Hacker paralyses property transactions in Romania
An unidentified hacker has apparently deleted Romania's entire land registry database, bringing all property transactions to a halt and preventing notaries from certifying new sales or registering mortgages. The situation is particularly problematic right now because a tax hike on real estate purchases is due to come into effect at the end of the month.
Danger of doubts creeping in
Plenty of buyers may pull out now, complains real estate agent Oana Popescu in Ziarul Financiar:
“All documents that depend on land registry excerpts or entries cannot be processed at present. The delays will impact not only the signing of the sale contract, but also approvals and the entire transaction. If the hold-up lasts longer than two weeks, the risk increases significantly. Buyers will start having doubts, look at other offers and wonder whether the price was right after all. They react emotionally, which could lead to the cancellation of transactions that would otherwise have gone ahead.”
Don't punish buyers
Financial auditor Oana Luca calls in Cotidianul for the planned tax increase on property purchases from nine percent to 21 percent to be postponed for a year:
“If the government doesn't intervene quickly, buyers who have fulfilled all the statutory requirements stand to lose their entitlement to the nine percent tax rate for purely administrative reasons. If the scheme were to be extended until 31 July next year, it would be a one-off, time-limited and proportionate measure. It wouldn't create any new beneficiaries, nor would it alter tax policy for the current market, but it would prevent administrative problems and the gridlock in public systems from penalising the buyer. The government and parliament must act now.”