On 24 January 2020 the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus has passed an amendment to the Rent Control Law of 1983 (the "Law") that aims to make the eviction procedure easier and quicker.
The main amendments of the Law are summarized below:
1. Eviction Procedure (Article 11 (a) of the Law)
Pursuant to the process which is currently in place, in the event that a tenant omits to pay rent for a period of 21 calendar days or more from the date of service of a relevant notice by the landlord, the landlord has the right to proceed with filling an eviction application with the Rent Control Court and subsequently serving such an application to the tenant. The tenant thereafter has the right to pay the amount due within 14 calendar days from the date of service of the eviction application and in the event a tenant omits to do so, the Rent Control shall proceed with progressing the eviction application.
The Law stipulates that:
i. the tenant now has the right to file a reply to the eviction application against him if he furnishes the Registrar of the Court with either (i) a receipt issued by the owner for the amount of rent due, as this is stated on the eviction application, or (ii) proof that the amount of rent due, as this is stated on the eviction application, has been deposited to the financial institution in which the owner or his agent hold an account, on the date of filing of the tenant's reply to the eviction application.
ii. The Registrar of the Court shall then make a decision on whether to accept or reject the filling of the tenants' reply to the eviction application which shall be presented before the Rent Control Court within three (3) working days from such filing. The Court shall then rule on the acceptance or rejection of the tenant's reply. Such judgment of the Rent Control Court shall not be subject to appeal.
iii. In the event an eviction order is granted, the Rent Control Court shall have the discretion to determine the time during which the tenant must comply with such eviction order, however the time granted by the Court may not be less than 90 days.
2. Service
The Law now provides the ability to serve any notice, application etc. in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Rules, including electronic service and substitute service, provided that a relevant Court Order has been granted.
Τhe Law has not yet been published in the official newspaper of the Republic and we cannot comment on the date of its enforcement, since it has not yet received the assent of the President. We note that the President may opt to refer the Law to the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus to be reexamined.
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