Lawyer for Alpha Bank loans and foreclosures in Thessaloniki and across Greece

If you have a non-performing Alpha Bank loan, or you have received an extrajudicial notice, termination of the contract, a payment order, a writ of execution, a seizure report or an auction programme, your case is no longer at a theoretical stage. In some cases the claim is still pursued by Alpha Bank itself. In others, the loan has been transferred to a special purpose vehicle (fund) and management has been assigned to a credit servicing company (servicer). The first thing we check is exactly that: who is pursuing you today and with what legal standing. Ioannis Papaioannou, Legal Advisor to the Association of Borrowers and Consumer Protection of Northern Greece, has been defending borrowers against banks and servicers for more than 25 years. We know how Alpha Bank works in practice, which documents must be produced, and which points of the case must be checked before the borrower is pushed into a settlement out of fear or into an auction without a real defence.

Alpha Bank, funds and servicers: who really pursues your loan

An Alpha Bank loan may today be in different hands than when it was signed. Sometimes it remains with the bank and sometimes it has been transferred, through securitisation, to a special purpose vehicle (fund), with management assigned to a servicer. This matters in practice. In every case we must check who is the real beneficiary of the claim today, when and how the loan was transferred from Alpha Bank, with which documents the transfer and the servicing assignment are proven, whether the party enforcing has legal standing in the specific procedure, and whether the amount demanded arises in a lawful, clear and verifiable way. A document, whether from Alpha Bank or from a servicer, does not mean everything is settled. It means the case must be checked immediately. Before any discussion of a settlement, we must know what is demanded, by whom, with what standing and with what calculation. If management has been taken over by a specific company, such as Cepal, doValue, Intrum or QQuant, see our dedicated page on it too.

Protecting your home from a foreclosure on an Alpha Bank loan

No property is lost because a letter arrived. It is at risk when the case is not checked in time and the lawful means of defence are left unused. From the termination of the contract to the payment order, the writ of execution, the seizure and the auction, each stage has its own significance. We examine whether there is room for an objection, an application for suspension, inclusion in the out-of-court mechanism, direct negotiation or another targeted action. We treat no auction as a foregone conclusion. From the outset we check the legal standing of the party enforcing, the transfer of the claim from Alpha Bank, the amount of the debt, the interest, the charges, the abusive terms and every act of enforcement. There, in the details that are often not checked, the course of a case can change. The aim is not simply to move fast. The aim is to move correctly, before enforcement appears to be the only road.

Businesses and Self-Employed Professionals

Enforcement does not concern home loans only. Professional and corporate loans, working capital, current accounts, bond loans and personal guarantees of managers and partners equally lead to payment orders, seizures and auctions, often with larger amounts and more complex files. The logic of the defence stays the same, but the points to check are more.

• Professional and corporate loans: review of the contract, the securities, the balance and the legal standing of the party pursuing.
• Personal guarantees: when the entrepreneur, manager or partner has guaranteed, the extent and limits of liability are checked separately. A guarantee is not always unlimited or valid.
• Business property and equipment: seizure of business premises, machinery or goods is met with an objection and an application for suspension, just like a home.
• Out-of-court mechanism for businesses: settlement of debts to banks, funds, social security (EFKA) and the tax office in a single framework, where the conditions are met.

For businesses and professionals, time and the proper organisation of the file count double, because the amounts are larger and the consequences for viability immediate.

I received an extrajudicial notice, payment order or seizure on an Alpha Bank loan: the deadlines you must not miss

Not every document has the same legal weight. The termination of the contract is one thing, the payment order another and the seizure yet another. But each stage shows the case is moving and the time to react is shrinking.

Negotiation strategy for Alpha Bank loans: a settlement aiming at a debt write-off (haircut), where the case allows it

Whether you are facing Alpha Bank or the servicer managing the claim, you do not go to ask for mercy. You go to present a position. Whichever side knows the case better holds the stronger negotiating advantage. Our job is to pass that advantage to the borrower. Before any contact we check the legal standing of the party pursuing, the real beneficiary of the claim, the transfer from Alpha Bank, the balance, the interest, the charges and every element affecting the amount. An amount that has not been verified must not become the starting point of a negotiation.

• The settlement must withstand time. A deal that looks good on paper but collapses on the second or third instalment is worthless. The proposal must be linked to the borrower's real financial capacity, the value of the security, the course of the claim and the data of the case.
• A debt write-off (haircut) is not asked for as a wish; it is documented as a negotiating goal when the elements of the case allow it.
• The price at which the fund acquired the loan from Alpha Bank, the history of the portfolio, the prospect of recovery, the value of the property and the existence of a judicial challenge are factors that can change the discussion.
• The best negotiation takes place when the borrower has already exercised, or is ready to exercise, their rights. A well-founded objection, an application for suspension or a serious judicial challenge changes the basis of the discussion: the other side knows that, if there is no agreement, the case will be decided in court.

A proposal is not enough to be heard; it has to hold. That means a settlement that can actually be paid, a write-off where it is documented, and judicial pressure where it is needed. Against a bank or a servicer, no one hands you the good terms; they are won through control of the file and proper preparation.

Objection and Suspension of Auction before the Courts of Thessaloniki and across Greece

Enforcement is not met with general protests, but with a targeted procedural review of every act, every document and every amount invoked by the pursuing side.

Our Law Office handles, on a daily basis, cases of objections, applications for suspension and auctions before the Courts of Thessaloniki and across Greek territory.

In every case we fully review the writ of payment, the seizure report, the documents of transfer of the claim, the servicing assignment, the analysis of the debt, the interest, the charges, the services and compliance with the lawful deadlines. An objection must not be a routine defence pleading. It must be procedurally precise, evidentially documented and adapted to the actual data of the specific file.

Where required, the objection is accompanied by an application for suspension, aiming to temporarily avert the auction until the substance of the dispute is judged. Suspension is not merely a means of delay. It is a procedural tool of protection, when there is a serious ground to annul the enforcement and a risk of irreparable harm from the immediate conduct of the auction.

Our goal is the immediate and full assessment of the file, the highlighting of the substantive and procedural defects, and the formation of a concrete strategy either to overturn the enforcement in court or to create a strong negotiating position against the bank, the claims acquisition company or the credit servicing company.

In auction cases, time is critical. The timely submission of documents and the immediate legal review can determine whether there is real room for objection, suspension or an out-of-court settlement.

Frequently Asked Questions about Alpha Bank loans