Recognition of property rights through privatization

Recognition of ownership of residential premises is the most important aspect of guaranteeing property rights. This is a free re-registration of real estate ownership, carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Law “On Privatization” through the alienation of municipal property in favor of a citizen. In accordance with the provisions of the law, the self-government body transfers the right to property to the person who uses the property. The standard privatization process allows for the exercise of property rights, but some citizens living in residential real estate as members of the owner's family have not acquired these rights. In other cases, the owner of the property did not carry out privatization and his remaining heirs find themselves in a very difficult situation. The loss of title documents that cannot be restored can also complicate the situation of recognition of property rights; then the issue of privatization must be resolved in court. It is worth noting that when privatizing a municipal apartment today, it is not necessary to immediately go to court; first of all, you should contact the local branch of the administration and ask questions, and only if it is impossible to carry out this procedure, a citizen has the right to go to court. The procedure for privatizing an apartment during pre-trial settlement is described in detail in our previous article.

Recognition of property rights through privatization through the court

Important! A citizen’s appeal to local government bodies implies the presentation of his demands for recognition of the right to real estate through privatization. In the absence of a pre-trial settlement procedure, the court will refuse to accept the plaintiff’s documents. It is on the basis of the refusal to privatize that a package of documents and a statement of claim to the court should be formed.

A citizen's appeal to the court for recognition of ownership of an apartment or land plot through privatization implies not only the existence of a basis for this, but also the direct right to such actions. So:

1. the plaintiff must be a member of the owner’s family, after whom he inherits the property by law or the apartment remains without privatization, in which he is registered and lives;
2. the plaintiff inherits property by will, but the lack of any documents does not allow re-registration of privatization: for example, the plaintiff inherited a house, but the plot of land is municipal property;
3. the local administration refused to restore the title documents to the property after the plaintiff lost them;
4. the plaintiff has the right to register a departmental apartment, for which, when transferred to the balance of the municipality, the documents were drawn up incorrectly;
5. other grounds granting the plaintiff the right to privatization, without infringing on the rights of other persons.

Pre-trial settlement

The pre-trial settlement procedure includes contacting the local branch of the administration (executive committee), which must transfer to you the ownership rights to the property, since it belongs to it, but is in your use.

The exception is garages , which are always built at the expense of the owner, but are subject to privatization on a general basis.

Appealing to the administration means that you have presented your demands for recognition of the right to property in the manner of its privatization, and that you have indeed been denied satisfaction of legal requirements.

Accordingly, the meaning of the principle of pre-trial settlement is that your issues should be resolved in court, since the administrative level of recognition of your rights to privatize the object turned out to be ineffective.

Without a pre-trial settlement procedure, your documents will not be accepted by the court , so be sure to collect evidence that you applied to the administration where you were denied. Based on the refusal, create a package of documents for filing a claim.

What documents need to be collected to go to court?

The complete list of documents for privatization is as follows:

• identification document;
• document of title for the property that is subject to privatization - a warrant for an apartment, a social tenancy agreement, an act confirming the allocation of land plots and other documents establishing the legality of the plaintiff to use the property;
• cadastral documents for real estate, which confirm the existence of records in relation to this property;
• technical documents - an apartment passport or a land survey file for a land plot, confirming the boundaries of the survey;
• receipt of payment of state duty.

In addition to these documents, depending on the situation, you can provide the court with any documents that confirm your residence in the apartment or use of the land. Typically, these documents include:

• receipts for payment of services and taxes, confirming a responsible attitude towards the property;
• invoices, contracts or receipts reflecting the costs incurred by the plaintiff to repair the property;
• certificate in form No. 3 confirming the registration of the plaintiff at the location of the property;
• acts of an independent examination that the plaintiff openly exercised possession of the object;
• Witness testimony confirming the plaintiff’s residence in the apartment or use of the site can be provided to the court, both in writing and orally.

Is it possible to appeal a refusal?

In the event that a citizen's rights are violated, Art. 12 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, among other methods of defense, also suggests going to court. A similar rule is enshrined in Art. 46 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Thus, if a citizen considers the refusal to be unfounded, he has every right to apply to the court.

However, it must be remembered: the right to go to court does not guarantee that the case will certainly be won. The judge may find that the municipal officials who refused the privatization acted strictly in accordance with the law and refuse the application.

Statement of claim for recognition of ownership of real estate through privatization

The claim is drawn up on the basis of those evidentiary certificates and documents that the plaintiff has. In no case can the statement of claim be copied from the sample; it must be drawn up individually, both in terms of identifying the defendant and in the form of the available evidence, and reflect the essence of the problem in a particular situation.

An application for recognition of property rights through privatization is submitted to the district court at the address where the object in respect of which the claim is being filed and, accordingly, the administration that issued the refusal to privatize the plaintiff is located.

The statement of claim is drawn up according to the following scheme:

• the name of the court is indicated;
• information about the parties to the dispute is recorded; plaintiff’s details – full name, residential address;
• data of the defendant - the person through whose fault there were difficulties in privatization and, therefore, violated your right; as a rule, the defendant is directly the department or department of the administration responsible for the privatization of real estate, that is, the one who refused or did not accept the documents for consideration plaintiff;

Sample statement of claim for recognition of ownership rights to real estate through privatization

Important! The statement of claim should be drawn up in great detail, but clearly and concisely. Only information that is supported by the legislative framework and evidence should be presented.

If the claim was satisfied by the court, the citizen has the right, after receiving the document, to privatize the real estate within 10 days at the expense of the municipality.

Step-by-step instruction

After you have gone through the pre-trial procedure, that is, received a refusal from the administration (executive committee), you have grounds to file a claim in court. But to do this, you really must have the right to privatize the object , which you can prove at court hearings. For example:

1. You were a member of the family of the owner, after whom the property was inherited by law. In addition, there remains an apartment without privatization in which you are registered (live).
2. Or the property is inherited according to a will, but some documents are missing that do not allow re-registration of privatization. Let's say you got a house, but the plot of land under it is not privatized and belongs to municipal property.
3. The title documents for the facility have been lost, and the executive committee refuses to restore them.
4. Former departmental apartments, when transferred to the balance of the municipality, were not properly registered, which made it difficult (impossible) to re-register them.

There may be quite a few similar reasons. The most important thing is that you have the right to privatization, but this right is infringed by unscrupulous workers or for reasons beyond anyone’s control.

Required documents

Collect documents, which should include everything that reflects your right to the property. The complete package of documents is as follows:

1. A title document for an object subject to privatization. This includes any certificate or act confirming the allocation of a land plot or permission to build a garage. Perhaps this is an order for an apartment or an exchange agreement. In general, this type of document includes everything that states the legality of your use of the object.
2. Cadastral documents for real estate. These include everything that confirms the existence of records in relation to the object, ideally cadastral passports.
3. Technical documents. They vary depending on the type of property. For an apartment or garage, documents from the BTI are required. For the landowner - a land survey document confirming the presence of the boundaries of the site.

In principle, these documents should already be collected, since they were necessary for applying to the privatization department of the administration.

In addition, create an evidence base supported by documents. These include any documents that confirm your residence in the apartment or use of the memory, its processing.

First of all, such documents will include payment receipts, as this confirms your responsibility in relation to the property.

Take a statement confirming your registration at this address, if available. In addition, collect all possible information that confirms the designated task.

If you have any difficulties, contact an independent expert who will draw up a certificate of your residence in the apartment or use of the plot, garage and other real estate. Testimony from neighbors and acquaintances is also suitable. You can also find out the necessary documents for recognition of ownership due to acquisitive prescription here.

Drawing up an application

Based on the certificates supported by evidence, draw up a statement of claim. A sample of it can be found on the Internet, but keep in mind that under no circumstances should it be copied.

In each case, the application is individual in nature and must be based on those specific problems and the evidence you have collected that reflects exclusively the essence of your problem situation.

You can only see how the application form is drawn up and what arguments are given to ensure that it is drawn up correctly. For the rest, rely on your information.

First, determine the jurisdiction of your claim. The application must be submitted to the district court of the district where the administration that refused your privatization is located.

Accordingly, your property against which the claim is being filed should be located in the same area. The name of the designated court and information about the magistrate to whom the claim is being filed must be the first in your statement of claim.

The statement below contains information about the parties to the dispute. They are the plaintiff and the defendant. Naturally, you will act as the plaintiff, and your data should be entered as the plaintiff’s data. The defendant will be the person through whose fault the difficulties in privatization occurred and who violated your right.

This may be an employee who dealt with your issue and did not resolve it properly due to his negligence or due to his false beliefs. But usually the defendant is determined to be the head of a department of the executive committee or the head of the administration.

In order to accurately determine the identity of the defendant , pay attention to the data of the person who signed your refusal to privatize or did not accept your documents for consideration by the commission.

It is quite possible that the defendant will be the chairman of the administrative commission who signed the protocol. The most important thing is that it is a fixed signature, the actual initiative of an official or authorized person.

In the main part of the statement of claim, describe in detail the technical and cadastral characteristics of the property, as well as the reason for filing the claim. Try to make the statement as detailed as possible, but concisely. Provide information that is supported by the legal framework.

At the end, put the date, signature and list all the documents attached to the application. If the defendant is not one official, but two or more, each of them must prepare a package of photocopied documents.

See a sample form for filling out a claim here.

Do not forget to pay the fee and attach a payment receipt to the package of documents. In your case, it will be 200 rubles, since your claim is not of a property nature, and privatization must be carried out free of charge by the municipality.

After the trial, its result will be announced and also issued to the parties against signature in the form of an extract.

This document has maximum legal force to the extent that it reflects the court's decision.

If the claim was satisfied , you have the right, 10 days after receiving the document, on its basis, to carry out the process of privatization of the real estate against which the claim was filed.

If the court refuses to satisfy the claim

If the court rejects the claim for recognition of property rights through privatization, the citizen has the right to appeal this decision. To do this, it is necessary to draw up an appeal, indicating the reason for the refusal of the court of first instance and the reason why the plaintiff does not agree with this decision.

Important! For all the reasons that were indicated by the district court as reasons for refusal, the plaintiff must find effective arguments.

The document is submitted to the Regional Court of the region, where the decision of the district court is reviewed. Subsequently, if the decision is again made not in favor of the plaintiff, it can be appealed to a higher authority.

Important! If the claim was rejected by the district court due to the statute of limitations, it is virtually impossible to appeal it only if the plaintiff has valid reasons for missing this deadline. Let us remind you that the statute of limitations in the case is 3 years from the date of the administration’s refusal to privatize.

Grounds and conditions for filing a claim

For the privatization procedure to proceed, certain grounds must be present. Among them are a social tenancy agreement, housing status and a citizen who seeks protection of his rights.

Important! Only in the case of a written refusal to privatize is it possible to protect violated rights in court.

According to the law, every citizen has the right to privatize living space , but it can be used by those who live in social premises legally, that is, they have registration and a social tenancy agreement concluded with the local administration.

There is a requirement that the plaintiff must permanently reside in the apartment. An exception in this case will be persons working on a rotational basis or who are in prison. In these cases, even if the statute of limitations expires, a person can obtain the right to privatization through a judicial procedure.

If one of the family members is missing, privatization of housing is allowed if the period of absence is 5 years or more. In this case, it is necessary to apply to the court to declare the citizen missing.

Privatization is formalized only once in a lifetime , but minors who participated in privatization before the age of 18 can use this right again after reaching adulthood.

What kind of housing can be privatized in court?

You can privatize any municipal-type residential premises, for example an apartment, a house or parts thereof, for which the citizen has a social tenancy agreement. According to Art. 4 Federal Law 1541-1, you cannot privatize:

The owners of the housing stock or bodies authorized by them, as well as enterprises to which the housing stock is assigned the right of economic management, and institutions to whose operational management the housing stock is transferred, with the consent of the owners, have the right to make decisions on the privatization of service residential premises and housing located in rural areas fund of stationary institutions for social protection of the population.

• Service housing.
• Emergency or dilapidated housing.
• Dormitories.
• Premises located in the zone of man-made accidents.
• Residential area, which is located on the territory of closed military camps.

Objects not subject to privatization are specified in Art. 30 Federal Law-178 “On the privatization of state and municipal property”, among them:

• cultural heritage sites, house museums;
• premises owned by commercial companies;
• buildings located in parks, squares, historical and architectural complexes, etc.

Limitation of actions

According to Article 195 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, “The limitation period is the period for protecting the right in a claim of a person whose right has been violated.” If privatization is refused, the general limitation period is 3 years. This period begins to count from the moment the refusal is received.

Even if the statute of limitations has passed, you must submit an application, because The court does not provide for the automatic application of limitation periods. At the same time, you must apply for restoration of the deadline if it was missed for valid reasons.

Prices for drawing up documents required for privatization by court

In what cases can a refusal be received?

A negative decision may be made in court regarding the privatization of an apartment. This happens for the following reasons:

1. If there are illegal alterations in the apartment;
2. The documents provided by the plaintiff have become invalid;
3. During privatization or consideration of the case by the court, forged documents were identified;
4. The plaintiff did not pay utilities;
5. If the applicant has already participated in privatization before.

In some cases, other reasons may arise for a court decision not in favor of the applicant.

Prices for apartment privatization services through the court