How to check an apartment for encumbrances

Property buyers should exercise caution. Buying an apartment with encumbrances can lead to financial losses and problems that will then have to be resolved for a long time with the participation of law enforcement agencies. We'll tell you the risks of buying an apartment with encumbrances and how to check it before buying.

What is an encumbrance

An encumbrance is a restriction placed on the rights to dispose of property. For example, the owner can live in an apartment or rent it out, but not as a gift. An encumbrance arises by law or contract and means that there is a third party who has imposed a restriction and has rights to the apartment. His consent must be obtained when conducting transactions.

However, the encumbrance does not prohibit the purchase and sale of an apartment. The main danger for the buyer is that sellers do not like to report such problems, and in the future this can bring a lot of worries to the new owner.

Method No. 1 - we check for free using the Rosreestr website

I warn you that free (reference) information about real estate from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, including the seizure (if any), is not always often and correctly uploaded to the Rosreestr website. In the USRN itself, the information is correct and up-to-date; only the information on the site itself is “lame”. Instead of specific information, “Other restrictions (encumbrances)” may simply be displayed, and in addition to arrest, this may mean a pledge, etc. All this also applies to other free services; they take the same data from the Rosreestr website and display it on their own.

Therefore, instead of the Rosreestr website, I use the more reliable method No. 2 - with an extract and report from the Unified State Register of Real Estate. It contains current information from the Unified State Register of Real Estate at the time of the request and, if the apartment is seized, it shows why the court or bailiffs seized it and in whose favor.

If you still decide to use the Rosreestr website, you need to enter the address of the apartment and the page will display available reference information from the Unified State Register of Real Estate. Detailed instructions with pictures:

Go to this page - Online reference information on real estate .
Enter the captcha, enter the apartment address (or cadastral number) and select the desired apartment from the drop-down list.
(click on the pictures to enlarge them)
I advise you to enter the address in a simple way. In my example, the apartment is located at the address: Republic of Crimea, Feodosia, st. Kirova, 7, apt. 3. First, I entered in the search “feodosia kirov 7 3.” The address I needed didn't appear, so I added "kv." If the drop-down list does not contain the required address, then add “street”, “alley”, “d”, “apt”, etc.
Below in search results click on the cadastral number in the line with the desired apartment.
Look for the block below “Information about rights and restrictions (encumbrances)”. If the apartment is under arrest or has other encumbrances/restrictions, this will be shown in the line “Restriction of rights and encumbrance of the property.”

If there is no encumbrance, instead of the line “Restriction of rights and encumbrance of the property” there will be an empty space.

As I wrote above, it is better not to check the encumbrance on the Rosreestr website. In my work I use extracts and reports from the Unified State Register of Real Estate.

What encumbrances can be placed on an apartment?

The old owner transfers the encumbrance to the new buyer “as a gift.” Therefore, the price of apartments with restrictions is lower than the price of similar “clean” real estate.

There are five main encumbrances on an apartment:

A mortgage involves the bank lending money to the buyer of an apartment for a long period of time to cover the cost of the purchase. To guarantee the payment of the debt, the bank, according to the agreement, takes away part of the rights to the apartment until the mortgage is repaid. During this entire period, the borrower cannot carry out legal transactions with the apartment without the consent of the bank.
Rent involves concluding an agreement on the transfer of an apartment for temporary use to another person for a certain fee. The tenant can only use the apartment during the term of the contract, but does not have any rights to it. During the validity of the lease agreement, the tenant can only be evicted through the court. But even a change of owner is not grounds for termination of the contract.
Arrest means that the court has limited the owner’s rights to dispose of the apartment. This may be caused by late payments on a mortgage or housing and communal services, division of property of former spouses, or legal proceedings. The sale of a seized object is impossible until the restriction is lifted by the authorized body.
Rent implies that there is a person who makes regular payments to the owner of the apartment so that he can live in it. The difference from renting is that the renter will receive ownership of the apartment in the future. The rent payer is the formal owner of the property, who cannot dispose of the apartment without the consent of the rent recipient.
Trust management means that the apartment owner transfers certain rights to the property to a third party. For example, during the owner’s long-term treatment, the manager can rent out the apartment and pay the bills. While the trust management agreement is in force, the apartment cannot be sold.

How is seized property sold?

The compulsory sale of seized property is carried out in two ways: on a commission basis and through auctions. Everything that is worth less than 500 thousand rubles is sent for consignment sale. Anything above half a million can only be sold through auction.

The organizers publish a notice about the auction on the official website of the Russian Government at www.torgi.gov. From the moment of publication to the start of trading, the minimum period is 30 days. The document contains information about the place, time and form of the auction. The following information is also posted here:

Subject of the auction.
The order in which they are carried out.
The starting price, which cannot be lower than the estimate specified in the Resolution.
The person who won the auction.
Owner of the property.

The notice of the auction is also duplicated on the FSSP website. They may be declared unsuccessful if less than two applications were submitted for participation in the tender, or one of the participants did not appear. There are other reasons too. In such a situation, the auction organizer may schedule secondary auctions after 10 days. At this stage, the bailiff will send the claimant an offer to accept the property as payment for the debt.

What threatens the buyer of an apartment with encumbrances?

Buying an apartment with any of the encumbrances will cause the buyer a number of problems.

A transaction to purchase an apartment with a mortgage may be disrupted if the bank does not agree to the sale.
Tenants may refuse to leave the property during the term of the lease or even after it expires. This problem will have to be resolved in court.
The buyer of an apartment with rent will be forced to support the rent recipient for life.
The sale of a seized apartment is prohibited, so such a transaction will not be registered. Check the apartment before transferring money to the seller.

Transfer of money when buying an apartment. How does money transfer happen when buying an apartment?

As you can see, encumbrances significantly complicate the life of apartment buyers. To help them protect themselves, the state maintains a register in which all transactions leading to the formation of encumbrances are recorded. It is an extract from the USRN about the absence of encumbrances that helps to check the apartment.

What facts of encumbrance are indicated in the certificates?

Amendments to Federal Law No. 218, approved in January 2021, establish that entries in the real estate register should be carried out by only one state body - Rosreestr. A document that defines and stores a complete set of information about real estate is a Certificate of Real Estate.

According to cadastral laws, the certificate of real estate must register:

the fact of pledging an apartment to obtain a mortgage or take out loans from banking institutions;
the fact of the existence of a rent agreement;
the fact of having a power of attorney;
the fact that there are restrictions on use;
information about the encumbrance imposed by guardianship officials.

How to get a statement of no encumbrance

An extract from the Unified State Register of Encumbrances can be obtained in paper and electronic form. These options have the same legal force. The paper one is certified by the seal and signature of Rosreestr, and the electronic one is certified by its digital signature. The court, bank and government agencies will accept any format.

Leave an online request in the USRN.Register service to receive a certificate. This method is the simplest and most cost-effective. Indicate the address or cadastral number of the property in a special field and pay 200 rubles for a statement of characteristics and rights. If, in addition to information about encumbrances, you need a complete history of the owners, order a full statement for 350 rubles.

Within 6 hours you will receive a pdf file by email, certified by the digital signature of Rosreestr. The extract is official and certified by the digital signature of Rosreestr - it will be accepted by banks, courts and government agencies.

If you learned from the first certificate that the apartment has restrictions, negotiate with the owner to get rid of them. But do not forget to control the result by checking the removal of the encumbrance in the Unified State Register of Real Estate. An extract on the removal of the encumbrance can be obtained in the same way.

Check the apartment for encumbrances right now!

How to find seized property on the FSSP website

A transparent system for the sale of seized property allows banks to check the credit history, and those who are looking for an inexpensive purchase option to purchase property here at a reasonable price. Usually its cost is below the market average. All information about ongoing auctions is placed in an electronic database. To find seized FSSP property, do the following:

Go to the official resource of the bailiffs department at the link https://fssp.gov.ru/.
Call up the menu by clicking on the button in the upper right corner.
Select the "Services" section.
Click on the item “Notices about public auctions”.

The data on this page is presented in table form. It has several columns that reflect basic information:

Organizer of the auction.
Lot number.
Name and characteristics of the property.
Starting price.
Location of property.

If you click on the lot number, you can view detailed information on the object being sold through auction. Here you can find auction documentation and general information with basic parameters.

Note! The FSSP service only contains information about the property put up for auction.

Reasons for arrest

A lien is placed on the apartment due to unpaid debts of the owner. Most often, the restriction applies to housing that is the subject of a mortgage loan. If the borrower stops making monthly payments, the bank files a claim in court. The court makes a decision on recovery against the debtor. After which the property is seized with further foreclosure.

Another common reason for seizure is unpaid utility bills. A delay of 1-2 months is unlikely to lead to extreme measures. However, utility companies sue malicious debtors in court, which issues a collection order.

Seizure is also imposed when dividing property between spouses. If the ex-husband and wife cannot come to an agreement, then the court can help resolve the dispute. To prevent an unscrupulous spouse from disposing of property during litigation, an arrest is imposed. Usually one of the parties to the case asks for this.

How to check a plot of land

To check the legal purity of a land plot, you need to enter its cadastral number or address on the website https://rosreester.net/proverit-uchastok. The system will conduct a full legal check and provide you with official information about pledges, arrests, and encumbrances across all databases.

Don't fall into the hands of scammers. Check the documentation yourself or order an analysis on an online service. This way you will be able to make the right decision for yourself in the future.

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Who seizes

According to current legislation, the property of an individual or enterprise can be seized:

By a court decision as part of securing a claim (defined in Article 140 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the plaintiff can be the claimant (the person to whom the debtor owes a certain amount of money), the investigative bodies or the preliminary investigation bodies. The last two structures must first conduct an investigation, on the basis of which they can decide on the need to seize property.
By the bodies of the Federal Bailiff Service within the framework of enforcement proceedings initiated against an individual or legal entity.
Federal Tax Service for the purpose of collecting funds to pay taxes to the state budget (defined by Article 77 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The Federal Tax Service can seize the property of debtors

The legislative framework

The possibility of arrest is indicated in several legal acts of the Russian Federation. Among them, the most interesting is the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings” (the FSSP operates on the basis of the Federal Law). Article 80 of the said Federal Law is devoted to the seizure and foreclosure of property:

Clause 1 of Art. 80 states that the bailiff has the right to seize only within the framework of enforcement proceedings. Property can be seized at any time after the initiation of this proceeding, including during the time allotted to the debtor for voluntary repayment of obligations. A restriction cannot be imposed if the total amount of debt within the production does not exceed 3,000 rubles. Except in cases where it is necessary to seize the property that is the subject of the pledge.

The debtor's property may be seized

According to paragraph 3, the restriction is imposed:

to ensure the safety of real or movable property;
to confiscate certain property;
for the purpose of executing a judicial act.

Paragraph 4 indicated that by default the seizure includes a ban on the owner’s right to dispose of the property (it cannot be sold or donated). If necessary, bailiffs may additionally impose restrictions on the right of use (for example, a ban on driving a car). In some cases, the seizure of property may mean its confiscation (when this is necessary to pay off the debtor’s property obligations).
Paragraph 5 determined that the arrest is necessarily accompanied by the drawing up of an act. The procedure itself must be carried out in the presence of witnesses.