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I think the answer to your first question is "if you put it up at public auction tomorrow, that would be totally illegal." There are huge legal barriers to pro
by Bartweiss 10y ago
I think the answer to your first question is "if you put it up at public auction tomorrow, that would be totally illegal."
There are huge legal barriers to property sales, including requirements for energy audits and certification that the construction is wholly legal - which is probably isn't. Just like in the US, a great many safe and livable Greek properties violate zoning laws. Real assets are salable, but in this case the government has crippled the market's ability to clear.
All of which just reinforces your last point; the existing legal structure pretty much guarantees perpetual economic crisis.
- honkhonkpants 10y agoZoning laws in the US don't govern anything other than the initial certificate of occupancy in most US states. They are irrelevant for subsequent sales.
- bonzini 10y agoIn order to sell (in Italy) the building must have the same plan (roofs, doors, windows, walls, ...) that was declared when it was built first. You can pay a fine if there are differences, but only if the actual plan obeys the zoning laws now and would have obeyed them at the time the certificate of occupancy was last released.
- Bartweiss 10y agoYes, that was my point but I think I was unclear. Like the US, Greece has many properties which would be illegal to build from scratch under existing zoning laws. Unlike the US, Greece has pushed a law requiring that all properties be certified as "having no illegal constructions" prior to sale. I'm trying to imagine the crisis you would get if you enforced zoning laws against secondary sales in the US. At the very least, all of Boston would be uninhabitable.