017; or
  6. An affidavit stating that the declarant has been using the property as his own for at least 20 years and a copy of the E9 within the above period.

Is acquisitive prescription possible against the State?

For properties belonging to the Greek State, or claimed by it as belonging to it, as is well known, acquisition of ownership by acquisitive prescription cannot be invoked, and consequently a private individual cannot claim that he has acquired ownership of property belonging to the Greek State. A significant breach in the provisions for the protection of public estate was introduced by Article 4 of Law 3127/2003, which reinstates the institution of acquisition of ownership through unimpeachable possession from Byzantine-Roman law, and recognises the right of ownership over urban properties in favour of the possessor of the property, provided that he:

  • has been in undisturbed possession until the date of entry into force of the law (19.3.2003) for ten (10) years on the basis of a lawful title from an onerous cause (not gratuitous) which has been concluded and registered after 23.2.1946; or, alternatively,
  • has been in undisturbed possession of the property without title for a period of thirty (30) years which has been completed by the entry into force of the law (19-3-2003). Disturbance of possession is deemed to be any positive act or omission constituting harassment of the possessor in the exercise of his possession.
  • at the time of acquiring possession, was in good faith within the meaning of Article 1042 of the Civil Code (AK), namely, where without gross negligence he believed that he had acquired ownership. If, on the contrary, he knows that he did not become owner, or is unaware of this through gross negligence, there is no good faith. For the existence of good faith it is immaterial whether the possessor’s belief in the acquisition of ownership is due to a mistake of fact or a mistake of law. Good faith must exist at the time of acquisition (commencement) of possession, while subsequent bad faith does no harm. If succession in possession has intervened, the period of possession run by the predecessor under the same conditions is added to the period of possession of the successor. The owner of the property is not required to plead in the lawsuit pleading, nor to prove, his good faith at the commencement of possession; on the contrary, the defendant State, in the framework of the rule preventing the acquisition of ownership which is established by Article 4 paragraph 1 of Law 3127/2003, bears the burden of pleading (and proving) the bad faith of the plaintiff or his predecessors — namely, that they knew or culpably (through gross negligence) did not know that they had not become owners of the property at the time of acquisition of possession.
  • the property has an area of up to 2,000 sq.m. and is located within a town plan, or within a settlement pre-existing 1923, or in a settlement of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. For property with an area greater than 2,000 sq.m. these provisions apply only where, on 31.12.2002, there existed on the plot a building covering at least 30% of the applicable floor area ratio.

Acquisitive prescription against the Greek State has also been accepted by the Legal Council of the State, by Opinion 348/2004, which addresses questions concerning the application of Article 4 of Law 3127/2004.

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON ACQUISITIVE PRESCRIPTION

1. When can I acquire ownership of real property through acquisitive prescription?

Extraordinary acquisitive prescription requires continuous and undisturbed possession of the property for at least twenty (20) years, with conduct as owner (cultivation, fencing, residence, payment of taxes). The period of possession of your predecessor in title or of the decedent is added to that time. Ordinary acquisitive prescription requires ten-year possession with a lawful title and good faith. In practice, the most common avenue for properties without titles or appearing as «owner unknown» in the National Land Registry is twenty-year extraordinary acquisitive prescription, which is proven by a combination of documents and witness testimonies substantiating your continuous relationship with the property.

2. What documents do I need to prove acquisitive prescription?

You need a body of documents which substantiate your continuous possession over time: old E9 tax forms (especially for 1997 and 2018), bills from DEH (Public Power Corporation), EYDAP (water utility) and OTE (telecommunications) in your name, receipts of fees, affidavits from witnesses who know the use of the property, old surveying plans, lease agreements where you appear as lessor, building permits, aerial photographs from earlier years, certifications from the local Municipality. The greater the time span the documents cover, the stronger the grounding. Even incomplete material is sufficient for an initial declaration to the National Land Registry, with the option of supplementing it later free of charge.

3. Can I acquire State property through acquisitive prescription?

As a rule, acquisitive prescription does not run against the Greek State. Nevertheless, Article 4 of Law 3127/2003 recognises ownership over urban properties up to 2,000 sq.m. located within a town plan, in a settlement pre-dating 1923, or in a settlement of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, provided there has been undisturbed possession in good faith for 10 years on the basis of a title from an onerous cause (registered after 23.2.1946) or for 30 years without title, and always up to 19.3.2003. For properties of more than 2,000 sq.m. there must exist a building covering at least 30% of the floor area ratio as at 31.12.2002. The burden of proving bad faith lies with the State.

4. How do I correct an «owner unknown» entry in the National Land Registry?

The correction is effected by way of a lawsuit before the Single-Member Court of First Instance of the location of the property, seeking recognition of ownership through acquisitive prescription and correction of the initial entry. The lawsuit sets out in detail the history of possession, attaches a surveying plan referenced to the National Coordinate System (EGSA ’87), and produces the supporting documents. Once the judgment becomes final and irrevocable, it is registered with the competent Cadastral Office and the entry is amended. The finalisation of cadastral entries makes the procedure urgent, as after the lapse of the relevant deadlines reversal becomes considerably more difficult.

5. How long does the judicial recognition of acquisitive prescription take?

The duration depends on the workload of the court, the complexity of the case, and the existence of an opposing party. As a rule, between the filing of the lawsuit and the issuance of a first-instance judgment, 12 to 24 months elapse. If no appeal is filed, the judgment becomes final after the lapse of the statutory deadlines. In the event of an appeal or a dispute with the State or a private party contesting the boundaries, the overall duration may exceed 3 years. The preparation of the lawsuit (collection of documents, drawing up of the surveying plan, taking of affidavits) generally requires 1 to 3 months prior to its filing.

6. What is the role of the lawyer in an acquisitive prescription case?

The lawyer first assesses whether the lawful conditions of acquisitive prescription are met, examines the titles of adjacent owners, checks the cadastral entries, and identifies any potential claims by the State or third parties. He collaborates with a surveyor engineer for the geo-referencing of the property and the analysis of old aerial photographs, drafts the necessary affidavits, files the lawsuit for recognition of ownership, and represents the client before the court. In addition, he submits correction declarations to the National Land Registry and ensures the registration of the final and irrevocable judgment, so that ownership is definitively and irrevocably secured.


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