Check the property for collateral and encumbrances

Pitfalls await unwary real estate buyers. For example, if the previous owner pledged the apartment to the bank. It will be very difficult to re-register such real estate in your name - the bank simply will not allow you to do this. We will tell you further how to check real estate for encumbrances and pledges by force of law.

What is collateral

Collateral is a way of securing loan obligations. A bank or other lenders, when issuing a loan, seek to protect themselves from non-repayment of money. To do this, the debtor pledges the property, and, in case of non-repayment of the loan, the bank takes it (real estate/movable property) for further sale. Checking real estate for collateral is an important condition for a safe purchase and sale transaction. The presence of a lien on the property indicates that third parties have rights to the property, who, not being the owners, can cause a lot of trouble for the future owner. Not only banks can pledge property The mortgagee can be individuals or legal entities and even the tax office.

What are the risks of purchasing mortgaged property?

Buying a property with a lien is a headache.

Firstly, you will not be able to re-register the property in your name. Therefore, without being its official owner, you will not be able to sell it to another person.
Secondly, you will not be able to dispose of the collateral until the previous owner's debt is paid off. Typically, such owners disappear immediately after the transaction and obviously will not pay their debts - the burden of returning the money will fall on you. From now on, only legal proceedings will await you.

Buying mortgaged property is a risk. In such transactions, involve the mortgagee, as it is necessary to obtain permission from him before the purchase and sale transaction. Permission does not have to be verbal; document everything and have it certified. The best option is to involve specialists who have legal knowledge and skills to resolve issues regarding the transfer of rights to mortgaged property.

Registration procedure

Sberbank was the first in our country to register electronic transactions: borrowers could use this service when applying for a mortgage. Now successful practice has been replicated, but in order to obtain the necessary authority, the organization must confirm its reliability.

Online registration of ownership of an apartment is a paid service. Its cost depends on where you go and the specifics of the transaction. For example, at Sberbank you will have to pay from 7,900 to 10,900 rubles (the price varies in regions). This amount includes not only the transfer of documents, but also the issuance of a qualified signature. If you have already used such a service before, you do not need to issue an electronic digital signature again - which means the price will be lower.

How does the online registration procedure work:

The specialist checks the completeness of the documents submitted for the transaction. If necessary, its participants are issued enhanced digital signatures.
An application for transfer of papers for registration is filled out through a special service on the Rosreestr website. A package of documents similar to a traditional purchase and sale is attached to it.
The papers are sent for registration - the program assigns a unique code to the case, which can be used to check its current status.
At the same time, the state fee for registration of property rights is paid.
Specialists from the government agency check the received file and make a decision - to register the transaction or return it without execution (in case of errors or impossibility of carrying out the sale and purchase).
The registering officer certifies the documents received by him with his own digital signature and enters information about the transfer of ownership into the electronic databases of Rosreestr.
The buyer receives an extract from the USRN (from the register of rights to real estate) in his name.

If documents are submitted for registration through a notary's office, it is not necessary to obtain an enhanced digital signature. An ordinary electronic signature will be enough for the parties to the transaction; the notary will certify the papers with his own qualified one. This option is good because the expert will check all the documents and the legality of the transaction. In addition, the registration period in this case is 1 business day.

You can conduct a transaction without intermediaries. In this case, the parties each sign through their own device: they fill out an application on the Rosreestr website, upload the documents themselves and fill out the accompanying file in XML format. Without relevant experience, this can be difficult, so most transactions are still carried out through authorized offices.

How to check real estate for collateral in a bank

The question of how to check an apartment for collateral with a bank worries many. You can check the encumbrance using the cadastral number through an extract from Rosreestr. A real estate pledge must be registered with the Unified State Register of Real Estate (without this, all agreements or agreements on the transfer of collateral have no legal force). Any interested person, including a potential buyer, can order an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate. From the document you can find out:

cadastral number of the object;
date of registration;
information about past and present owners with ownership periods and shares;
Address of the object;
date of construction;
total area, number of floors, number of rooms;
purpose of use of real estate;
the presence of encumbrances - from collateral to arrest and easement (the right to limited use of someone else's land plot).

From the extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate you will receive the answer to the question - how to check the apartment for collateral and arrest . To do this, just look at the line “presence of encumbrances”. An empty line means the property is “clean.” If there are entries in the line, pay attention to the dates of encumbrances; perhaps they have already been exhausted. Otherwise, buying mortgaged real estate will not bring joy.

For apartments, a common option is to sell a mortgaged apartment. Know that the mortgaged apartment is pledged to the bank. You can buy it, but only with the permission of the mortgage bank.

How to prepare for the procedure

As with a regular purchase, you must first decide on the object of the transaction - an apartment, house, land, etc. Agree with the seller on the price and procedure for it - whether a mortgage, housing certificates or maternity capital will be used, how it is planned to transfer the money, the timing of the move.

To register the transfer of ownership, all parties to the transaction must have an electronic signature (electronic digital signature). It serves as a replacement for a regular signature in documents: in this case, it is used to sign a contract of purchase, exchange or gift.

A digital signature looks like a regular flash drive, which contains a unique identifier. It is issued to organizations and individuals to simplify the receipt of government services, payment of taxes, etc. You can obtain it at specialized centers or issue it immediately before the transaction - authorized organizations will include this service in the total cost of electronic registration of rights.

To conduct real estate transactions, an enhanced, qualified digital signature is required. Only such an electronic signature is a full-fledged analogue of personal signing of documents. The cost of its registration is on average 4-5 thousand rubles.

To purchase an apartment online, you will need the following package of documents:

passports of all participants;
SNILS numbers to indicate in the application;
purchase agreement (for housing under construction - equity participation agreement);
extract from the register of property rights;
technical and cadastral passports;
the document on the basis of which the right of ownership arose;
certificate of registration;
consent of the spouse to the sale if the property was purchased during marriage;
a loan agreement when a mortgage is issued.

Documents are scanned in high resolution: they must be clear and easy to read. Depending on the situation, the package of papers may change.

Please note that in order to conduct an online transaction, ownership must be reflected in the electronic real estate register. For example, if property was acquired before 1998, there may be no record of it. In this case, you must first contact Rosreestr with an application for inclusion in the state database, and then carry out the transaction. Or simply register the transfer of ownership in the usual manner - through the MFC.

When is a statement of absence of collateral required?

An extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate will be of interest to future property owners. It is necessary when:

concluding a purchase and sale agreement;
receiving an inheritance;
receiving real estate under a gift agreement;
assignment of claims to an apartment or land;
division of property;
identification of legal owners and legal or notarial verifications.

Do not think that the presence of a deposit is important only when concluding a purchase and sale agreement. Even receiving a mortgaged apartment as a gift causes a number of difficulties in the future.

How to obtain an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate about the absence of collateral

Today, a certificate from the Unified State Register can be obtained in paper or electronic form. Both the first and second have equal legal force. The paper one is certified by a seal and signature, and the electronic one is certified by the digital signature of Rosreestr. Courts, banks and government agencies will accept any type of statement from you. There are 4 ways to get an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate:

Personal application to Rosreestr or MFC. Take with you your passport, application and receipt of payment of the state fee, and for the representative - a power of attorney. The certificate will be prepared within 5 days. This is not the most convenient way. You will have to take time off from work and stand in lines. The asking price for individuals is from 400 rubles, for legal entities - from 1100 rubles.
Contact Rosreestr by post. The procedure is the same as for personal appeal. The time it takes to receive statements will increase, since everything depends on the speed of the post office. The price tag is similar to the first method.
Online request on the Rosreestr website. You need to know the property address or cadastral number, pay the fee and leave your passport details. The period for receiving an extract is from 6 hours to 3 days. The cost of the service is from 350 rubles.
Online request in the EGRN.Reestr service. This method is simpler and faster than others. Indicate the address or cadastral number of the property and pay 200 rubles for a statement of characteristics and rights. You can order a statement with full information for 350 rubles. The period for obtaining a certificate is up to 6 hours. During this time, you will receive a pdf file certified by the digital signature of Rosreestr by email.

The online request form is not suitable for obtaining a paper statement. You will have to contact a specialist in person or by mail.

Experts from Rosreestr told how to complete a transaction for the purchase and sale of an apartment

10.09.2021

This material will be useful to those who plan to sell or buy an apartment. What documents to collect, what information to check, what legal nuances to take into account - all this will help in successfully completing the transaction.

What to do if you are a seller

Selling an apartment begins with preparing a package of documents. It is better to do this in advance, as the procedure will take some time.

First of all, we recommend using the “Life Situations” service on the Rosreestr website, which provides a large number of different options for registering real estate.
Using an interactive survey, the service will tell you what list of documents is needed specifically in your situation and indicate the procedure for action. We recommend paying attention to the following points:

If you cannot be present at the transaction, you will need to issue a notarized power of attorney
for the sale of the apartment, as well as for submitting documents to Rosreestr for state registration.
If among the owners of the apartment being sold there are persons under guardianship and trusteeship (for example, minor citizens, incapacitated adults, citizens recognized as having limited legal capacity), you must request permission from the guardianship and trusteeship authorities
to conclude a purchase and sale agreement.
If someone is registered in the apartment being sold, it is worth settling in advance with the buyer the issue of the timing of deregistration
. This can be done on the State Services portal, or by contacting the MFC. After this, you need to order an extract from the house register there - it will allow the potential buyer to make sure that no one is registered on the living space. The statute of limitations for the statement must be no more than 30 calendar days.
If the apartment was purchased during marriage, it is jointly acquired property. In this case, a notarized consent of the spouse
for the sale of the apartment is required.

What to do if you are a buyer

Initially, you need to make sure that the seller of the apartment is its legal owner. To do this, you should ask the seller to provide or obtain an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate about the main characteristics and registered rights to the property.

Important!

Ask the seller to provide a title document confirming the basis for acquiring (receiving) the apartment as a property (purchase and sale agreement under which the apartment was previously purchased, gift agreement, certificate of inheritance, etc.). This will help you further verify that the seller legally owns the apartment.

In addition, you can independently order or ask the seller to provide an extract from the Unified State Register of Rights on the transfer of rights, which will allow you to trace the history of all transactions with the property - how often the owners of the apartment changed and what transactions were made with it previously. You can order and receive an extract using electronic services on the Rosreestr website, on the State Services portal, as well as on the website of the subordinate Federal State Budgetary Institution FKP Rosreestr.

It is worth checking whether the seller has arrears on utility bills

, as well as his marital status.
If the seller was married at the time of purchasing the property, require the consent of the spouse (see above). It is necessary to take into account that failure to provide the consent of
the seller’s spouse to sell the apartment will not
be grounds for refusal
of state registration of rights to this apartment; the question of the presence or absence of such consent is not clarified by the state registrar of rights.
However, if such consent is not submitted for state registration of rights along with the purchase and sale agreement, a note
will be that the transaction was completed without the consent of the spouse required by law.
The law does not provide for exclusion of such a mark from the Unified State Register.
Check information about who is registered in the apartment

. A certificate of absence of debt on payments for housing and communal services in the form EIRTs-22 can be ordered at the MFC, HOA, at the Management Company or on the State Services portal. If this is important to you, insist that the tenants be checked out before the transaction is completed. This will save you from unforeseen situations and possible conflicts, including going to court.

It is also important to check whether the apartment has been remodeled

. To do this, ask the seller for a technical passport. It is important that all changes in the apartment are legalized. Otherwise, after buying an apartment, you will have to do it yourself. If an apartment is purchased using credit funds, you will need a credit agreement to draw up a purchase and sale agreement.

To draw up a purchase and sale agreement (as well as to submit for state registration), the following documents will be required:

identification documents of the parties to the sale and purchase agreement (their representatives);
child’s birth certificate, if the owner is a minor

Important!
In cases established by law, the contract for the purchase and sale of an apartment requires mandatory notarization (for example, if its seller (one of the sellers) is a minor (under 14 years old) citizen, an incapacitated citizen, a citizen under guardianship; if spouses, purchasing in shared ownership of an apartment, enter into a purchase and sale agreement containing elements of a marriage contract).

Where to go for registration actions

Registration of the transfer of rights and ownership is carried out in accordance with Federal Law No. 218-FZ “On State Registration of Real Estate”. Documents for registration of property rights can be submitted:

in paper form during a personal visit to the MFC or the offices of the Federal Cadastral Chamber of Rosreestr;
in electronic form (if you have an enhanced qualified electronic signature) through your personal account on the official website of Rosreestr;
remotely by ordering on-site service through the website of the Federal Cadastral Chamber of Rosreestr (“On-site service”);
through a notary on the personal initiative of the participants in the purchase and sale transaction or as required by law. For state registration of ownership of an apartment, the buyer pays a state fee (for individuals - 2 thousand rubles). In this case, submission of a document confirming its payment along with an application for state registration of rights (and other documents necessary for registration) is not required. You can submit a document confirming payment of the state fee on your own initiative.

If an apartment is purchased on credit or in installments, then the mortgage is registered by force of law with the simultaneous registration of ownership of the apartment.

To do this, the buyer (mortgagor) or the person in whose favor the mortgage will be registered (mortgagor, for example, seller, bank representative, etc.) submits an application for registration of the mortgage by force of law. There is no state fee for registering a mortgage.

Important!

Currently, in 75 regions of Russia, Rosreestr, together with credit institutions, is implementing the “Electronic Mortgage in 1 Day” project.

As part of the project, citizens can apply for a mortgage within a day, while the bank submits documents for registration to Rosreestr independently within the framework of electronic interaction. After completing the registration steps, the buyer receives, among other things, an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, which contains information about his registered ownership of the apartment.

Source: Federal Cadastral Chamber of Rosreestr

Advantages of an online request in the EGRN.Reestr service

In addition to the low cost of services, a key advantage is the speed of receiving an extract. The certificate does not have a clear validity period, however, encumbrances can appear on any day - even the next day after receiving the extract, let alone the 5-day period of the MFC and Rosreestr. And if you include the time for postal delivery here, then the received extract may no longer be relevant.

We recommend checking real estate for collateral through the Unified State Register. The service operates around the clock, prices are low, and the period for providing an extract is minimal. The extract is official and certified by the digital signature of Rosreestr - it will be accepted by banks, courts and government agencies.

Don't waste time and check the property for collateral right now!