I remember times when people wouldn't dare to look in the eyes of a police officer walking on the street. Those bad old days! In contrast with the past performance of the state, when people were terrorized by the bad behavior of state officials, in the new era, state officials' public relations are improving, of course, with some minor exceptions. The state now understands that it is not a body with an “other” nature but is rather created by the people and therefore should be for the people. Many things have changed.
While waiting for our documents to be completed, we have been chatting about the speed of land registry transactions in comparison to other countries. It is quite fast compared to some countries where a property transaction takes some weeks in between the application to the trade registry and the final closing of the transaction.
Following my questions about bans and limitations, we discussed the verification of the sellers' identity, which is a very touchy issue for land registry officers. There, I listened to the story from the other side of the fence. Being a land registry officer is not the easiest job in the world.
The liability of land registry officers -- a cry
Let's hear the perspective of a land registry director. He was not sure if he should give me consent to publish his name; therefore, I'll leave his name out, but his words really touched me and made me think about finding a solution to the unbearable stress created by unlimited liability.
“I don't know what to say. I am desperately thinking about it, but can find no solution. We can always be exposed to claims by third parties. Even years later, we can be held liable for malpractice. I have unlimited liability for all transactions, and some of these are worth several millions of lira. Everybody needs to feel confident, to secure his assets or his future as well as he can. In my position, in my colleagues' positions, feeling confident? It is not something for us,” he said.
Then he showed me a file in which a relative of a property owner committed identity fraud -- he managed to obtain the real ID card of his relative, but replaced the real person's photo with his own photo -- and sold his cousin's property to a third party.
He continued: “I haven't been able to sleep for days now. Apparently, it was very difficult to verify the ID of the person. I have been doing this job for 17 years now, and at the price of living as a semi-paranoid person, I have never been cheated in the past, but I wasn't able to stop this one. I don't know what to do. Can you believe it? Our superiors are advising us to notify our kids and wives [he means to say legal heirs] to get prepared to reject any testament when we die. This is recommended as a measure against any court case based on the unlimited liability that may extend even to our inheritors, who would be responsible for [the debts of their parents].”
It is sad, isn't it? I will keep writing about this problem and the effects, measures and possible solutions in the coming weeks.
NOTE: Berk Çektir is a licensed attorney at law and available to answer questions on the legal aspects of living in Turkey. Send enquiries to b.cektir@todayszaman.com. The names of the readers are disclosed only upon written approval of the sender.DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is intended to give basic legal information. You should get legal assistance from a licensed attorney at law while conducting legal transactions and not just rely on the information in this corner.
