New Eviction Procedure of Statutory Tenants

1. General Principles – New procedure 

The position under Cypriot law as regards the eviction of statutory tenants was and still is governed under the provisions of Rent Control Law. However, since 31.01.2020, a new procedure is established under the Rent Control Law no. 23/1983 as amended by the law no. 3(I)/2020 (the “Rent Control Law”) which in the event that any legally owed rent is delayed, prima facie, enables the landlord to obtain an eviction Court order faster and easier than before.  

2. Required steps 

If the statutory tenant owes legally owed rent to the  registered owner of the property, then the following steps are must be followed: 

1. The ownser shall proceed with the service of a written demand notice to the statutory tenant requesting the full repayment of the legally owed rent.   
2. If the statutory tenant fails to pay any part of the legally owed rent or make an offer to that effect within 21 days from date of service, the owner may proceed with an application for eviction (the “Application”).  
3. Thereinafter, following the filing of an Application, the statutory tenant may proceed with the filing of his reply within 14 days from the date of service. It should be also noted that, it is common practice for the statutory tenant to request an extension of time for the filing of his reply which the Courts usually extend for a further period of 14 or more days. 
4. The reply will only be accepted by the Registrar of the Court Registry  if it is accompanied either by a receipt from the Registrar proving that the legally owed rent as per the Application has been paid to Court on the date of filing of the reply, or a receipt of payment issued by the owner or his representative or by a  receipt of deposit to a financial institution for the benefit of the owner or his representative. It should be noted that, the statutory tenant may proceed to the full repayment of the legally owed rent within 14 days from the date of service of the Application. In such a case, the Court shall not order the eviction of the statutory tenant unless the statutory tenant systematically fails to pay the legally owed rent during the tenancy.  
5. The Registrar shall review and decide to accept or reject the filing of the reply and if the Registrar decides to accept the filing, then his decision shall be brought before the Court within 3 days for final determination.  It is noted that the Court’s final determination is not subject to appeal.  
6. As a matter of practice, if the reply of the tenant is rejected by the Court, then the Application will be fixed for proof and pursuant to section 5(a) of the Regulations the Court shall issue its final judgment within 60 days from the date on which the judgment is reserved.  
7. In case the Court issues an eviction order, the Court will order the eviction of the tenant within a period of no less than 90 days.  
8. Finally, and provided that the Court issued the eviction order, the owner shall immediately after the issuance of the eviction order and for the purpose of enforcement of the eviction order, file an application to obtain a writ of possession of the property. This application is an ex-parte application it will be fixed for hearing in 20 days from its filing and as a matter of practice, the Court will grant the order ex-tempore.  

3. Limitations 

The Rent Control Law as amended, clearly states that the new procedure only applies in applications which will be filed on or after 31.01.2021 for rents that have become payable on or after 31.01.2021. Therefore, the new procedure cannot be applied for any rent that has become payable before 31.01.2021.