This has resulted in a great deal of confusion on Mosul's real estate market. Anyone wanting to buy or sell property must now go through the Mosul courts in order to ensure the transaction is even slightly legal. But this has given fraudsters the opportunity to grab land or property that is not their's too. They file suits against Iraqis living abroad, dead people, immigrants or detainees, claiming they have the right to sell the property or to rent it out. They also take advantage of Iraqis who've fled the country because they were charged with terrorism or who were considered complicit with the old regime.
Figures based on the number of lawsuits filed in locals courts, obtained by NIQASH, show that there were between 580 and 600 cases of property seizure based on judicial decisions issued against their owners in absentia between 2003 and 2013.
“These kinds of frauds are widespread in Ninawa now,” Faisal Ahmed, a retired judge, told NIQASH. “A lot of the victims are Christians who used to live in Tall Kaif but who have emigrated over the past three years.”
“Other victims of these crimes are Iraqis living outside the country who don't have anyone to manage their property,” he explained. “In some cases the property owners are dead or nobody knows who they are. Usually the fraudsters have managed to find some details out about them.”
Mounir's lawyer, Mohammed Nouri, who helped her file a court order against the person who had illegally sold her property, explains how it all happens. When a fraudster goes to court to have the property put in his name, he will claim that he has paid full price for the property to, for example, an Iraqi living overseas. The fraudster gives the address of the person from whom he allegedly bought the property and the court then tries to notify the seller of the property exchange.
“In case the person to be notified is not present at the address given, the law allows the officer of the court to then designate that the seller's address is unknown,” Nouri says. “Then the buyer is notified by having the court notice published in a daily newspaper. If the seller doesn’t get in touch within one month, the court officer then organises a visit to the property purchased. If the fraudster-cum-plaintiff is indeed living there, the court rules that he had rights to the property.”
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