When making any real estate transactions, sometimes the buyer or seller needs to make sure that the other party is an adequate, capable person who is responsible for their actions and bears responsibility for them.
Certificates from the IDP and ND for the sale of an apartment are not mandatory documents for registering a purchase and sale agreement, but their presence serves as a security measure for the seller or buyer.
Where can I get a certificate from a psychoneurological or drug treatment center, what is its validity period, and in what cases can you not do without this document when making a transaction to sell an apartment in 2021?
The need to obtain a certificate from the PND or ND
Do you need a certificate for any real estate purchase and sale transaction? No, this document is not mandatory; without it, the transaction will be registered, but the consequences may be unfavorable.
If the seller or buyer is silent about the fact that he is registered with a psychoneurological or drug dispensary, then such a transaction may subsequently be challenged and declared invalid.
In Russia, there are situations where scammers fraudulently force mentally ill people to sign documents for the sale of an apartment, thereby depriving them of housing. Relatives of the sick sellers filed a claim in court to declare the transaction invalid and, after lengthy meetings, finally returned the apartment.
What are the dangers of executing a transaction with an incompetent seller?
The legislation of the Russian Federation outlines the consequences that will entail the execution of a transaction with an incapacitated person.
The validity of the purchase and sale agreement may be challenged by relatives, guardians or trustees of the incapacitated seller.
Also, the seller can challenge the transaction even if his incompetence is recognized after signing the purchase and sale agreement. If the court takes the seller’s side, the transaction will be declared invalid, and the process of returning your money may drag on for a long time.
If at the time of the transaction there was no court decision on the seller’s incapacity, then subsequently there is still a risk of challenging the transaction for this reason. The court may recognize the seller as incompetent after the transaction and consider that at the time of its completion he did not understand the significance of his actions. And this is already a reason to invalidate the transaction. For those who are registered with ND and PND, this risk is obviously higher. To reduce this risk, appropriate certificates are taken.
Certificate from PND and ND - what are these documents?
A certificate of legal capacity to sell an apartment can be of two types:
- A certificate from a drug treatment center (ND) is a document that is issued at the request of the seller (less often the buyer) of real estate at his place of residence, confirming the fact that the seller is not registered with the institution and is not registered there. If a citizen is registered, then the question of his legal capacity needs to be raised - whether the citizen can complete a transaction for the purchase and sale of housing or not.
- A certificate from a psychoneurological dispensary (PND) is a document that is also issued at a person’s place of residence. If a citizen is registered with the PND, then it is worth raising the question of his legal capacity. He may be either an incapacitated person or a person with limited legal capacity. In the second case, a real estate transaction can be carried out with a guardian, but only with the permission of the guardianship authorities. But there are also situations when a person is registered, but at the same time he retains his legal capacity. In this case, he can independently participate in real estate purchase and sale transactions.
Is a certificate required?
No, the certificate is not a mandatory document for completing an apartment purchase and sale transaction . It is illegal to force the buyer to produce it.
You can ask him to present such a certificate, but if he refuses, this will not be considered a violation. However, when completing a purchase and sale transaction with a notary, this specialist, when issuing a list of documents for presentation, must also indicate the provision of a certificate from the IDP or ND.
In what cases is a certificate required?
Without a certificate from the IDP or ND, you should not complete a transaction for the purchase and sale of an apartment if the seller:
- is an elderly person;
- has harmful addictions - the buyer may suspect the seller’s craving for alcohol and drug use.
Also, you should not agree to a deal if the seller refuses to go to the dispensary to get a certificate, and the buyer or lawyer suspects signs of a mental disorder in the buyer.
