The House Refugee Committee has called on credit-acquiring companies to freeze all foreclosures on procedures involving main residences in refugee housing estates, until parliamentary discussions on the issue are concluded.
Committee chair Nikos Kettiros made the request during a meeting on Tuesday, expressing outrage at what he described as exploitative practices by some lenders. “Some have gone beyond even the loan sharks,” he said.
The session was held to address the foreclosure of first homes belonging to displaced persons, following a joint proposal by MPs from multiple parties.
A 75-year-old borrower shared his experience with MPs, saying that a loan originally worth €15,000–€20,000 had ballooned to around €180,000. He explained that he took out a loan in 2006 to renovate his home and made regular payments until 2013, when both he and his wife lost their income due to the financial crisis. “The only property I have is my refugee home,” he told the committee.
KEDIPES CEO Marios Papadopoulos said the agency would review the case and other similar ones. He confirmed four foreclosure cases involving refugee homes this year — one cancelled, two failed auctions, and one pending.
Financial Ombudsman Valentina Georgiadou told MPs her office has received 156 requests for suspension of home foreclosures this year, many from pensioners, single parents, and divorced women. Most cases are already under court orders, she said, urging loan-acquiring companies to set ethical limits and prioritise loan restructuring over foreclosures.
She also noted a legal gap that leaves restructuring procedures largely at each company’s discretion.
A Finance Ministry representative said around 3,000 households have benefited from state support schemes such as “Estia,” “Oikia,” and “Rent for Instalment.” However, she added that new support plans were delayed following objections from creditors.
After the meeting, Kettiros said companies and KEDIPES appeared to be waging a campaign to seize refugee homes “either to auction them or to sell them outright.” He demanded an immediate halt to all proceedings until the committee completes its review.
DISY MP Rita Superman said the situation “provokes deep concern and indignation,” stressing that displaced persons — who already lost property in the occupied areas — now face losing their only remaining homes. “It is unthinkable that refugee housing beneficiaries should be treated like commercial borrowers,” she said, calling for a comprehensive protection framework tailored to the social and humanitarian nature of refugee housing.
DIKO MP Zacharias Koulias urged the committee to summon ministers and party leaders to assume responsibility and amend the law, criticising the current foreclosure framework as “unacceptable.”
He described the current system as “institutionalised usury”, saying one refugee’s debt had risen from €94,000 to €4.5 million. “It’s tragic,” he said. “These aren’t the acts of loan sharks — they’re acts of the state itself.”
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