Glossary

• Abandoned property
  Any property, which the owner or lawful possessor and the members of his/her family household have either permanently or temporarily, other than for an occasional absence, involuntarily ceased to use the property and which is either vacant or illegally occupied, see section 1 of UNMIK Regulation 2000/60.
  
  
• Administered Property
  The HPD is authorized to administer abandoned housing for the purpose of providing for the housing needs of displaced persons and refugees. It may make an order placing a property under its administration in any one of the following circumstances:
  
  (a) By agreement of the parties in settlement of a claim;
  (b) On the request of the claimant, following a decision by the Commission confirming the property right of the claimant;
  (c) Following eviction of the current occupant, if the claimant fails to repossess the property within 14 days of being notified of the execution of the eviction;
  (d) Where no claim has been submitted for the property, and the property is either vacant, or the current occupant of the property does not assert any property right to the property; or
  (e) Where no claim has been submitted for the property, on the request of the owner or occupancy right holder of the property.
  
  For as long as the property is under the administration of the HPD, the rights of possession of the owner or occupancy right holder are suspended in the public interest.
  The HPD may grant temporary permits to persons to occupy property under its administration subject to such terms and conditions as it sees fit and it is obliged to establish criteria for the allocation of properties on this basis. This should not be misconstrued as placing an obligation on the HPD to address humanitarian/social housing issues; this responsibility clearly lies with the PISG, and is discussed here under the heading “housing needs – humanitarian housing”.
  Eviction Orders in relation to property under HPD administration Where the owner or occupancy right holder of a property under administration gives notice to the HPD that they wish to return to the property, the HPD will deliver an eviction order requiring the current occupant to vacate the property within 90 days. Where the current occupant does not comply with the order to vacate the property, the HPD will proceed to issue a warrant authorizing the execution of the eviction order.
  It should be noted that the HPD may also issue an eviction order in relation to a property under its administration at any time in any one of the following circumstances:
  - where the current occupant does not qualify for a temporary permit;
  - where a temporary permit has expired;
  - where the holder of a temporary permit ceases to qualify for accommodation on humanitarian grounds or does not comply with the terms and conditions of the temporary permit.
  The administration of the property by the HPD terminates upon repossession of the property by the owner or occupancy right holder, see further section 12 of UNMIK Regulation 2000/60 . As to evictions where the property is not under HPD administration, see section 13 of UNMIK Regulation 2000/60, considered below under the heading “Eviction”.
  
  
• Allocation right holder
  This is the name given to the socially owned enterprise that had the right to allocate a socially owned apartment to a party, in accordance with the applicable law, see section 1 of UNMIK Regulation 2000/60.
  
  
• Applicable law
  The applicable law governing residential property rights in Kosovo is contained in UNMIK Regulation 1999/23 and UNMIK Regulation 2000/60 as described above. There is also a body of law on housing and property rights that was in force in Kosovo on 22 March 1989 that is still applicable today by virtue of UNMIK Regulation 1999/24, which prescribes that these laws form part of the applicable law:
  
  - The Law on Housing Relations (Official Gazette of the SAP Kosovo, No. 11/83, 29/86, 42/86);
  - Law on Co-ownership of an Apartment (Official Gazette of the SAP Kosovo, No. 43/80, 22/87);
  - Law on Construction of Annexes to Buildings and the Conversion of Common Premises into Apartments (Official Gazette of the SAP Kosovo, No. 14/88);
  - Law on the Transfer of Real Property (Official Gazette of SAP, Kosovo, No. 45/81, 29/86, 26/88);
  - Law on the Registration of Real Properties in Social Ownership (Official Gazette of SAP, Kosovo, No. 37/71).
  
  Further, UNMIK Regulation 1999/10 on the Repeal of Discriminatory Legislation affecting Housing and Rights in Property repealed post 1989 laws which were deemed to be discriminatory.
  A compilation of the UNMIK Regulations and other laws cited above are available on our website by clicking on the following link: http://www.hpdkosovo.org/Legalframework.htm
  
  
• Associated property
  This means land and buildings owned and/or used by a claimant, which form a physical unit with a residential property, see section 1 of UNMIK Regulation 2000/60.
  
  
• B claim order
  Any person who can prove that s/he acquired ownership of a property through an informal transaction based on the free will of the parties between 23 March 1989 and 13 October 1999 is entitled to an order for the registration of his/her ownership in the appropriate public record. Such an order does not affect any obligation to pay any tax or charge in connection with the property or the property transaction, see section 2.4 of UNMIK Regulation 2000/60.
  
  
• Call Center
  The Call Center contacts and receives calls from claimants on a daily basis in order to provide them with updates on the status of their claims, to arrange for the notification/collection of decisions and deal with issues relating to the processing and implementation of claims and decisions respectively.
  The Call Centre’s Hot Line is + 381 (0) 38 249 936 or you may contact the call center by email at administrator@hpdkosovo.org or on any of the phone numbers or faxes numbers designated on the “HPD Offices and Staff” at http://www.hpdkosovo.org/contactus.htm.
  
  

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