The precarious situation created by the state of emergency in Bulgaria has become a cause of serious difficulties for both businesses and borrowers — individuals. The reduced liquidity created opportunities that presumably renewed investors' interest in the alternative way of acquiring real estate, forgotten in the last two or three years — through a public sale by CSI.
Enforcement on immovable property is a method of enforcement, which in practice is often reached when all other options for the debtor under a private or public obligation have been exhausted. voluntary settlementon his relationship with the creditor, as well as when other, more lenient means, such as the attachment of wages and the attachment of a bank account, have not yielded results. Another hypothesis in which a property can be put up for sale to the public is when in proceedings under judicial divisionit turns out that the property is indivisible and cannot be placed in a share of any of the participants.
The market value of the property is determined by an expert licensed for this activity — an appraiser commissioned by the bailiff*. Upon acceptance of the expert opinion by the parties to the case, the starting price from which the bidding begins is set at 80% of the market value of the property, but not lower than the tax assessment. In the event that no buyer is announced at the first sale, the price of the property will continue to fall, with each subsequent sale starting at a price equal to 90% of the previous one. **
Any interested party can keep an eye on properties listed for public sale in the Register of Public Sales at Chamber of Private Bailiffs, Association of State Bailiffs, on the site of the district court at the place of enforcement, as well as on the spot in the building of the district court or in the bailiff's office. The notice contains data on the ownership of the property and property encumbrances, and it is essential that the information is correctly read by the prospective buyer at this early stage. Outside the usual view of the property, the good studyincludes a documentary examination of the property being sold (tracking ownership, the presence of mortgages, foreclosures, claims, etc.) and of the enforcement actionon which the public sale takes place (presence/absence of service of papers and documents, assistance and behavior of the debtor in the process, filed complaints, applications, demands, etc.)
Where an informed decision to participate in the procedure has been taken, the bidder shall pay an advance of 10% of the advertised price and shall submit his tender within one month of the seller's commencement. Opening of the envelopes with tenders is carried out in the district court at the beginning of the working day after the expiry of the bidding period. The highest bidder is declared the buyer of the property, unless one of those who appeared on the spot, at the opening of the envelopes, offers a higher price in the amount of one deposit, in the case of an immediate auction by oral bidding.
The declared buyer has the right to pay the balance of the price offered by him within two weeks, deducting the advance payment. Failing to do so, he loses the bid, and the next bidder at the bid price is declared the buyer. This is followed by payments of a fee for drawing up a decree for assignment by the bailiff, a fee for entering the decree in the land register, as well as payment of local tax for the acquisition of real estate. In the event that a voluntary transfer of the property to the new owner cannot be achieved, an additional fee is paid to the bailiff for making an introduction into possession.
* This material focuses on the proceedings of the public sale in accordance with the Civil Procedure Code, according to which the bailiffs (public and private) perform.
** The procedure for determining the starting price for the public sale underwent changes at the end of 2017, when legislative changes were made in order to limit the possibilities of abuse. Thus, the market value of the property can no longer be determined by the bailiff alone, and the expert's assessment is subject to challenge by the debtor, who has the opportunity to request a re-examination by appointing an expert to carry it out himself.
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