Newsroom
International agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina warn that housing officials will fine double occupants
SARAJEVO 26 June 2003
SARAJEVO, 26 June 2003 - The international agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina involved in the Property Law Implementation Plan - the Office of the High Representative, the OSCE Mission, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Commission for Real Property Claims - have urged everyone illegally occupying a second property to voluntarily move out before they are fined and evicted.
In a joint statement, the agencies said that occupants of more than one property, defined as 'multiple occupants', must leave the property they are illegally occupying or face heavy fines. All 'multiple occupants', who do not voluntarily vacate the property they occupy within the 15 days prescribed by the decision issued by the housing officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, can be fined between 250 to 5,000 KM (Konvertibilna Marka) by the competent body.
The international organizations also stressed that housing authorities at all levels needed to take all necessary steps to ensure that multiple occupants were fined if they did not vacate the occupied property. At the municipal level, housing authorities need to be clearly instructed to report such cases to the competent bodies, as well as the Entity and Brcko District authorities who need to make sure that those bodies function effectively.
The agencies' statement recalled that it had been more than four years since the property laws were initially passed in the country, and strongly urged multiple occupants to comply with the laws. "It is unacceptable for them to simply wait for the housing officials and the police to knock at their door. Such behaviour needs to be sanctioned", their statement read.
With the recent amendments to the property laws, the procedure to fine multiple occupants has been harmonized between the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation and Republika Srpska. The Property Law Implementation Plan agencies urged all the competent housing authorities to make extensive use of such provisions.
Property law implementation needed to be accelerated in the course of the summer months and that the work of the housing authorities in this regard needed to be as effective as possible.
In a joint statement, the agencies said that occupants of more than one property, defined as 'multiple occupants', must leave the property they are illegally occupying or face heavy fines. All 'multiple occupants', who do not voluntarily vacate the property they occupy within the 15 days prescribed by the decision issued by the housing officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, can be fined between 250 to 5,000 KM (Konvertibilna Marka) by the competent body.
The international organizations also stressed that housing authorities at all levels needed to take all necessary steps to ensure that multiple occupants were fined if they did not vacate the occupied property. At the municipal level, housing authorities need to be clearly instructed to report such cases to the competent bodies, as well as the Entity and Brcko District authorities who need to make sure that those bodies function effectively.
The agencies' statement recalled that it had been more than four years since the property laws were initially passed in the country, and strongly urged multiple occupants to comply with the laws. "It is unacceptable for them to simply wait for the housing officials and the police to knock at their door. Such behaviour needs to be sanctioned", their statement read.
With the recent amendments to the property laws, the procedure to fine multiple occupants has been harmonized between the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation and Republika Srpska. The Property Law Implementation Plan agencies urged all the competent housing authorities to make extensive use of such provisions.
Property law implementation needed to be accelerated in the course of the summer months and that the work of the housing authorities in this regard needed to be as effective as possible.