ATHENS – As part of plans to increase housing during a shortage driven by homes and apartments being turned into short-term rentals, Greece’s government will list tenants who don’t pay their rent to keep them from moving between places.

The aim is to let landlords know about debtors who might move in and then not pay, the process for evicting them being difficult, and set up a registry similar to that alerting businesses about people with bad credit ratings.

“The details of tenants and their profile will be included, so it will show whether they have left unpaid rent to the previous owner, or whether they have left unpaid bills, in order for landlords to avoid them,” said Alex Patelis, Chief Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking on Skai TV.

He said there are about 700,000 closed or vacant or abandoned properties across the country that could also be used while there are now some 100,000 being let out only for short-term rentals, driving up prices while drying up supply.

The government is seeking bidders to set up the deadbeat registry which will be required to create a database of debtors using data from banks and others that will show those who haven’t paid rent or utility bills when they leave a unit.

The Finance Ministry will have access to this database initially but then will reportedly let private individuals access it to check on possible renters and their credit and payment history, including for mobile phones and other installments.

Data from the Independent Authority of Public Revenue (AADE) showed that in 2023, 3,100 landlords stated that they had unpaid rents totaling 10.1 million euros ($11.2 million) although the actual total is believed to be far higher than that.

“In most cases, landlords prefer not to get involved with the bureaucracy that accompanies the declarations of uncollected rents and either choose not to declare them at all (especially if it is for 2-3 months), even though they will be taxed for some months for income they did not receive, or they declare their properties as vacant for that period,” said Stratos Paradias, President of the Hellenic Property Federation (POMIDA).