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🇬🇷 Greece /Economy & Trade

Non-performing loans: When is the primary residence at risk, and what borrowers can do today

From Ta Nea · () Greek

Translated from Greek and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Context piece
  • Lawyer Nana Papadogeorgaki said Greece’s Katseli law has not applied since 2019, leaving the out-of-court mechanism as the main tool for protecting a primary residence.
  • Borrowers may need specific legal steps, including liquidating other assets or seeking an exemption through the platform when they have no other property.
  • She said servicers face new penalties for delayed updates, while collection agencies continue to pressure borrowers over short payment delays.

A primary residence does not escape risk simply because it is a borrower’s first home, lawyer Nana Papadogeorgaki said in an interview with MEGA Weekend. Protecting it now requires borrowers to take specific legal steps.

Papadogeorgaki said Greece’s Katseli law stopped applying in 2019. The main instrument for saving a primary residence is now the out-of-court mechanism, which has recently received legislative improvements. Depending on the borrower’s circumstances, protection may involve liquidating other assets or applying for an exemption through the platform when no other property exists.

“The house is not saved because it is a primary residence,” Papadogeorgaki said. “To save the house, you have to take specific legal actions.” She added that the out-of-court process had improved significantly, but identified the conduct of servicers as the major problem in Greece’s non-performing loan sector.

The house is not saved because it is a primary residence. To save the house, you have to take specific legal actions.

· Nana PapadogeorgakiThe lawyer explained that primary-home protection requires legal action rather than applying automatically.

New legislation imposes sanctions on servicers that delay sending information to borrowers. At the same time, borrowers continue to report intense psychological pressure and harassment from collection agencies, sometimes after only a few days of missed payments.

Papadogeorgaki stressed that these callers are not servicers, but collection agencies operating under specific legal rules. “You do not lose your house because you have fallen behind,” she said. The key issue, she added, is how borrowers respond to pressure and fear.

You do not lose your house because you have fallen behind.

· Nana PapadogeorgakiShe sought to distinguish short payment delays from the immediate loss of a home.
About this summary

Originally published by Ta Nea in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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