UNMIK/PR/662
PRESS RELEASE-01 NOV. 2001

Housing and Property Directorate to Open Offices in Serbia and Montenegro

PRISTINA - The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.  The Memorandum was signed in Belgrade between Paul Taylor of Habitat and Zoran Djindjic, Serbian Prime Minister, Nebojsa Covic, Deputy Serbian Prime Minister and Head of the FRY Coordination Center for Kosovo and Goran Svilanovic, Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs.  

This agreement will open the way for the Housing and Property Directorate (HPD), which currently operates in Kosovo, to begin taking housing claims in Serbia proper and Montenegro where most of Kosovo's Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are located.  HPD operates under the guidance of Habitat.

The HPD will begin by sending mobile teams to Novi Pazar, Kursumlje and Vranje as early as next week and should have field offices up and running in Belgrade, Nis and Podgorica by early 2002.

"People who lost their property as a result of the events of March 1999 can come to our offices and file a claim," explained Lynn Hastings, Executive Director of the HPD.  "Before, we were unable to reach many of the IDPs.  The signing of this MOU changes that."

There are an estimated 200,000 IDPs living outside Kosovo. To date, the HPD has registered more than 6,000 residential property claims but expects to eventually process up to 75,000.  
"People coming to file a claim should bring as many documents as they have available which will prove that they actually lived in a certain location before March 1999," explained Hastings.  "This includes possession lists, a contract for sale, an allocation or occupancy right, and even utility bills."

When a claim is made, the current occupier of the property is then approached by HPD.  If the claim cannot be resolved by negotiation, it is forwarded to a commission, which ultimately has the power of eviction. The deadline for the submission of claims to the HPD has been extended to December 1, 2002.