Buying Property at Forced Auction in Greece – Complete FAQ Guide

The transparency brought by the electronic auction system has contributed to increased buyer interest. Today all forced auctions of immovable property are conducted electronically through the ΗΛ.ΣΥ.ΠΛΕΙΣ. platform (eauction.gr). The auction may take place only on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, is suspended every August, and is also prohibited during election periods (art. 959 par. 8 CCP). Participation requires: registration on the platform, submission of a bank guarantee or banker’s cheque equal to 30% of the opening bid, and an electronic bid. The closing time extends automatically when a bid is placed in the final two minutes, preventing last-second bidding strategies.
Read more: Participation Procedure in an Electronic Auction (eauction)

The opening bid in an auction equals the market value of the property, so there is usually no margin to acquire it at significantly below market value in the first auction. However, if the auction is declared unsuccessful for lack of bidders, the enforcement creditor may request, within 30 days, an adjudication at the opening price, or may request a new auction with the same opening bid. If the new auction is again unsuccessful, the opening bid is reduced to 2/3 of the original, and if that fails as well, the auction is conducted at half the original price. According to draft legislation, automatic reduction by 35% may be triggered after three unsuccessful rounds (art. 966 CCP).
Read more: Automatic Reduction of the Opening Bid in Property Auctions

Article 965 par. 1 CCP expressly states that the following may not bid: the debtor-owner of the property, the auction officer, and any judge of the court before which the auction is conducted. Anyone else — private individual or legal entity — may in principle participate. However, asset management companies (Ε.Δ.Α.Δ.Π. / Servicers) are prohibited from acquiring immovable property at auction under art. 5 par. 5 of L. 5072/2023. This prohibition was introduced to prevent Servicers from acquiring assets through the very enforcement proceedings they manage — effectively creating a captive buyer dynamic to the detriment of debtors. In practice, some Servicers circumvent this rule through REO subsidiary companies they control, prompting ongoing legislative and enforcement attention.
Read more: How Large a Share of Auctioned Properties is Acquired by Bank REO Companies

Participation by a prospective bidder in an electronic auction requires: (i) registration on the eauction.gr service and creation of a user account; (ii) electronic submission of a participation declaration to the auction officer no later than two working days before the auction date; (iii) submission of a bank guarantee or banker’s cheque in favour of the auction officer equal to 30% of the opening bid — cash deposits are not permitted. The bidder then logs in on the auction date and submits bids electronically. The winning bidder must pay the full auction price within 10 working days of the auction; failure to do so voids the adjudication and the deposit is forfeited. Prior to participation, the bidder must obtain a tax registration certificate (ΑΦΜ) if not already registered in Greece.
Read more: Participation Procedure in an Electronic Auction (eauction)

Extensive legal and urban-planning/technical due diligence is required from a specialist lawyer and engineer: (a) title search in the Land Registry or Cadastre for full chain of title and encumbrances for at least 20 years; (b) check for pending ανακοπή proceedings (objections to the attachment order) at the competent court registry; (c) search for confirmed tax liabilities at the relevant tax office; (d) check of EYDAP water supply debts which may transfer jointly to the new owner; (e) urban-planning check (building permits, any arbitrary constructions, outstanding fines); (f) check of any leases or third-party occupancy of the property. The cost of due diligence is modest compared with the potential losses from acquiring a property burdened with concealed liabilities.
Read more: Investment Interest in Property Acquisition by Auction

After adjudication, the winning bidder must take the following steps: (a) within 5 days, the declaration of the winning bidder is drawn up by the auction officer; (b) within 10 working days, payment of the full auction price — failure results in forfeiture of the deposit and reversal of the adjudication; (c) after payment, the auction officer draws up the adjudication deed; (d) the winning bidder must register the deed at the Land Registry (Υποθηκοφυλακείο) or update the Cadastre entry within the statutory period to make the acquisition enforceable against third parties; (e) payment of transfer tax (Φόρος Μεταβίβασης Ακινήτου — ΦΜΑ) must be made, although the rate may differ from that applicable to ordinary sales depending on the circumstances of the auction.
Read more: Participation in Auction — The 5 Most Common Questions

The principal risk facing the winning bidder today is the exercise of judicial remedies by the debtor or a third party against the enforcement proceedings, and specifically: (i) an objection to the attachment order (ανακοπή κατά της κατασχετήριας έκθεσης) under art. 933 CCP, which may lead to the attachment being voided; (ii) an objection to the conduct of the auction itself (ανακοπή κατά της διαδικασίας εκτέλεσης); (iii) an application for suspension of enforcement. A successful annulment of the auction after the winning bidder has paid the price exposes the bidder to the need to recover the price paid through an unjust-enrichment claim. For this reason, checking whether any objection proceedings are pending at the court registry before participation is considered essential due diligence. If no objection was filed within 45 days of service of the attachment order, the risk of subsequent challenge is substantially reduced.
Read more: Buying Property at Forced Auction: Traps and Risks

The prospective bidder must bear in mind that transfer of immovable property by forced auction does not constitute an original mode of acquiring ownership (πρωτότυπος τρόπος κτήσης) — as does, for example, usucaption — but a derivative one (παράγωγος τρόπος κτήσης). This means that ownership is transferred to the extent that the debtor held it: if the debtor was not the true owner of the property, or held a defective title, the winning bidder acquires no ownership interest, even if the auction itself was procedurally valid. The relevant provision is art. 1033 CC. As a result, a full title search at the Land Registry or Cadastre is essential even for a formally valid auction. The true owner may bring a rei vindicatio (αγωγή διεκδίκησης) within 5 years of registration.
Read more: Buying Property at Forced Auction: Traps and Risks

A significant financial exposure may arise from the so-called “hidden burdens” (κρυφά βάρη) of the auctioned property, i.e. liabilities that do not appear in the public registers of the Land Registry or Cadastre but are transmitted by operation of law or statute to the new owner. The most common are: property transfer tax (ΦΜΑ) arrears; EYDAP water connection charges; local authority fees; and electricity supply charges. Under art. 5 par. 3 of L. 1587/1950 and art. 9 par. 6 of L. 2744/1999, the new owner is jointly and severally liable for these debts alongside the former owner. The Supreme Court (AP 12/1990) has clarified that inheritance tax is excluded from this joint liability. These liabilities do not appear in the auction notice or in the public registers, which is why pre-auction investigation of confirmed debts at the competent tax office and utility companies is indispensable.
Read more: Investment Interest in Property Acquisition by Auction

Today it is not possible to carry out an internal on-site inspection of the auctioned property by the prospective bidder. Only the exterior of the property is accessible without the incumbent possessor’s consent. The auction notice published on eauction.gr includes photographs taken from the exterior and a brief description based on the enforcement agent’s visit, but does not guarantee the actual state of the property’s interior. The law does not provide a specific mechanism for compulsory access to the interior prior to the auction, in contrast to the position under some other legal systems. This means the bidder must factor in a margin of uncertainty as to the actual condition of the property, and should request all available documentation (building permits, floor plans, energy certificate) before deciding to participate.
Read more: Participation in Auction — The 5 Most Common Questions

The configuration of rights varies according to a series of factors, the most fundamental of which are: the purpose of the lease (residential or commercial use), the date of conclusion of the lease, and whether the lease is evidenced by a document of certain date (έγγραφο βέβαιης χρονολογίας). For a lease of business premises concluded before the commencement of enforcement proceedings, the winning bidder takes over the obligations of the landlord but may terminate on six months’ notice under art. 2 of L. 1703/1987. A residential lease is binding on the winning bidder if it is evidenced by a document of certain date and was concluded before the registration of the attachment; otherwise it is not enforceable against him. An additional complexity arises from the statutory three-year minimum protection of residential leases: termination within the first three years of the lease is not permitted.
Read more: The Fate of a Property Lease after the Auction — Rights of the Winning Bidder

If the incumbent possessor does not vacate voluntarily, the winning bidder must initiate an eviction procedure by way of an application for enforcement (εκτέλεση) of the adjudication deed. The procedure is as follows: the winning bidder, after receiving the adjudication deed from the auction officer, serves it on the possessor together with a formal demand to vacate within a reasonable period. If the possessor refuses, the winning bidder applies to the competent court for an eviction order (διαταγή απόδοσης χρήσης) or proceeds directly to enforcement of the adjudication deed under art. 943 CCP. Any resistance or re-entry by the former possessor after eviction constitutes criminal conduct and may be dealt with through emergency injunctive relief. In the case of a sitting tenant with a binding lease, eviction is possible only through the proper termination procedure described in Q11 above.
Read more: The Fate of a Property Lease after the Auction — Rights of the Winning Bidder

If the auction is definitively set aside (ακυρωθεί τελεσίδικα), the winning bidder in relation to the auction price must be protected. If the price has already been distributed, the winning bidder has an unjust-enrichment claim (αξίωση αδικαιολόγητου πλουτισμού) under art. 904 CC and art. 1018 CCP against the creditors who received distributions, not against the debtor. The Supreme Court in plenary session (ΟλΑΠ 5/2018) confirmed that the claim lies against the creditors who benefited from the distribution. If the annulment becomes final before the price has been paid, the winning bidder may lawfully refuse payment. This protection mechanism is important for understanding the risk profile of the investment: the legal exposure is against the creditors, and the winning bidder has effective remedies without being left without recourse.
Read more: Winning Bidder Protection and Rights upon Annulment of the Auction

In the event of cancellation for lack of bidders (declaration as unsuccessful — άγονος πλειστηριασμός), the enforcement creditor may, within 30 days, request adjudication at the original opening price. If the creditor does not exercise this right, the auction is rescheduled. If the rescheduled auction is also cancelled, the opening bid is reduced to 2/3 of the original price. If that auction too is unsuccessful, the opening bid is halved. Draft legislation (currently under discussion) provides for an automatic reduction of 35% of the opening bid after three consecutive unsuccessful rounds under art. 966 CCP. This staggered price-reduction mechanism means that patient investors who can wait for the fourth auction may obtain the property at a significantly reduced price — though this presupposes that the property remains desirable and that the debtor does not initiate fresh legal challenges in the intervening period.
Read more: Automatic Reduction of the Opening Bid in Property Auctions

The winning bidder must account for the following costs on top of the auction price: notarial fees and registration/transfer fees (Υποθηκοφυλακείο or Κτηματολόγιο); property transfer tax (ΦΜΑ) — the applicable rate depends on the circumstances and may differ from the ordinary rate; local authority clearance fee (τέλος μεταβίβασης ΟΤΑ); legal fees for pre-auction due diligence and post-auction registration; any costs of physical possession (eviction proceedings, repairs or renovation of the property); and any “hidden burdens” as described in Q9 — tax liabilities and utility debts that may be confirmed only after acquisition. In practice, the total additional cost may reach 5–8% of the auction price, which must be factored into the investment calculation before placing any bid.
Read more: How Large a Share of Auctioned Properties is Acquired by Bank REO Companies