The association recommends the introduction of success fees to improve the efficiency of the service
TIRANA, July 16 – A request by the Albanian Association of Banks to liberalize tariffs bailiff offices apply on the execution of collateral has been turned down as endangering the process. Petrit Qarri, the chairman of the Albanian Bailiffs Chamber says the liberalization of the market would endanger the quality of bailiffs and the collateral, and the enforcement of rules. “The bailiff service is supervised by the state just as notaries and tariffs are determined by the Justice Ministry,” says Qarri.
Bailiffs have also demanded the seized assets are sold at 50 percent below their market value and not 35 percent as currently in order to accelerate their sale.
“Under such a situation, with liquidity difficulty and especially a saving tendency, few people think of buying, although they could benefit lower prices in an auction. That’s why we request that the price in the second auction is halved because only in this way we urge the market and benefit economically,” bailiffs say.
As bad loans have hit a record 20 percent, private banks operating in Albania have complained delays in the execution of collateral remains a key barrier despite the presence of private bailiffs. They have also requested the Justice Ministry to liberalize tariffs applied by private bailiffs.
Seyhan Pencapligil, the chairman of the Association of Banks says bailiffs are formally private but their working tariffs and wages are fixed under law. “In this way they are not interested in success. They are private only on paper but in reality they are the same to the old bailiff offices. We pay them the compulsory legal tariffs and don’t know if they will be successful in the executions,” Pencapligil has said.
The association recommends the introduction of success fees to improve the efficiency of the service. Currently fees vary from 2.4 to 5.8 percent based on the value of the asset.
More than 100 private bailiff offices operate nationwide. The 20 percent non-performing loans in the Albanian banking system are worth more than USD 1 billion.
