Security of transactions on the secondary market: without hesitation, we require from sellers a certificate from a mental health clinic! How and where can I get a PND and ND certificate for selling an apartment? Is it necessary to check the legal capacity of the buyer of the apartment?

In accordance with Article 177 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Invalidity of a transaction made by a citizen incapable of understanding the meaning of his actions or managing them), a transaction made by a citizen, although legally capable, was at the time of its completion in a state where he was not capable of understanding the meaning of his actions and managing them, may be declared invalid by the court at the request of this citizen or other persons whose rights and interests protected by law are violated as a result of its commission.

Perhaps half of all contested transactions are contested with reference to this article of the law.

The main, although not the only, evidence in such a dispute is the results of a forensic psychiatric examination or a post-mortem forensic psychiatric examination. Within the framework of the first, medical documents, case materials and the condition of the citizen are studied, within the second - medical documents and case materials. The main question posed to experts is whether the citizen, at the time of the transaction, could understand the meaning of his actions and direct them.

Next, consider two options:

1. If you yourself are an elderly person, suffer from any diseases that may affect the ability to understand the meaning of your actions, have suffered a stroke, heart attack, suffer from diabetes, memory disorder, etc., and at the same time you are afraid that your will or any of your other transactions will be challenged by your relatives or other interested parties - you should take a number of important actions.

Make a transaction only with a notary.

A notary is not a doctor and does not establish legal capacity, although this is formally indicated in every notarial document. In reality, the notary can only determine your orientation in time and space, determine whether you remember your data, and ask a number of questions regarding your will and knowledge of the consequences of performing a notarial act.

But when challenging a notarial transaction, a notary is required to participate in the process as a third party and, during the consideration of the dispute, takes either a neutral position (“I don’t go to court and don’t remember anything, because I have 20 transactions a day, and yours was a year back") or the plaintiff’s side (“yes, the citizen was adequate, perfectly oriented in time and space, answered questions clearly,” etc.).

However, notarial transactions are treated differently than transactions concluded in simple written form. Whatever one may say, both the court and the experts have more confidence.

On the day of the transaction, visit your local psychiatrist and get a certificate from him about your mental health.

Exactly on the day of the transaction! Neither the day before, nor the next day, namely on the day of the transaction. It is the day of the transaction that is the legally significant period. It is best if it is a free psychiatrist at your place of residence. Explain to the doctor the purpose of your visit, ask for a card and write in detail both on the card and on the certificate (ask for two identical certificates, if given) about the state of your health. And that your consciousness is clear, and that you are not registered with the PND and that everything is fine with you.

If you managed to obtain two certificates, be sure to leave one with the notary, and give the second to the person in whose favor you are making the transaction, for careful storage and presentation, if necessary, to the court.

Take an independent escort with you to the notary's transaction.

It is this person who will be your valuable witness who will be able to give evidence to the court regarding your adequate behavior on the day of the transaction and your persistent desire to complete it. Also good witnesses will be people to whom you told long before the transaction and after the transaction about your intention to dispose of your property in this way.

2. If you are going to make a transaction with an older person.

Basically it comes down to when exactly you acquire the property. Almost no one challenges transactions involving the purchase of real estate by older people.

You especially should not neglect the advice I have already given.

Request a certificate from a psychiatrist.

When purchasing real estate, do not underestimate the price in the contract in order to evade taxes - in this case, income tax is the problem of the seller. Indeed, if a transaction is declared invalid, the consequence is bilateral restitution - each party returns to the other everything that it received under the transaction.

If you have doubts, do not make a transaction!

In any case, it would be a good idea to consult with a lawyer before you decide to do something bad. After all, if you make a mistake, you will incur much higher costs.

It happens that after buying a home it turns out that the seller was incapacitated and therefore did not account for his actions during the sale. As a result, the deal is declared invalid, and the unfortunate buyer has to return his money. How to avoid such a situation? Alexey Komarov, a notary of the Notary Chamber of St. Petersburg, tells the story.

In Russia there is no single database of incapacitated citizens. It is partially filled out by Rosreestr data - the authority can refuse registration if it has data on the seller’s incapacity. Moreover, starting next year, the department will provide information “on the recognition of the copyright holder as incapacitated, or partially capable” upon request. And yet, Rosreestr does not have all the data on mentally ill people - at best, half of the incompetent homeowners are present in the database.

No right to sell

The decision to recognize a citizen as incompetent is made by the court, subject to a psychiatric examination. Such citizens, by court decision, are appointed a guardian. Only he has the right to dispose of the property of an incapacitated citizen - with the consent of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities (the relevant conditions are specified in Articles 32 and 37 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). That is, incompetent people do not have the right to independently dispose of their real estate.

As stated in Article 29 of the Civil Code, incapacity is the inability to understand the meaning of one’s actions and control them due to a mental disorder. Alcoholics, gambling addicts, drug abusers - in general, those who, with their “frivolous” actions, put their family in a difficult financial situation, can be recognized as having limited legal capacity. These persons can dispose of their property only with the written consent of the trustee, and in cases of transactions with real estate, the written consent of the guardianship and trusteeship authority is also required.

If an incapacitated citizen decides to “conduct” the transaction on his own, then, in accordance with Article 171 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it is void, the buyer will have to return the apartment to the seller, and he, in turn, will have to return the money.

It is important to know that even if a person sold real estate, and only then was declared incompetent or partially capable due to a mental disorder, the transaction can be challenged - at the request of the guardian or trustee. Article 177 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation If, for example, a citizen sold his living space, after which he was recognized as having limited legal capacity due to alcoholism or gambling, then declaring the transaction invalid will also be possible, but much more difficult. Fraudsters can take advantage of the incapacity of homeowners. When a patient has an exacerbation, they “persuad” him to sell them a home. After which they resell it to an unsuspecting, conscientious buyer. As already mentioned, Rosreestr does not have comprehensive data on mentally ill people. In a transaction completed in simple written form, there is no qualified witness - a notary who, seeing a catch, would refuse to conclude the contract, and when submitting documents for registration of the transfer of ownership, an employee of Rosreestr or MFC does not have the right to question or ascertain the legal capacity of the applicant. Therefore, the right to such a transaction will most likely be registered. And the final buyer in such cases risks being left without money and housing. In any case, the purchased housing will have to be returned. The only exception to this rule is the missed statute of limitations, which for invalid transactions is 3 years - from the moment the execution of such a transaction began, or - the date when the interested party learned about the beginning of its execution.

Sanity check

Therefore, before purchasing real estate, experts advise taking a closer look at the health of the seller if his appearance raises certain doubts.

In general, according to the World Health Organization, every fifth inhabitant of the earth has one or another mental or behavioral disorder.

What advice can you give to buyers? Involve a lawyer - a notary - in the transaction. Today this is the most effective mechanism for protecting the rights of the buyer. The notary is impartial, has extensive experience in communicating with people, the notary will not certify the transaction if he has doubts that the party to the contract does not understand the significance of his actions. The buyer's good faith in court is determined by the fact of the notary's participation in the transaction.

In addition, before drawing up an agreement, it makes sense to meet the seller in person - from the conversation, the adequacy of the person’s behavior, it will become clear who you are dealing with. If in doubt, ask the real estate agent to provide evidence that the seller is not registered with a psycho-neurological and drug addiction clinic.

Finally, when concluding an agreement, indicate in it exactly the price that you pay for the apartment. Otherwise, it will be extremely difficult to reclaim all the funds paid. Consult a notary - it’s free and certainly won’t harm your interests.

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It plays a very important role in a real estate transaction. An incapacitated apartment seller has no right to commit. If, after all, a purchase and sale transaction took place, and then it turned out that the seller was incompetent, the transaction will be declared invalid.

Implies that this citizen acts freely and exercises his rights in accordance with the law. The seller's capacity also means that he understands the meaning of his actions and the consequences of his actions.

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This means that he can sell the apartment and is responsible for the transaction by signing the terms of the apartment purchase and sale agreement.

A capable seller can be held accountable, but an incompetent seller cannot.

A citizen of the Russian Federation can be declared legally incompetent only by decision of a judicial authority. The court recognizes a person as incompetent if he has a mental disorder and is unable to understand the meaning of his actions. The court recognizes the citizen as incompetent and establishes guardianship over him. The guardian is selected from among relatives and friends. At the same time, the guardian is a full-fledged representative of the incapacitated citizen and has the right to make transactions on his behalf and sign documents.

In addition, the interests of the incapacitated apartment seller are represented by the guardianship authorities. Any transactions for the purchase and sale of real estate, the owner of which is an incapacitated citizen, must be permitted only with the written permission of the guardianship authorities.

How to confirm the legal capacity of the seller of an apartment?

Proved by providing a certificate from a narcological dispensary (ND), a psychoneurological dispensary (PND). The certificate proves the citizen's legal capacity.

A certificate from a drug treatment center indicates that the seller of the apartment is not registered with the drug treatment center. If the certificate indicates that the seller of the apartment is registered with the ND, this immediately indicates that it is possible The competence of the apartment seller is in question.

A certificate from a psychoneurological clinic is issued at the place of residence of the apartment seller. It should also indicate that the citizen is not registered with them. If the certificate indicates that the citizen is registered with the PND, he may be incapacitated.

This does not automatically mean that the seller of the apartment, who is registered in the ND or in the PND, is incapacitated. Issues of incapacity can only be decided by the court. But the security of a purchase and sale transaction by which seller clearly has great risks.

Even if at the time of concluding a real estate transaction the legal capacity of the apartment seller was proved by the fact that there is no court decision on his incapacity; the consequences are that the court may declare the seller incompetent. And another court, on the basis of the seller’s incapacity, may declare the purchase and sale transaction invalid.

From 2010 to 2016, the number of real estate transactions declared invalid increased by 40%. In most cases of challenging contracts of sale, gift, or lease, the incapacity of one of the parties was involved. How to protect yourself from the risk of being left without money and property when planning to carry out any real estate transaction? The answer is clear: conduct a medical examination of the counterparty to the transaction. Below we will highlight the details of this procedure: when it is necessary, how to initiate it, regulations, timing, cost, and other nuances. As they say, if you are informed, you are protected.

Invalidation of a transaction: who is at risk?

As stated in Article 166 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the incapacity of one of the parties to a transaction (in our case with real estate) is the reason for declaring it invalid/void. Such decisions are made exclusively by the court, upon the application of the interested party. After a transaction is declared invalid, all rights and obligations of the parties involved in it are canceled.

In other words, if you bought an apartment from a person who is subsequently declared incompetent by the court and the transaction is invalid (on his initiative or on the initiative of relatives), you will have to return the real estate to the owner. It’s good if you get back the amount paid for the failed acquisition in full, although there will be certain losses in any case (costs for realtor services, taxes, registration of property, etc.). It’s worse if part of the money has already been spent. And it’s really bad if by a court decision you can only hope for the diligence of the bailiffs to “knock out” the debt from the seller.

By analogy, we can give an example with rent, donation, purchase of a share, a room in a residential property - with any operation for the alienation of real estate. There is only one result: if it is declared invalid due to the incapacity of one of the participants, the party that incurred financial expenses and did not receive what was expected in return will suffer.

Who can be declared incompetent?

Persons who, due to their age or state of health, are unable to acquire and exercise civil rights, be aware of their own actions, and be aware of their consequences, are considered legally incompetent. In our case, we are talking about the complete incapacity of citizens with mental, neurological diseases, congenital or acquired with age, and the limited legal capacity of persons suffering from drug and alcohol addiction.

In order not to expose yourself to the risk of “contacting” with just such a subject (who may appear to be an absolutely normal, healthy person, for example, during a period of remission), it is extremely important to initiate a psychiatric examination of him before a real estate transaction.

If a person refuses to voluntarily provide evidence of his adequacy, “dealability,” this should alert you. Just like other “bells” in his behavior, if they are observed:

oddities in appearance;
increased emotionality;
“off-the-cuff” answers to standard questions;
disorientation;
illogicality of actions.

Old people and people of advanced age should also be wary when concluding transactions with them. Often, due to age-related changes, their mental state is in question. Only a specialized medical examination can give a clear answer.

How to initiate a medical examination before a transaction?

Having a guarantee that the completed transaction will not be disputed in the future is the concern, first of all, of the buyer himself. You should not recklessly rely on realtors or a notary that they will check the seller’s capacity properly, just on the eve of the operation. It's better to do it yourself.

Keep in mind that certificates from psychoneurological and narcological dispensaries stating that this individual is not registered and has not sought help are not suitable as an irrefutable argument. Such generalizing documents, by and large, say nothing. Changes in a person’s mental health could occur at any time, and could not be “recorded” in any way in the relevant institutions.

Therefore, it is important to conduct a medical examination at the transaction itself, or immediately before it. According to Article 22 of Federal Law No. 323, every citizen of Russia has the right to receive information about the state of their health. It is clear that the person who will undergo the examination must give consent to it. The person interested in the result, that is, the buyer, can also invite specialists who will carry out the examination and pay for the procedure (we will write about its cost below).

Who conducts a medical examination and how?

Let's start with the fact that only medical experts, specialists in the field of forensic psychiatry, neurology, and narcology who have a state license to do so, can conduct a competency examination. It is allowed to involve both employees of medical organizations and individual entrepreneurs. After examining the participant in the transaction, the doctor will draw up a reasoned conclusion about whether he is capable of making responsible decisions at the time of signing the contract, and whether he is aware of the actions being taken.

This paper, if something happens, will have legal force and can be used as evidence in court. In addition, the expert conducting the procedure, if necessary, will appear as a witness. In 99.9% of cases, this is enough for the completed transaction, in the event of attempts to challenge it, to be recognized by the court as valid and completed.

You should call a specialist in advance, an hour to an hour and a half before signing the contract. Before checking a person’s mental state, the expert is obliged to provide copies of the license and certificates confirming the legality of his powers, explain to the person being examined the essence of the procedure, based on the Law of the Russian Federation N 3185-1 “On psychiatric care and guarantees of the rights of citizens during its provision.” After receiving his written consent to undergo the examination, the doctor will begin the examination.

The process should take place in a calm, secluded place, without witnesses. An “interview” of one person usually takes about 40 minutes. The expert will ask the test taker prepared questions and check for alcohol and drugs in his body. The conclusion, drawn up on a special form, with the signature and seal of the doctor, attached copies of his certificates, license, is transferred to the examined person. The cost of the procedure in Moscow is about 15-20 thousand rubles, for a medical examination of 1 person (October 2016).

If during the examination a violation of the mental state or sanity of the person being interviewed was revealed, it is best to refuse the transaction. Or, if you intend to purchase this particular property and no other, organize the official recognition of its owner as incompetent/partially capable, followed by the appointment of a guardian by the court. You will conduct further dialogue with him regarding the purchase of real estate. These difficulties will significantly increase the timing of the transaction, and do you really need them, with all their risks?

Increased attention: power of attorney, mortgage

When it comes to purchasing an apartment by power of attorney, with a mortgage, you need to be extra vigilant about the seller’s legal capacity. In the first case, when making a transaction with a trusted person, it is extremely important to make sure that the power of attorney was executed with a medical examination of the owner of the living space. Otherwise, you need to conduct a psychiatric examination of him before a real estate transaction, even (especially!) if the owner of the apartment is “hard to reach” - temporarily absent, in hospital, etc. Selling real estate by proxy is one of the most “unreliable” options, offering a lot of opportunities for fraud, including due to the incapacity of the owner.

As for mortgages, things are even more serious here. If suddenly you manage to buy an apartment with the help of bank funds from a person who subsequently wishes to cancel the transaction on the basis of his mental incapacity (or his relatives will do this, even several years after signing the sale and purchase agreement, “black realtors”), you and the housing lose, and you will be required to make payments for a long time. And returning the money transferred by the bank to the seller is almost impossible.

Despite the fact that employees of banks and real estate agencies cooperating with them are obliged to monitor the legal purity of transactions, in reality, checking the ability of the parties to a transaction to understand and be aware of their actions does not always happen. Title insurance, which is indispensable when applying for a mortgage, will also not help in such situations (the court declaring the transaction invalid). If the insurance company has not been provided with the title and other documents relating to the transaction in full (this includes a conclusion on the legal capacity of the parties), it will refuse compensation to the victim for loss of ownership of real estate.

All these risks must be taken into account, first of all, by the buyer/borrower himself, without relying on verification of the purity of the transaction by a bank or realtors. That is why conducting a medical examination during a real estate transaction is a necessary measure. Don't neglect your safety!

Risk, of course, is a noble cause. But the euphoria from the long-awaited purchase of a home may be very short-lived if it suddenly turns out that the apartment is at risk. It is very easy to lose it. Lawyer Oleg Sukhov, leading lawyer at the First Capital Legal Center, told us what you should be wary of when purchasing and what you shouldn’t save on.

Risk 1. What is the cost?

If it is at least 20% below the market price, then the transaction should be taken especially seriously. As practice shows, in order to sell “unclean” housing faster and with a guarantee, unscrupulous sellers reduce its value. This has a hypnotic effect on buyers, many forget where the free cheese is usually found. In order not to clearly scare buyers with a low price, scammers (if the apartment is sold directly through individuals) refer to the need for an urgent sale for some invented reason. For example, relatives immediately need money for treatment, or in connection with leaving for another city or abroad.

It happens that scammers sell an apartment through a supposedly large real estate agency by changing one letter in its name. For example, “Inkom +” or “Miel 1”. The names of these companies are similar to the names of well-known agencies with a good reputation. The backup company registers with the tax office, rents a good office in the city center for one or two weeks, advertises in the newspaper and on the Internet about the urgent sale of an apartment at a reduced price from a “well-known” real estate agency. The buyer falls for this trick. Naturally, such sales transactions do not end with housewarming.

Unfortunately, not everyone turns to specialists when purchasing a home. Many people believe in themselves or in the big name of a company that cannot deceive. The desire to make a “successful” deal on the cheap is also spurred on by the scammers themselves, who convince buyers that there is a queue for an apartment of people who want to purchase it and are already ready to make an advance payment.

In legal practice, we have more than once encountered situations where buyers, forgetting about everything in the world, purchased an apartment, and later it turned out that it was either under arrest (removing it temporarily is not a problem for scammers), or was registered using forged documents, about which quickly becomes known to law enforcement agencies. These could be fake court decisions and wills, death certificates and social tenancy and apartment transfer agreements, as well as fake investment agreements or other documents.

Risk 2. Power of attorney

If they hide from the buyer who is the owner of the apartment, or offer to sell by proxy, this is a serious reason to be wary. It is better to immediately refuse such a problematic transaction or conduct a thorough check. It is necessary to verify the authenticity and validity of the powers of attorney, and also to study the history of the apartment in terms of its previous owners and their fate (it often happens that the owner himself is absent from the transaction for some reason, but then it turns out that he is no longer alive - this is usually occurs when selling apartments using forged powers of attorney).

As for the power of attorney, it can be canceled within a few minutes, but what can such an action lead to? Let’s say the owner issues a power of attorney for the sale of his apartment, the transaction is prepared, the necessary documents are collected, payment for the apartment is deposited in the bank, contracts are submitted for registration. On the 13th or 14th day, right before registration itself, the owner cancels the power of attorney, but does not inform anyone about this. The transaction undergoes state registration, the fraudulent seller receives his money, and the next day goes to court with demands to recognize the purchase and sale agreement as an invalid transaction due to the lack of will of the seller to complete the transaction, which is confirmed by the cancellation of the power of attorney for the sale of the apartment. Of course, these demands can be, as they say, “beaten off” with a qualified lawyer, but the buyers will be seriously damaged by their nerves.

Risk 3. Owner and registered

There are often cases when the owner of an apartment is an insane, incompetent, or partially capable person. There are a lot of cases in the courts challenging or declaring a purchase and sale transaction invalid only on the above grounds of insanity or limited sanity of the seller.

If it follows from the documents that the seller is of advanced age, then his presence at the transaction, as well as a psychoneurological examination immediately before the transaction, are required.

If there are persons “registered” in the apartment who cause concern (not only due to their advanced age and state of health), and who were previously the owners of the apartment and transferred it to your seller under a gratuitous transaction, they also need to be carefully checked.

An example of a gratuitous transaction is a gift. Let’s say an elderly woman gives an apartment to her daughter, the daughter decides to sell it, after the sale, the grandmother goes to court and demands that the apartment be returned to her, citing a lack of will and desire when concluding the gift agreement. If the lack of will, for example due to the mental state at the time of the transaction, is proven, then the buyer will be left without an apartment due to the court declaring the gratuitous transaction invalid.

A case from legal practice

Let me give you one of the latest examples, which happened to one of our clients, who bought an apartment from a limited-capacity, but very smart seller, and what this led to.

The seller of the apartment, registered with a psychoneurological dispensary, put his apartment up for sale with a small bonus in favor of buyers relative to the market value. Buyers were found very quickly and paid 10 million rubles for the purchase. Immediately after registering the purchase and sale agreement, the seller goes to court, and acts very competently and independently, having a long-term practice of such disputes, seizes the apartment and asks to declare the transaction invalid on the basis that he, being of limited legal capacity, did not give an account of his actions at the time of execution of the contract. Based on the forensic medical psychoneurological examination, the seller’s limited legal capacity was confirmed, and the court ruled in his favor.

By the way

Despite the fact that in such disputes the property is registered back to the seller, but is not actually transferred to him until the money paid to him is returned, this does not prevent the seller from being registered in the apartment and living in it. Buyers find themselves in a situation where they are legally copyright holders, but not owners, and cannot dispose of housing that they have paid for in full, and their use is significantly limited. It is impossible to get money back from the seller in such disputes. It is also impossible to seize an apartment for the purpose of sale, since this property is the only place of residence of the seller. True, the seller himself offered the buyers to “get behind” them for 5 million rubles, but still the result is not comforting, since it turns out that the apartment is actually being transferred for one and a half prices.

Risk 4. Number of sales

The more owners a home has had over a short period of time, the more alarming this should be.

And that's why. Many scammers are good lawyers and are quite well versed in both the practice of preparing documents and the peculiarities of conducting transactions. But their level of legal training is not high enough to understand the intricacies of legal proceedings regarding invalid transactions. And, as a rule, they have no idea about the practice of explaining certain provisions of the Supreme or Constitutional Courts of the Russian Federation. Therefore, apartment swindlers believe that, having made one illegal transaction on an apartment, they will conduct two or three more, thereby “cleaning up” the apartment, and the new buyer will be considered conscientious.

This is a very serious misconception, not only for buyers, but also for many realtors. What about realtors, many lawyers do not understand the status of a bona fide buyer. Let me explain briefly and in layman’s language: the buyer will never be in good faith if the apartment he purchased was ever taken away from the actual owner against his will (deception, forgery of documents, limited legal capacity, threats, many other reasons).

By the way. The institution of a bona fide purchaser, as almost all realtors assure us, does not act in the interests of the buyer, but in the interests of the previous owners.

You can check the data about the apartment by studying an extract from the Unified State Register of Rights to Real Estate and Transactions with It (USRP) about all transactions made in relation to this apartment, as well as an extended extract from the house register.

Risk 5. Red lines

It would be a good idea to request and study the BTI documents yourself, without entrusting this process to the seller. Why? If redevelopment has been carried out in the apartment, then, without having BTI documents, without studying the cadastral passport and explication, the buyer will never know about it. Moreover, these documents are not at all necessary to complete a purchase and sale agreement. However, in the future, if red lines are discovered indicating illegal redevelopment, the buyer is unlikely to be pleased with the need to spend considerable money both on home repairs and on paperwork to pay fines and bring the apartment to its original condition. At the same time, redevelopment and re-equipment are often carried out in such a way that it will require several tens of thousands of dollars to obtain legal approval.

Reconciliation of BTI documents with the actual condition of the apartment will guarantee receipt of the necessary information that insures the risks of illegal and unapproved redevelopment or refurbishment. BTI documents in the usual manner cannot be obtained by someone other than the owner, or a person “not registered” in the apartment (except by power of attorney, of course) and without having a title document for the apartment. However, these issues can be resolved, including both by visiting the BTI with representatives of the buyer or by himself, and by contacting specialized organizations that can provide certificates from the BTI even in the absence of the necessary documents.

Risk 6. What is reflected in the contract

It is no secret that in order to avoid taxes, sellers reduce the cost of the property being sold tens of times. So, if for any reason your transaction is declared invalid or terminated, then you can only get back the amount specified in the contract. To avoid such risks, it is necessary to transfer money correctly with the correct execution of receipts.

Why do receipts need to be completed correctly? Because a receipt is a debt document, if there are errors in it or text that does not reflect the actual state of affairs, the return of funds for which may be impossible. For example, in most cases, when selling an apartment that is sold at a cost higher than that specified in the contract, the buyer and seller sign two receipts, one for the contract price, the other for the difference between the cost and the actual amount transferred. In most cases, the second receipt is issued as confirmation of money received for supposedly inseparable improvements in the apartment. But what kind of inseparable improvements can there be if they exceed the cost of the living space itself by several times? In this case, the receipt is drawn up as a document aimed at an obligation that may arise as lost profits, but not as direct losses.

I’ll tell you a little secret: the courts of the Russian Federation do not satisfy claims for lost profits, despite the fact that the rights to such claims are established by civil law. Simply put, it is very difficult to collect money from a receipt for obligations to reimburse the amount of money for inseparable improvements.

Risk 7. Third parties

You should check whether you are going to buy a home with “invisibility”? To do this, you need to carefully study the extended history of the apartment: “registration” (registration) in the residential premises and “extract” (deregistration) are subject to research on the basis of the Federal Migration Service document (passport office) - the house book. It can be used to determine the presence or absence of minor children in the apartment, when and where they left, as well as persons in prison. If the children were registered in social orphanages, it is 100% that the sale of such an apartment will turn out to be a void (invalid) transaction. The prosecutor's office, guardianship and trusteeship authorities monitor such residential premises and return them to the children through the court.

Similar relationships arise with apartments from which persons in prison have been deregistered. When buying an apartment, checking the extended extract from the house register, you need to pay attention to information about whether anyone was “discharged” from the apartment being sold after 1995 due to serving in prison. Such citizens retain the right to housing, regardless of how long they have served. If the apartment in which a person currently in prison lived was privatized, or he was one of its co-owners, then it can only be disposed of with his consent. Thus, the law secures the rights of such persons to residential premises, and those returning from places of imprisonment can move in, “register” and live in the apartment. At the same time, this information can sometimes be obtained precisely from an extended extract from the house register, since in the ordinary extracts that are provided for the transaction, there are no notes on the encumbrance of the residential premises in terms of the existence of the legally established right of residence of the discharged prisoner.

Risk 8. Married or single

If the owner is or was married, it is necessary to check the dates of its conclusion and dissolution, the date and reasons for the acquisition of the apartment by the owner. If housing was purchased during marriage, then both spouses have rights to it, regardless of who it is registered to. It is imperative to require the consent of the second spouse to sell the apartment. Otherwise, there may be a risk of dividing the property with the other half of the seller.

The same fate awaits the buyer if he purchases an apartment (purchased during marriage) from one of the spouses, if the marriage is dissolved, but three years have not passed from the date of its dissolution. The ex-spouse has the right to go to court and claim his rights to part of the apartment you bought.

Risk 9. Housing - by inheritance

Pay special attention to this point in the title documents. If the chosen apartment was received by inheritance, then you definitely need to inquire on what basis - a will or inheritance by law.

The rules of inheritance by law and by will are different. If there is a will, persons who have the right to an obligatory share in the inheritance and the testator's dependents can also inherit. The circle of such persons must be established, otherwise they will be able to claim in court a significant share of the inheritance, and the court will award them this share. The new owner of the apartment will be forced to share the purchased premises with such applicants. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to whom and when the will was executed, since it can be challenged by dissatisfied heirs of the first priority who were deprived of inheritance under the will. Moreover, it is necessary to establish the general state of health and the mental state of the testator who executed the will. Since very often wills drawn up by elderly people are declared invalid by the court.

When deciding to purchase an apartment received by inheritance, you need to be prepared for the fact that some heir may go to court with a demand to restore the missed deadline for entering into an inheritance. Or, within three years, an adult “unaccounted for” inheritance claimant may suddenly appear and be able to prove his rights. Then all transactions made with the apartment after accepting the inheritance will be declared invalid.

It is up to the buyer to decide whether to purchase such housing or not. And if less than three years have passed since the acceptance of the inheritance, it is better to refuse such a transaction.

Another option: in such cases, sign an agreement with the seller of the apartment, in which he will undertake obligations in the future, in the event of other heirs claiming the inheritance and restoring their rights to it, to transfer to them a proportional part of the amount of money received for the property.

Risk 10. Presence of disputes and encumbrances

Such information can be found out by sending an application to Rosreestr (the response is given within 5 days), as well as by request to the office of civil cases in the court at the location of the property. If there is a dispute regarding the property or if there is any encumbrance, you should refuse the transaction, or consult with a competent lawyer about the consequences of the existing dispute or encumbrance. Based on the results of the information received, you can decide whether it is worth entering into a deal in the future or not. And if you decide what it’s worth, then reduce the cost of the purchased property as far as possible.