Today, many real estate purchase transactions take place on the secondary market, where apartments were previously privately owned and may have some features. One such feature that you should pay close attention to is privatization. Is it worth purchasing such an apartment and how to do it? What needs to be carefully checked and how to eliminate risks when buying a privatized apartment? What situations should a buyer avoid to avoid being left homeless and without money? The answers to these questions will be revealed in this article.
What and how should you check before completing a transaction to eliminate risks?
If you want to purchase a privatized apartment, the buyer should pay attention to the following:
- Is each property owner ready to agree to the sale in writing ? The list of owners can be seen in the certificate from the BTI.
- Does the seller have children under the age of majority ? It is also advisable to obtain information about the presence of illegitimate children, who may subsequently claim their right to part of the area.
- Are there any persons who have a share of living space and are serving a sentence of imprisonment?
- Is the seller married ? Situations arise when there is one owner on the certificate, but according to the law the property is recognized as jointly acquired property. In this case, the owner can sell the apartment, but his spouse has the right to file a lawsuit, which threatens the buyer with loss of his share.
- The status of the owner's passport and its validity period . Marks and grouts are not allowed.
- The condition of housing documents (especially those confirming ownership). If there are grouts and blots, then next to them there should be a signature, as well as a notary’s seal).
- Is this apartment the subject of a mortgage or has it not already been sold ? It happens that one property is sold several times.
- Did children participate in privatization ? It should be taken into account that at the moment of transfer of square meters from municipal to private ownership, minors automatically receive the right to a share of the area, while adults can refuse privatization.
This is important to know: How to allocate a share in kind in the common shared ownership of an apartment
How to check whether a child participated in privatization, and who has the right to use square meters?
In order to find out whether a child took part in privatization, you should contact the Office of the Federal Registration Service (UFRS) at the location of the property and obtain an extract from the Unified State Register. This extract lists all persons who have ownership rights to housing. If you require information for the period before February 1, 1998, you need to contact the BTI.
It also makes sense to contact the passport office (for Muscovites and residents of some other cities - to the EIRC) in order to obtain an extract from the house register. This document displays information about all persons who were registered in the apartment on the date when it was privatized.
What are the risks when buying privatized housing?
The main risk is the possibility of losing rights to real estate, as circumstances may arise when the transaction is declared invalid by the court. In order to avoid finding yourself in a similar situation, you should check before signing the contract who carried out the privatization and who retained the right to use the premises.
If minors have the right of ownership of an apartment or part of it, they can only buy housing if they have a document confirming the consent of the Guardianship Authorities.
Purchasing an apartment with a person who refused to participate in privatization
If one of the family members at one time signed a refusal to privatize, it makes sense to purchase real estate only after they have signed a written refusal certified by a notary. Otherwise, a person who was not included in the privatization may demand in court that the fact of privatization and subsequent real estate transactions be declared invalid.
The buyer who purchases an apartment with a refusenik is obligated to pay him compensation, which should be equivalent to his “privatization” share. Payment of compensation is fixed in a separate agreement.
In the case where the refusenik lives in another apartment, the seller is obliged to provide an agreement according to which the refusenik moves into another apartment and does not claim to use the apartment being sold. The purchase and sale agreement states that the refusenik undertakes to leave the given living space and register in another.
Buying property with children
If, due to an oversight by the guardianship authorities, the children were discharged from the apartment “to nowhere”, or the seller has an illegitimate child, the buyer may become the owner of the property with a burden in the form of children. Is it possible to discharge a minor child from an apartment to nowhere - the answer is right here.
To avoid such a situation, you should familiarize yourself with the contents of the extract from the house register. If there is a record of a registered or discharged child, then it is necessary to request the provision of a document confirming consent to these actions of the guardianship authorities.
To protect yourself when purchasing a privatized apartment, it is recommended to stipulate in the contract that any kind of problems that may arise in the future with the purchased apartment, the seller undertakes to solve independently and at his own expense.
Algorithm of actions
Whether you started selling on your own or turned to a realtor, the further algorithm of actions will be the same - the difference is who performs them. If you are selling your home yourself. The main stages of the sale are: determining the price, searching for a buyer, drawing up and signing an agreement with him. At all stages there are certain subtleties.
Determining the price
Of course, the seller always wants to get as much as possible and quickly, but it is rare that they manage to sell a home at a high price and in a short period of time. Therefore, you need to immediately decide how long you are willing to wait before the transaction can be completed. Of course, sometimes you get lucky, but usually the speed of the sale directly depends on how the price the seller requires for the apartment compares with its real value.
But often the seller himself has a vague idea of how much his apartment should cost, and this is the first thing that needs to be sorted out so as not to undercut the price and not to scare off buyers with an overly high price tag.
If you do without a realtor, it’s also not a problem - just look at the ads on the Internet, find out how much apartments of similar parameters are sold for in the city, and make adjustments for the area, and this is a significant factor - depending on where exactly the apartment is located, its cost can vary greatly. Keep in mind that the price indicated in sellers' advertisements is most likely the price for which they want to sell the apartment, and after the auction it may decrease slightly.
This must be taken into account, both by making an allowance in advance for the fact that the real selling price is often lower than in the advertisements, and taking this into account in the plans, and by drawing up your own. The buyer may want to negotiate, and either list prices higher than the minimum acceptable price, or specifically indicate that there will be no bargaining.
There are also online services that allow you to enter the basic parameters of your apartment and get an approximate assessment, or you can contact professional appraisers who provide the service of determining the market value taking into account all factors.
In addition to objective factors, the price is influenced by many different little things that will be unimportant for some buyers, but important for others: on which side are the windows - sunny or shady, and what is the view from them; how high are the ceilings in the house; Is it quiet in the evenings? Are the elevators and entrances ok? How close is a school or kindergarten? Taking these points into account will allow you to present the apartment to the buyer more profitably.
Search for a buyer
If you are not sure how to proceed and do not have experience in selling real estate, it is better to turn to professionals. They will also look for buyers.
If you are confident that you can handle this yourself, then the search steps will be as follows:
- Providing information to as many potential buyers as possible - you will have to spend money on advertisements on Internet sites, and sometimes in newspapers. It is worth taking into account local specifics - for example, in small towns the most effective promotion will be through regional publications or even just advertisements posted in crowded places - especially since this method is also cheaper.
When writing your ads, keep a few things in mind:
visual information works better, which means it is important that it is accompanied by photographs of the apartment, and high-quality ones; it is advisable to avoid negative phrases such as “only without intermediaries”; When publishing again, it is worth changing the text, so it will again attract the attention of even those who have already seen it.
Communication with potential buyers - here, too, there are many important nuances that should be taken into account, but first of all, it is important to communicate politely and with specifics - you must know in advance how much you want to get, the parameters of the apartment, and the like. Preparing the apartment - naturally, it should look as good as possible. Its demonstration is better to schedule several meetings at once at a certain interval, for example, every half hour. This way you will save time, and even if there is a delay and potential buyers meet each other, it’s okay - this way they will be convinced that there is demand for the apartment.
Conclusion of an agreement
After the parties have collected the required documents, they can enter into a purchase and sale agreement. A sample of it is attached to the article. The agreement must be signed by the parties, can be certified by a notary (but this is not necessary), and then state registration of the transfer of rights and transfer of funds occurs.
Do I need to re-privatize the purchased apartment?
Privatization involves the transfer of property rights by government agencies to a private individual. If real estate was purchased, that is, acquired by the buyer for cash, then it was already owned by the seller, in other words, privatized by him until the transaction was completed. Otherwise, the seller would not have the right to sell living space that belongs to the state.
From the above we can conclude that the purchased apartment does not need to be privatized. After signing the purchase and sale agreement, the buyer’s actions are limited to registering the transaction with Rosreestr and obtaining a certificate of ownership.
Additional information about the pitfalls when buying privatized housing in this video:
Buying a privatized apartment cannot be considered such a rarity. However, the buyer must be aware of the additional risks when making such a transaction caused by the special basis of ownership of the property. You should carefully check the property so as not to lose both the apartment and the money given for it.
For additional information on this issue, please refer to the “Purchase” section here.
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Attention! Due to recent changes in legislation, the legal information in this article may be out of date!
What is privatization?
Privatization of an apartment is a free transfer of residential premises, which previously belonged to the municipality, into the ownership of citizens (Article 2 of the Law of the Russian Federation of July 4, 1991 No. 1541-1).
The basis for privatization is a social tenancy agreement. All registered persons, including minors, have the right to participate in privatization. The residential premises are divided in equal shares between all parties to the transaction. Persons who previously participated in privatization cannot participate again (with the exception of minors under 18 years of age).
Help: By purchasing a privatized apartment, you get the same advantages as from purchasing any other apartment. Subsequently, you can sell it, exchange it, donate it, register it to other persons, etc.
"Pitfalls" of buying a privatized apartment
In what cases can privatization be declared invalid?
Privatization is an ordinary transaction, the same as purchase and sale or donation. Any transaction can be declared invalid by the court at the request of an interested party. Here is a case from my practice: my grandmother received a three-room apartment in Yekaterinburg under a warrant, i.e. municipal apartment. The grandmother has two children: the eldest son and the youngest daughter. Everyone is included in the order, everyone has the right to free privatization. For some time, the eldest son, already an adult, leaves and is absent for 9 years. At the same time, he changes his place of residence and is deregistered. Grandmother privatizes the apartment into sole ownership. After 9 years, the eldest son returns and files a lawsuit against his mother, so that the court recognizes his right to use and the privatization agreement as invalid. And the regional court satisfied the son’s claim in full, that is, the apartment in Yekaterinburg again became municipal property.
It is important to know: What document is used to formalize the transfer of real estate?
What are the differences between the right of ownership and the right to use a privatized apartment?
I'll tell you another case from practice. A woman came for a consultation. She, while working at the enterprise, received a two-room apartment in Yekaterinburg. And the daughter is included in the warrant. Mother and daughter are going to privatize this apartment. Moreover, events unfold in such a way that the owner herself refuses privatization, and her daughter privatizes the housing into sole ownership. Next, the daughter, with the consent of the mother, sells this apartment, and buys the mother a room in the corridor system and makes this room her property. Six months later, the daughter sells this room to strangers. Mom knows nothing about this deal. Another six months pass, and the new owner files a lawsuit. Just two days ago, a woman was evicted from her occupied room by bailiffs. She asks: “What should I do?” I answer: “Your right of use is unlimited. It arose and persists in relation to the two-room apartment, which the daughter originally sold. You can file a claim against those buyers in court.”
How to avoid the emergence of rights of use from third parties during privatization?
If at the time of privatization third parties had equal rights of use with the employer and refused privatization, then their right of use is permanent and indefinite. That is, it turns out that there is only one owner in this apartment, but, for example, two more people have the right to use it. Under a purchase and sale agreement, the owner has the right to sell this apartment, but these persons remain in this apartment until the end of their days.
How to reduce risks when buying a privatized apartment?
If a person buys an apartment where the original document is a privatization agreement, you need to check many nuances. Once again, I advise you not to spare money and contact a lawyer so that he can check who privatized this apartment, who had the right to privatization, who refused, that is, whether this transaction - the privatization agreement - can subsequently be declared invalid by the court.
Expert: Rustam Tamindarov, director of the legal bureau
Is it possible to buy non-privatized housing?
According to the law, the sale of non-privatized municipal housing is impossible for the obvious reason - the citizens living in it will not be its owners, will not have the right to own it, and therefore will not be able to transfer it.
But not everything is so simple, and with the help of certain schemes it is possible to “buy” this housing, but we put quotation marks precisely because this is not an ordinary purchase, and it is far from a fact that it will be possible to carry it out. In theory, it is possible to agree that the “seller” checks out of the apartment and registers the “buyer” into it. Thus, although officially no sales transaction will take place, the right to privatization, if it is possible at all for a given apartment, will be received by another citizen, and after he uses this right, ownership rights will be assigned to him.
Such a scheme is difficult to implement: most likely, privatization will be impossible, and the local administration will file a lawsuit to recognize the registered person as not having acquired the right to housing.
Therefore, it will be much easier to privatize the apartment, and only then sell it - the problem can only be that the seller does not want to use his right to privatize, and the buyer is ready to do this in exchange for a reduced price. Then such a deal may make sense, but one must realize that the risk in its implementation is much higher, because it can be considered by the legislation as imaginary, which means there is a risk of its cancellation in the future.
To summarize: the purchase of non-privatized housing has so many reservations that it can be considered almost impossible.
Status of a privatized apartment
Typically, privatized housing, unlike a non-privatized apartment, is the property of the person or group of persons who participated in the procedure, and not the state.
If one person owns such housing, then it is considered personal property and no problems should arise during the sale. But if privatization was carried out for several persons, then the buyer should be wary.
People who live entirely in this housing rarely think about the need to privatize a non-privatized apartment. As a general rule, persons registered in an apartment subject to privatization have a lifelong right of residence. Not many people think about whether it is necessary to privatize an apartment. So the need for privatization arises only when the persons living in the apartment wish to sell it or otherwise transfer it to third parties.
Otherwise, after the death of the person registered in the dwelling, it will go to the use of the remaining residents or back to the jurisdiction of the authorized state body.
By privatizing housing, individuals can count on expanded powers, including sales. Thus, this procedure is optional and is carried out exclusively on a voluntary basis.
Legal assistance
The use of any schemes other than privatization is illegal, since it is impossible to sell an apartment if it is not privatized. The need to obtain permission from local authorities for exchange and registration imposes additional restrictions, since in most cases the municipality refuses. Real estate companies have developed their own schemes, including:
- exchange through a “buffer” (living space owned by the agency) with subsequent purchase;
- entering into a fictitious marriage that allows a “spouse” to be registered in a living space of any size without anyone’s consent.
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Purchasing a privatized apartment
So, how to buy a non-privatized apartment and what to pay attention to? The purchase of housing under a purchase and sale agreement, of course, is a more significant, from a legal point of view, basis for owning housing than privatization itself. The fact of privatization of the purchased apartment in no way affects the list of powers of the owner, designated by the Constitution and laws of the Russian Federation.
Privatization according to civil law is the basis for the emergence of property rights. That is, the buyer actually purchases an apartment that is privately owned.
However, it is worth paying attention to some features of a privatized apartment:
- it is necessary to make sure whether the privatization procedure has been completed and whether ownership rights have been registered in the manner prescribed by law;
- whether the person selling the apartment is entitled to dispose of the housing in full and in relation to all housing;
- whether the apartment is individually owned or in common, shared ownership;
- is there consent of all registered persons to sell the apartment;
- whether the interests of minors and incapacitated participants in privatization are taken into account.
This is important to know: Is it possible to privatize an apartment after the death of a tenant?
The authority of the counterparty to sell the apartment is an important aspect. After all, if the interests of at least one of the privatization participants are violated during the sale, this will serve as a basis for declaring the sale agreement invalid. The purchasing person must take these aspects into account.
List of documents
A person who has decided to purchase a privatized apartment must first familiarize himself with the documents for the apartment and check the status of the housing using publicly available registry information. First you need to order an extract from the cadastral authority. The cost of such an extract is only 200 rubles and it is available to absolutely anyone, even those who are not the owner.
In addition, in the public cadastral map you can check the status of housing by its address. However, the information in this source is not always reliable and does not provide a complete picture of the situation.
As for documentation, you should familiarize yourself with the papers on the basis of which the current owners own the apartment:
- Privatization agreement. Attention should be paid to the circle of persons who are indicated in the agreement as participants in the privatization, as well as to the marks of the government body that carried out the privatization.
- Certificate of registration of ownership in the state register. According to the law, property rights that are not registered are not recognized by government agencies and are not the basis for the disposal of property.
If the apartment is in common joint or shared ownership of several persons, then the written consent of each of them should be obtained for the sale. And if there are minors or incapacitated persons among the owners, the seller should be required to obtain permission from the guardianship and trusteeship authority to sell the share of such a co-owner.
If the housing is in shared ownership with clearly defined shares, it is necessary to ensure that the buyer is given certificates of ownership of the share, which are drawn up by a notary when dividing the property into shares.
After concluding a written agreement, an act of acceptance and transfer of housing is also drawn up, after which payment of the contract price is made. Only after this the buyer will be able to register the property in his name with the authorized body.
Buyer's risks
The buyer needs to consider the risks when buying an apartment. The main risk for the buyer when purchasing a privatized apartment is the recognition of the transaction as invalid. This is carried out only in court, so in addition to refusing the transaction, the buyer will have to lose time and money in court.
Basically, the invalidity of the transaction under which a privatized apartment is sold may be as follows:
- sale of housing by an unauthorized person;
- lack of consent of co-owners;
- the presence of another agreement under which the housing is transferred to another person;
- failure to respect the interests of minors and incapacitated persons;
- the presence of encumbrances on privatized housing.
As a general rule, it is rare that creditors agree to accept privatized housing as collateral. However, the buyer should not exclude this option.
Thus, before purchasing a privatized apartment, it is best to consult with specialists. Due to the development of the real estate market, today realtors in their respective regions have complete information about real estate properties whose owners have decided to sell them. Of course, their services are not cheap, but it will save a lot of time and eliminate unwanted risks
