Multiple occupants must leave the property they are illegally occupying or face heavy fines. All multiple occupants, who do not voluntarily vacate the property they occupy, within the 15 days prescribed by the decision issued by the housing officials, can be fined between 250 to 5,000 KM. Upon the expiration of the 15 days deadline, the housing authorities can immediately report the multiple occupants to the competent body who will fine them.
Housing authorities at all levels must take all necessary steps to ensure that multiple occupants are fined if they do not vacate the occupied property. At the municipal level, housing authorities need to be clearly instructed to report such cases to the competent bodies, as well as the Entity and Brcko District authorities who need to make sure that those bodies function effectively.
It has been more than four years since the property laws were initially passed in BiH, and multiple occupants must comply with the laws. It is unacceptable for them to simply wait for the housing officials and the police to knock at their door. Such behaviour needs to be sanctioned.
With the recent amendments to the property laws, the procedure to fine multiple occupants has been harmonised between the two Entities. The PLIP agencies now urge all the competent housing authorities to make extensive use of such provisions.
The agencies involved in the Property Law Implementation Plan (PLIP), OHR, OSCE, UNHCR and CRPC call upon all multiple occupants to voluntarily vacate the properties they currently occupy, before they are fined and evicted.
PLIP agencies consider that property law implementation needs to accelerate in the course of the summer months and that the work of the housing authorities in this regard needs to be as effective as possible.