Buying a room: exploring the pitfalls

Ownership of the room

1. The Housing Code of the Russian Federation (Article 16) indicates that a room in a communal apartment is an independent object for which a separate right of ownership is registered.
2. Common areas intended to satisfy vital needs in a communal apartment are subject to division in accordance with Art. 135 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The share of each owner is determined as follows: the area of ​​the room is divided by the area of ​​​​all residential premises. The resulting figure is correlated with the area of ​​common areas. This is the standard option for shared ownership of common areas; other options are discussed in a separate agreement.

Annual tax on a room in a communal apartment with a mortgage

I live in a communal apartment. How is the amount of property tax for individuals determined in relation to a room in a communal apartment? Kuzhuget B. Answer: In accordance with Article 1 of the Law of the Russian Federation of December 9, 1991 No. 2003-1 (hereinafter referred to as the Law), taxpayers of the property tax for individuals are individuals, owners of property recognized as the object of taxation. In this case, the objects of taxation are residential buildings, apartments, dachas, garages and buildings, premises and structures. According to Articles 15 and 16 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, residential premises that are objects of housing rights include a residential building, apartment, and room. In this case, a room is understood as a part of a residential building or apartment intended for use as a place of direct residence for citizens in a residential building or apartment.

How to sell a room in a communal apartment in 2018

The owners (neighbors) of the remaining rooms of the apartment have the preemptive right to purchase real estate (Article 43 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation). The procedure and conditions for the purchase and sale of a room are contained in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In particular, Article 250 of the Civil Code indicates that the owner of a room is obliged to notify neighbors in writing of his intention to sell it. The cost and terms of the transaction must be the same for everyone. Within 1 month, neighbors must report their further actions. In case of refusal, the owner of the room can enter into a deal with third parties.

Please note that if the room is sold to third parties, then you must obtain a notarized waiver of the pre-emptive right from your neighbors. If the room is being sold to neighbors, no document is required. The refusal is attached to the package of documents for registering property rights. In the absence of such a document, refusal to register the right is possible.

If the room is not privatized, then a notice of sale must be submitted to the municipal authority, which, in case of refusal to purchase, will also issue the corresponding document. An agreement on the pre-emptive right to purchase a room is not concluded; however, it should be borne in mind that the notice of intent to complete a purchase and sale transaction is a public offer, which can act as a preliminary agreement.

How to override the right of pre-emption?

Under certain circumstances, the seller does not have the time and opportunity to carry out the activities provided for in Article 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, to look for neighbors, and to seek recognition of them as missing. You can find a way out of the situation by making the potential buyer the owner of the room by concluding a donation agreement.

The seller should give him a micro-share of ownership of his room, after which the stranger will become an equal neighbor. Upon subsequent sale of the room to him, the norms of Article 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation will not be violated. This method is dangerous because there is a possibility for both the seller and the buyer to become the owner of part of the room in a communal dwelling.

Another scheme is simpler. You can use a gift agreement, but in fact sell the room, but do not document the issuance of money. In this case, the donation of a room can be protested in court by a neighbor in communal housing, citing its pretense.

There is another option for avoiding providing neighbors with the right of first refusal. A loan agreement should be drawn up between the seller of the room and the future buyer, as well as a collateral agreement. Repayment of a non-existent loan is guaranteed by tangible collateral in the form of a room in a communal dwelling. The seller of the room does not repay the borrowed funds, the buyer collects the mortgaged property. In this situation, the right of first refusal will not be a priority.

Preventing conflict situations

Conflicts between the seller of a room and the owners of other rooms in a communal apartment during a purchase and sale transaction are a frequent occurrence. Let's look at the most common cases.

1. Neighbors avoid meetings, therefore, there is no possibility of transmitting notice of the intention to sell the room. In this case, you need to send a registered letter with a notification indicating the cost of the room and the terms of the transaction. The legislation does not define liability for non-receipt of letters. If the notice is returned marked “return”, the notary will write a letter to the registration authority.
2. You can entrust the entire procedure of communicating with neighbors to a notary. This will cost more, but will significantly save both nerves and time.
3. Neighbors create obstacles when third parties inspect the room. The solution to this is to turn to law enforcement agencies, who can bring violators to justice.
4. The pre-emptive right was violated and neighbors were not given notice of the sale. In this case, neighbors who want to buy a room have the right to apply to the judicial authorities within 3 months to cancel the purchase and sale transaction and transfer the right of first refusal to them.

Selling a room in a communal apartment is associated with numerous problems - from the goodwill of neighbors to contradictions in the law. Before selling, it is recommended to consult with a lawyer who deals with purchase and sale transactions of rooms in a communal apartment.

Is there a tax on a room in a communal apartment?

Thus, the procedure for calculating property tax for individuals directly depends on the regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities on the privatization of residential premises in force in a certain territory. So, if on the territory of Volgograd the privatization of residential premises in a communal apartment was carried out by transferring into the ownership of citizens a room in a communal apartment on the basis of the Decision of the Volgograd City Duma of July 20, 2007 N 49/1183 and in the certificate of state registration of ownership as of the property, a room in a communal apartment is indicated, then the amount of property tax for individuals in relation to such a room is calculated by the tax authorities based on the total inventory value of the room and the tax rate corresponding to the total inventory value of the room.

Waiver of preemptive right to purchase

In accordance with Art. 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, when selling a share in the right of common ownership to an outsider, the remaining participants in shared ownership have a pre-emptive right to purchase the share being sold at the price for which it is sold, and on other equal conditions.

The seller of a share is obliged to notify in writing the other participants in shared ownership of his intention to sell his share to an outsider, indicating the price and other conditions under which he sells it.

Pre-emptive right to purchase

According to the provisions of Article 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, neighbors in communal housing are given the right of first refusal to purchase a room being sold at a price set by the seller.

It is not necessary to receive permission from neighbors to sell the room, however, they must certainly be notified of the fact of the sale, its main criteria, and they must receive an offer from the seller to purchase the room. Owners of rooms in the neighborhood will have 30 days to think about and make a decision regarding this issue.

Selling a room in a communal apartment without a notary

If the remaining participants in shared ownership refuse to purchase or do not acquire the sold share in the right of ownership of real estate within a month, and in the right of ownership of movable property within ten days from the date of notification, the seller has the right to sell his share to any person.

When selling a share in violation of the pre-emptive right, any other participant in shared ownership has the right, within three months, to demand in court the transfer of the rights and obligations of the buyer to him.

The above rules also apply when alienating a share under an exchange agreement.

According to the established practice in St. Petersburg, the right of ownership of rooms in communal apartments is formalized not as the right to a separate living space, but as the right to a share in the common ownership of the entire apartment. That is, all owners of rooms in one communal apartment, from a legal point of view, are participants in the common shared ownership of this apartment (co-owners). In this regard, when one of the co-owners sells his room, he must first offer to buy this room to other co-owners at a price determined by him. If one of the neighbors expresses a desire to purchase a room at the specified price, then it will be impossible to sell this room to an outsider at the same price. If several co-owners express a desire to buy a room, then the right to choose a buyer will belong to the seller. In this case, the buyer-co-owner must buy the room within a month from the day he was notified of the upcoming sale.

It should be borne in mind that only the owners of the rooms have the right of pre-emption. If a person occupies a room on any other basis (for example, under a social tenancy agreement or as a member of the owner's family), he does not have a preemptive right to purchase other rooms in this apartment.

After the seller has notified the other co-owners of the upcoming sale (exchange) of his room, he must wait a whole month. And only after a month can he sell his room to a stranger. In order to reduce this period, it is necessary to convince the co-owners to formalize a waiver of the pre-emptive right of purchase with a notary.

To formalize the refusal, it is necessary to present to the notary the passports of the neighbors and provide information about the room being sold (address of the apartment; size of the share in the right of common ownership; surnames, first names and patronymics of the sellers; number of rooms being sold and their footage; sale price).

Minor co-owners of an apartment also have a pre-emptive right to purchase rooms in this apartment. To formalize a waiver of this right on behalf of a minor co-owner, you must first obtain permission from the guardianship and trusteeship authorities. Such permission is usually issued upon request of a notary. If the child is under 14 years old, then in order to register a waiver of the pre-emptive right to purchase, one of the parents of this child must appear on his behalf at the notary with his passport and the child’s birth certificate. If the child is between 14 and 18 years old, then to formalize the refusal he must personally appear before the notary with his passport and birth certificate, accompanied by one of the parents, who also has a passport.

The process of registering waivers will be faster and easier if the interested party (the seller or his representative) provides the notary with all the necessary data in advance.

If the seller fails to convince neighbors to formalize notarized waivers of the preemptive right to purchase, then he can resort to the procedure of notifying neighbors about the upcoming sale by transmitting relevant notices to them through a notary.

Similar rules apply when selling (less) a share in the right of common ownership of other real estate, as well as movable property.

If you have not found the answer to your question on our website, then you can contact our notary office.

We will be happy to provide you with detailed information.

Violation of the pre-emptive right to purchase a room in a communal apartment

Hello Svetlana! In accordance with Part 6 of Art. 42 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, when selling a room in a communal apartment, the remaining owners of rooms in this communal apartment have a pre-emptive right to purchase the alienated room in the manner and under the conditions established by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Article 246 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation determines that a participant in shared ownership has the right, at his own discretion, to sell, donate, bequeath, pledge his share or otherwise dispose of it in compliance with the rules provided for in Art. 250 of the same code. This article, when selling a share in the right of common ownership to an outsider, establishes for the remaining participants in shared ownership the preemptive right to purchase the share being sold at the price for which it is sold, and on other equal conditions, except in the case of sale at public auction, as well as cases of sale of a share in the right common ownership of a land plot by the owner of a part of a building or structure located on such a land plot or by the owner of premises in the said building or structure (clause 1) and at the same time imposes on the seller of the share the obligation to notify in writing the remaining participants in shared ownership of the intention to sell his share to an outsider indicating the price and other conditions under which it is sold (clause 2). The Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not impose other obligations on participants in shared ownership when one of them sells their share, providing in paragraph. 2 p. 2 art. 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the seller has the right, if the remaining participants in shared ownership do not acquire the sold share in the ownership of real estate within a month from the date of notification, to sell his share to any person, and if all other participants in shared ownership refuse to sell in writing preemptive right to purchase the share being sold, such share may be sold to an outsider earlier than the specified period. From the above rules of law it follows that the federal legislator has established general rules for the exercise of the right of first refusal for owners of common shared property and owners of a room in a communal apartment. Since the parties, as owners of residential premises in a communal apartment, are subject to the provisions of the above legal norms, when alienating the disputed property, the right of first refusal to purchase the premises by the owners of the remaining rooms in the specified communal apartment must be respected. According to paragraph 3 of Article 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, when selling a share in violation of the pre-emptive right of purchase, any other participant in shared ownership has the right, within three months, to demand in court the transfer of the rights and obligations of the buyer to him. In the case of concluding a donation agreement with an outsider, or donating a share of a room with the subsequent purchase and sale of the remaining shares of the room, these transactions at the request of neighbors whose rights have been violated may be declared invalid if they go to court within 3 months from the moment of learned about a violation of their rights.

According to paragraph 2 of Art. 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a sham transaction, that is, a transaction that was concluded with the aim of covering up another transaction, including a transaction on different terms, is void. From the explanations contained in paragraph 87 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 23, 2020 N 25 “On the application by courts of certain provisions of Section I of Part One of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation”, it follows that, according to paragraph 2 of Article 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a sham transaction , that is, a transaction that was made with the aim of covering up another transaction, including a transaction on different terms, with a different subject composition, is void. In connection with pretense, only a transaction that is aimed at achieving other legal consequences and covers up the different will of all participants in the transaction can be recognized as invalid. The intention of one participant to make a sham transaction is not enough for the application of this rule. When applying the rules on sham transactions, it should be taken into account that not only one, but also several transactions can be made to cover up a transaction. In this case, the cover transactions are void, and the rules relating to it are applied to the transaction that the parties really had in mind, taking into account its essence and content (clause 2 of Article 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, if the court finds that a donation agreement for part of the property was concluded in favor of a third party for the purpose of further sale of the remaining share, bypassing the rules on the preemptive right of other participants to purchase this share, the donation agreement and the subsequent purchase and sale of the share can be qualified as a single agreement purchases and sales made in violation of these rules (clause 88 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 23, 2020 No. 25 “On the application by courts of certain provisions of Section I of Part One of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation”). Based on the above rules of substantive law and their explanations, the invalidity of transactions due to their sham may be evidenced by a short period of time between the conclusion of purchase and sale and gift agreements, a small number of donated shares compared to the number of shares sold, the absence of family or other relationships between the defendants, which could have determined the gratuitous nature of the first contract. The decision by the courts on the presence or absence of grounds for recognizing donation and sale transactions as invalid depends on the clarification of these circumstances.

Here is an example of judicial practice, when the court considered the agreements concluded in relation to a disputed room in a communal apartment to be sham transactions. Thus

ST. PETERSBURG CITY COURT

APPEAL DECISION dated July 19, 2020 N 33-11493/2016

Judge: Golova E.A.

Judicial panel for civil cases of the St. Petersburg City Court, consisting of the presiding Miroshnikova E.N. judges Nyukhtilina A.V., Rogacheva I.A. with the secretary, S. considered in open court on July 19, 2020 Kh.’s appeal against the decision of the Krasnogvardeisky District Court of St. Petersburg dated March 3, 2020 in civil case No. 2-592/16 in the claim of Kh. against D., V. on declaring a sham transaction invalid and transferring the rights of the buyer. Having heard the report of judge E.N. Miroshnikova, the arguments of the plaintiff Kh. and his representative - G., who acted on the basis of an order N <...> N <...> from, who supported the appeal, the defendant V. and his representative - N., who acted on on the basis of warrant N <...> from, who objected to the satisfaction of the complaint, the judicial panel for civil cases of the St. Petersburg City Court,

installed:

Kh. filed a lawsuit against D., V. and, clarifying the claims in accordance with Art. 39 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, asked the court to recognize the donation agreement of 1/143 shares in the common shared ownership of an apartment at the address: St. Petersburg as a void transaction; qualify the real estate donation agreement dated 06/19/2015 together with the real estate purchase and sale agreement dated 06/19/2015 - 11/143 shares in the common shared ownership of an apartment at the address: St. Petersburg, as a single purchase and sale agreement on the terms specified in the agreement purchases and sales dated June 19, 2015; transfer the rights and obligations of the buyer of 12/143 shares in the right of common shared ownership of an apartment located at the address: St. Petersburg, V. to X. on the terms specified in the purchase and sale agreement for the property dated June 19, 2015; oblige the defendants to reimburse the costs of representation and other legal expenses. In support of the claims, the plaintiff indicated that he is one of the owners of the above-mentioned apartment, in July 2020 he learned about the conclusion of donation and sale agreements between the defendants and believes that the donation agreement was concluded in order to cover up the purchase and sale agreement. His right of first refusal was violated. By decision of the Krasnogvardeisky District Court of St. Petersburg dated March 3, 2020, the claim was rejected. In the appeal, the plaintiff raises the issue of canceling the court decision as illegal and unfounded. The defendant D. and the representative of the Rosreestr Office for St. Petersburg did not appear at the court of appeal; they were duly notified of the consideration of the case. On July 19, 2016, the court received a telephone message from D. about the postponement of the case due to the impossibility of his presence at the court hearing. The panel, taking into account the opinion of the participants in the court hearing, considered this petition to be rejected, since the previous meeting on 07/05/2016 was postponed at the request of D. due to his late notification of the court hearing (07/01/2016), residence in and inability to appear in court on 07/05/2016 .2016. At the court hearing on 07/19/2016, having been notified of it on 07/07/2016, this defendant did not appear, did not present any evidence of valid reasons for failure to appear to the court and did not report their existence, which is regarded by the board as an abuse of procedural rights on the part of this defendant. Having discussed the arguments of the appeal and studied the case materials, the judicial panel comes to the following conclusion. From the case materials it follows that on June 19, 2015, an agreement was concluded between D. and V. for the donation of a real estate property - 1/143 of the share in the ownership of a property in St. Petersburg. In accordance with the terms of this agreement, D. donated, and V. accepted as a gift a 1/143rd share in the ownership of St. Petersburg. The agreement is registered in the register of the notary who certified it for N <…>. According to clause 1 of the donation agreement, the donee accepted as a gift a 1/143rd share in the property right and room N <...> with an area of ​​12.3 square meters is transferred to his use. m. On the same day - 06/19/2015, a purchase and sale agreement was also concluded between the defendants, in accordance with the terms of which D. sold, and V. acquired as common shared ownership a property belonging to the seller: 11/143 shares in the ownership of in St. Petersburg. The agreement is registered in the register of the notary who certified it for N <…>. In accordance with clause 1 of the purchase and sale agreement for the specified share, room N <...> with an area of ​​12.3 square meters is transferred to the buyer. m. According to clause 5 of the contract, the seller sold the object to the buyer for 1,000,000 rubles. V.’s ownership of 1/143 shares and 11/143 shares in the ownership of the above apartment was registered in accordance with the procedure established by law on June 25, 2015. Plaintiff Kh., as follows from the case materials, is the owner of 8/143 shares in the right of common shared ownership of the named apartment. From his explanations it follows that his family (he, his wife and daughter), who are also the owners of 8/143 shares, occupy 2 rooms in a communal apartment and in July 2015, when V. moved in, it turned out that he had bought a neighbor’s room (D. ). Apartment N <…> in St. Petersburg is communal, the apartment has 12 rooms, the total area of ​​the apartment is 227.00 sq. m. m. The court when resolving a dispute, guided by the provisions of Art. 170, 572, 574 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, having examined and assessed all the evidence presented, came to the conclusion that the plaintiff did not provide evidence of the sham of the transaction of donation of a share of the apartment concluded between the defendants. At the same time, the court did not take into account the plaintiff’s arguments that the donation agreement and the agreement for the sale and purchase of shares in the apartment were concluded by the defendants on the same day, since these circumstances do not reliably indicate that when concluding the disputed transaction, the defendants did not intend to establish change or terminate rights and obligations due to its conclusion; on the contrary, the evidence available in the case materials indicates that the donor freely transferred ownership to the donee, and the latter accepted the share of the apartment that is the subject of the agreement. Under such circumstances, the court came to the conclusion that there were no legal grounds to satisfy the requirements to recognize the disputed transaction as sham. Resolving the demands for qualification of the gift agreement and the purchase and sale agreement as a single purchase and sale agreement, the court came to the conclusion that there are no legal grounds for satisfying these claims, since 2 agreements were concluded between the defendants on June 19, 2015 - donation and purchase and sale, and During the consideration of the dispute on the merits, I did not find confirmation of the fact that the will of the defendants was aimed at concluding only a purchase and sale agreement, and therefore it is not possible to qualify the above agreements as one - a purchase and sale agreement. Resolving demands for the transfer of the rights and obligations of the buyer under the purchase and sale agreement dated June 19, 2015 from defendant V. to plaintiff X., the court, having analyzed the provisions of Art. Art. 246 and 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and, taking into account that at the time of the conclusion of the purchase and sale agreement for the share of the apartment, V. was a participant in shared ownership under the gift agreement, the plaintiff’s rights were not violated by the purchase and sale agreement, and therefore there are no grounds for transferring to the latter rights and obligations of the buyer. At the same time, the court also took into account that the plaintiff, in violation of the provisions of Art. 56 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation did not provide the court with evidence of the fact that he had the opportunity to replace the buyer’s side, namely, that he had funds in the amount specified in the purchase and sale agreement. The panel of judges, taking into account the factual circumstances of the present case, as well as the norms of substantive law, cannot agree with the conclusions of the court. According to paragraph 3 of Art. 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, when establishing, exercising and protecting civil rights and when performing civil duties, participants in civil legal relations must act in good faith. No one has the right to take advantage of their illegal or dishonest behavior (Clause 4, Article 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). By virtue of the first paragraph of clause 1 of Art. 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it is not allowed to exercise civil rights solely with the intention of causing harm to another person, to act in circumvention of the law for an unlawful purpose, as well as other deliberately dishonest exercise of civil rights (abuse of law). Part 2 Art. 209 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the right of the owner, at his own discretion, to perform any actions in relation to his property that do not contradict the law and other legal acts and do not violate the rights and legally protected interests of other persons, including alienating his property into the ownership of other persons, transferring to them, while remaining the owner, the right to own, use and dispose of property, pledge the property and encumber it in other ways, dispose of it in another way. By virtue of the provisions of Part 2 of Art. 246 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a participant in shared ownership has the right, at his own discretion, to sell his share in compliance with the rules provided for in Art. 250 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. According to the rules of Article 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the seller of a share in the right of common ownership, when selling common property, must take into account the pre-emptive right to purchase the remaining participants in shared ownership at the price for which it is sold and on other equal conditions, except for sale at public auction. The seller is obliged to notify in writing the other participants in shared ownership of his intention to sell his share to an outsider, indicating the price and other conditions under which he sells it. If the remaining participants in shared ownership refuse to purchase or do not purchase the share in the real estate being sold within a month from the date of notification, the seller has the right to sell his share to any person. When selling a share in violation of the pre-emptive right, any other participant in shared ownership has the right, within three months, to demand in court the transfer of the rights and obligations of the buyer to him. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an imaginary transaction, that is, a transaction made only for show, without the intention of creating legal consequences corresponding to it, is void. By virtue of clause 2 of Art. 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a sham transaction, that is, a transaction that was made with the aim of covering up another transaction, is void. To the transaction which the parties actually intended, taking into account the substance of the transaction, the rules relating to it apply. Clause 1 of Art. 572 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that under a gift agreement, one party (donor) transfers or undertakes to transfer ownership of an item free of charge to the other party (donee). In accordance with paragraph. 2 p. 1 art. 572 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, in the presence of a counter transfer of a thing or right or a counter obligation, the contract is not recognized as a donation; The rules provided for in paragraph 2 of Art. 170 of this Code, According to paragraph 3 of Art. 574 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a contract of donation of real estate is subject to state registration. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 8.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, rights to property subject to state registration arise, change and terminate from the moment the corresponding entry is made in the state register, unless otherwise provided by law. Having concluded a donation agreement on 06/19/2015 for a 1/143 share in the ownership of a property in St. Petersburg, D. had to transfer the specified shares to V. free of charge. According to this agreement, room N <...> with an area of ​​12.3 square meters is transferred to the use of the donee. m. On the same day - 06/19/2015, a purchase and sale agreement was also concluded between the defendants, in accordance with the terms of which, D. sold, and V. acquired, as common shared ownership, a property belonging to the seller: 11/143 shares in ownership for the same apartment and in accordance with clause 1 of this agreement, the same room N <...> with an area of ​​12.3 square meters is transferred to the buyer. m. V.’s ownership of 1/143 share and 11/143 share in the ownership of the above apartment was registered in accordance with the procedure established by law on the same day - 06/25/2015. The gratuitous transfer of property is one, but not the only feature of a gift agreement. A mandatory qualifying feature of a gift agreement is the obvious intention of the donor to transfer property as a gift arising from the agreement of the parties. In this case, taking into account D.’s actions, the order and sequence of their implementation, such an intention to transfer V. as a gift of property - a room with an area of ​​\u200b\u200b12.3 square meters. m, not seen. From the concluded agreements it follows that on the same day D. gives and sells to V. virtually the same real estate - room N <...> with an area of ​​12.3 square meters. m. Gives 1/143 shares and immediately sells 11/143 shares. It should be noted that at the time of concluding the sale and purchase agreement of 11/143 shares in the right of common shared ownership, V.’s ownership of 1/143 share was not registered, and according to clause 2 of Art. 8.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, rights to property subject to state registration arise from the moment the corresponding entry is made in the state register. Thus, V. cannot be considered as the owner of 1/143 shares at the time of concluding the purchase and sale agreement for 11/143 shares. According to the explanations of paragraph 88 of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated June 23, 2015 N 25 “On the application by courts of certain provisions of Section I of Part One of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation,” when applying the rules on sham transactions, it should be taken into account that to cover up a transaction, not only one, but and several deals. In this case, the cover transactions are void, and the rules relating to it are applied to the transaction that the parties really had in mind, taking into account its essence and content (clause 2 of Article 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, in accordance with the norms of substantive law and the explanations of this paragraph, if it is established that a participant in common shared ownership has entered into an agreement to donate part of his share in ownership to a third party for the purpose of further selling the remaining part of the share, bypassing the rules on the preemptive right of other participants to the purchase of a share, a gift agreement and the subsequent purchase and sale of a part of the share can be qualified as a single purchase and sale agreement made in violation of these rules and, accordingly, another participant in the common shared ownership has the right to demand in court the transfer of the rights and obligations of the buyer to him in the manner 250 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, such a legal approach is permissible only when the purpose of the agreement for donating a share of property to one person is the sale of the remaining shares of the same person to the same person. In the present case, the board believes that there is every reason to believe that D. entered into a donation agreement for 1/143 of V.’s share for the purpose of further selling the remaining 11/143 shares, bypassing the rules on the preemptive right of other participants in common shared ownership to purchase a room in a communal apartment and the concluded agreements are subject to qualification as a single purchase and sale agreement for 12/143 shares in the right of common shared ownership. The plaintiff presented evidence to the appellate court of the availability of funds in the amount of 1,000,000 rubles, depositing them with the Judicial Department in St. Petersburg on June 30, 2016. The panel of judges considers it possible to accept this evidence, since in the court of first instance the court did not explain the obligation to provide evidence of the availability of funds by depositing them with a notary or the judicial department. Thus, the panel finds the court decision to be canceled with a ruling of a new judicial act on the satisfaction of X.’s claims with the transfer of the buyer’s rights to him with the recovery from him in favor of V. of the amount paid by the latter under the purchase and sale agreement in the amount of 1,000,000 rubles at the expense of funds deposited with the Judicial Department. In addition, the board believes that in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 98 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, from defendants D. and V., in favor of the plaintiff, the state fee paid when filing a claim is subject to recovery in the amount of 600 rubles, 300 rubles from each. Taking into account the above, guided by Articles 328 - 330 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the judicial panel

determined:

The decision of the Krasnogvardeisky District Court of St. Petersburg dated March 3, 2020 is canceled and the claims are satisfied. Apply the consequences of the invalidity of a void (feigned) transaction - a donation agreement of 1/143 share in the right of common shared ownership of an apartment at the address: St. Petersburg, concluded on June 19, 2020 between D. and V. Recognize the donation agreement of 1/143 share in the right common shared ownership of an apartment at the address: St. Petersburg, concluded on June 19, 2020 between D. and V. and the purchase and sale agreement for 11/143 shares in the right of common shared ownership of an apartment at the address: St. Petersburg, concluded on 19 June 2020 between D. and V., a single transaction - a purchase and sale agreement for 12/143 shares in the right of common shared ownership of an apartment at the address: St. Petersburg, transfer the buyer’s rights under the specified agreement to X., year of birth, native of A. , registered at the address: St. Petersburg, . To recover from X. in favor of V. the amount paid under the sale and purchase agreement in the amount of 1,000,000 rubles from funds deposited with the Judicial Department in St. Petersburg. To recover in favor of X. the costs of paying the state fee of 300 rubles from each of the defendants - D. and V.

How to sell a room in a communal apartment

Although we are already in the 21st century - a time of great innovations, advanced technologies, ultra-modern housing and civilized life, people still live in communal apartments in all areas of the capital and its suburbs, not to mention other cities and villages of Russia.

In the secondary real estate market, according to analysts, rooms in such apartments account for about five to six percent of offers, in contrast to offers for apartments in Podolsk from the developer. Most of the communal apartments are located in houses from even the Stalin era, which are still “showing off” throughout the country. The second place in this indicator is occupied by typical panel buildings from Khrushchev times. By the way, a room in a communal apartment is now the cheapest housing. It is approximately three times cheaper than a separate apartment of the same class. It seems that implementing a deal for the purchase and sale of cheap housing with small room dimensions will be as easy as shelling pears. But, in reality, selling a room in a communal apartment is fraught with countless obstacles.

Having decided, say, to sell a room in a communal apartment without intermediaries in Podolsk, you need to remember that you are not the sole owner of the apartment.

There is one very important legal catch here - “first right of purchase.” As stated in Article 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it is possessed by the neighboring owners of a communal apartment, as well as by local authorities, if it is not privatized by the residents. It follows from this that before completing a purchase and sale transaction in such an apartment, it will be necessary to coordinate it with all neighbors, since they have the above-mentioned right. In this case, you are obliged to notify in writing the other owners of the apartment (potential buyers) of your desire to sell your room to someone from the outside, indicating the price and other conditions under which you are selling it. If the neighbors refuse to purchase in writing within a month, then only then will you have the right to sell your living space to any other person. The refusal is certified by a notary and attached to the sales contract documents submitted to the Federal Registration Service for state registration. However, “it was smooth on paper, but...”. Getting neighbors to refuse is only the first of many problems related to selling a room in a communal apartment without intermediaries in Podolsk.

In this article we will try to touch on all the most pressing questions and problems that the seller of an apartment room without intermediaries in Podolsk faces face to face, and, if possible, give fairly well-founded answers to them.

Situation 1

Neighbors were asked to buy a room in a communal apartment or refuse priority right to purchase. But they haven’t done either for two months now. Is it possible in this case to sell the room without their consent?

You can make an offer, but will there be demand?

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that after one month, the owner of the room receives the right to sell it to any other buyer. However, if the buyer does not have consent from his future neighbors, problems arise with state registration of ownership of the future living space. According to Article 24 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On State Registration of Rights to Real Estate and Transactions with It”, in order to register ownership of a share (room) in common shared property (apartment), documents must be available on the consent of neighbors (shared owners) for such registration . If they are not there, registration is suspended for two months. During this time, the Fed Office notifies neighbors so that they submit their objections to this registration. If they do this, the service refuses to register the buyer and invites the parties to go to court. If no objections are received within the specified period, then the ownership of the buyer of the room is registered. In short, the buyer can either agree to overcome the above difficulties by achieving mutual understanding with the neighbors, or refuse the deal.

Situation 2

Three-room communal privatized apartment. One of the neighbors agreed with the proposed price for the room. And the other wants to buy living space at a lower price, otherwise he will not agree to the sale. What to do?

Nothing! Calmly sell the room to a neighbor for whom the price suits, because the right of first refusal only applies to cases of selling a room from an apartment in the Podolsk region to an outside buyer.

This does not apply to the process of registering the buyer's title, as discussed above. If a disagreeing neighbor refuses this, you can safely sue him. It is unlikely that he will have any solid arguments or objections against the court.

Situation 3

The owner of a room in a communal apartment offered his neighbors to buy their living space for a large sum of money. They did not have that kind of money, and the notary signed the corresponding documents of refusal. The neighbor sold the room. Somewhat later, the neighbors found out that the actual price of the room was much less than the stated price, and they could have purchased it. What should they do in such a situation?

The neighbors need to file a lawsuit to transfer the rights and responsibilities of the new owner of this room to them. If the court satisfies it, it will recognize the plaintiffs' ownership of the sold room and, by the way, will oblige them to pay back to the unfortunate owner the price at which he actually purchased this apartment from the former owner.

They must keep in mind that from the moment of receiving information about a violation of the rights of neighbors, a claim is filed in court within a three-month period. In court they will have to prove that the former owner of the room initially offered them to buy housing from him for a larger sum of money. Here, the presence of a written form of the transaction, as well as the content of the documents drawn up by the notary, will be of great importance. In addition, the seller and buyer can present to the court evidence of the actual price paid, that is, evidence that a different price was paid for the room. So, there is an opportunity to sue the sold room.

Situation 4

A little over four years ago, a neighbor went missing. His relatives are not known. He himself was unemployed and suffered from alcohol addiction. His room is currently unoccupied. Recently we looked at new buildings in Podolsk and decided to move to a new apartment. How to sell your part in a two-room apartment? The apartment has been privatized

In order to carry out a transaction with an apartment, you need to submit an application to the court to consider a case to recognize a neighbor’s citizen as a missing person. When submitting an application, it should be noted that such a decision is necessary to carry out a transaction for the sale of a share of joint real estate. The Civil Legal Legislative Code establishes a provision according to which a decision to recognize a citizen as missing is made on the basis of confirmed data on his unknown absence at the place of permanent registration within one calendar year. A police certificate about the search for your missing neighbor can be presented as evidence. The transaction for the sale of shared ownership can be carried out immediately upon the entry into force of the judge’s decision. In this case, a copy of the court decision is provided to the registration authorities, which must contain the seal and personal signature of the judge who made this decision.

Situation 5

A question. We are the owners of a share in a privatized apartment. We want to sell our room. We sent a notice to the neighbors by registered mail, but they refused to pick it up. According to the law, if the joint owners have not purchased the residential space within a calendar month from the moment they received and signed the notice, then the shared owner has the right to sell the residential space to other buyers. A year ago, after looking at new building areas in Podolsk, we moved into a new apartment. The room in the old three-ruble ruble was used by neighbors with “neighbourly rights”. Now the situation is uncertain. What can be done? Thank you!

If a notification of delivery of a registered letter is sent back, then this notification after a month can be considered a document confirming the desire of the neighbors to sell the room to another owner. If such a notification was not returned or the letter was returned due to the fact that no one received it at the post office, then you can send your neighbors a registered valuable letter with a mark for postmen - “hand over personally to a citizen ...”. This option involves delivery of a letter by a postal worker directly to the recipient’s apartment and delivery against a personal signature. The receipt mark contains information about the delivery date and the addressee. Even if this time there are no reactive actions from the neighbors, the transaction can be completed without breaking the law only after 31 days, that is, a calendar month.

Situation 6

A difficult situation. I used to live in a dorm room, but I sold it. The new owner did not complete the documents properly. And now all receipts for utility bills come in my name. Payment for services has not been made for more than a year; housing and communal services workers filed a lawsuit against me and assessed fines for late payments. I myself have been living in a new apartment for a long time in a new building area in Podolsk. What grounds can I have for protection?

If you do not have registration at your place of residence in your old home, are not the owner of this room, and have also kept the sales documents (agreement), then you have every right to refuse these payments. In court, you will need to demonstrate documents confirming the described factors. The utility service doesn’t care who to sue or collect payments from. Therefore, if a verdict is rendered in your favor, all assigned payments must be redirected to the new owner

Situation 7

The room in the shared apartment was received from the grandmother under an inheritance will. Since we recently purchased an apartment from a new building in Podolsk on credit, we decided to sell the room we received. The neighbors made unpleasant demands that the living space be sold to them for next to nothing, otherwise they threatened to refuse consent to register property rights. What can be done in this situation?

You can be denied registration and file a claim in court. As a rule, the decision is made in favor of the real estate seller. This is due not only to expediency, but also to the imperfection of the legal article on this issue. It should be noted that the relevant legislative projects have already been prepared for consideration. After the adoption of the amendments, it will be possible to register and sell residential properties received as a result of an inherited will or gift without the consent of neighbors. Therefore, the second option is to simply wait to register until the relevant bill is adopted.

Situation 8

I live in a communal apartment. I have a relative with me who is registered at this address. I recently looked at new buildings in Podolsk, I want to buy an apartment. Is it necessary, in order to sell this room to a relative, to obtain a mandatory waiver from the neighbors?

This depends on how the living space was registered - as shared ownership or as a separate living space. In the first case, it is mandatory to notify neighbors of the intention to sell the living space and give them the right to purchase a room within one month. In the second case, their permission is not needed. That is, you can sell your room to anyone, regardless of the wishes or demands of your neighbors to sell the living space to them.

Situation 9

The room that is for sale is not privatized.

Refusal to buy a room in a communal apartment

Advice from lawyers:

1. How long does the neighbors’ refusal to buy a room in a communal apartment last?

1.1. There are no time restrictions, it is unlimited, refusal expresses the will of a person in principle, and not for a certain period.

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1.2. Hello! 30 days.

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2. When selling a room in a communal apartment, the owners of other rooms have a priority right to purchase it. Is it necessary to send them an application certified by a notary if they agree to refuse to purchase it in writing (write receipts confirming their refusal to purchase the room)?

2.1. Vladimir, if you want to avoid legal disputes regarding the sale of a room in the future, then it is mandatory to send them an application certified by a notary, and after they receive this offer, you may immediately receive refusals.

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3. Please, I am selling a room in a communal apartment, the spouse of one of the owners of the room located in the same apartment wants to buy the room, do I need to take a waiver from other neighbors?

3.1. Yes, I guess what is required, as I understand your spouse, you are the owner.

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3.2. It is necessary to fulfill the requirements of Article 250 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, refusals are not needed.

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4. How much does it cost to register a refusal to purchase a room in a communal apartment from a notary?

4.1. Go to the website of any notary nearest you.

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5. How to correctly write a waiver of the pre-emptive right to purchase a room in a communal apartment.

5.1. Lyudmila, the refusal can be executed by a notary, then the text will be drawn up by a notary, or by personal submission to Rosreestr, then it will be drawn up in any form, but all essential conditions must be indicated: the subject of the agreement (this is a room, indicating the footage, code information and address) , prices, payment procedures and, if there are special conditions, then these too, for example, release dates, extracts, etc.)

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6. What is the validity period of the city’s refusal to have priority purchase of a room in a communal apartment?

6.1. The validity period for waivers of PP is not established by law, but in civil law there is such a thing as reasonable terms... In your situation, it is better not to delay too long, because, for example, some banks do not accept “old” waivers, and the buyer may ask for an update... and this is sometimes justified, since the financial situation and intentions of the “refuser” may change. I would not recommend delaying the sale for more than 6 months from the date of refusal.

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7. In August 2020, my current neighbor in a communal apartment bought a room from a neighbor through a micro-share gift agreement and a simultaneous purchase and sale agreement for the remaining shares of the room for 1.45 million rubles. The room was sold according to this scheme because... there was no refusal from me to purchase the room and there was no notarized notification of the sale of the room. Can I now challenge this transaction and transfer ownership to myself? How much will I have to pay for the room if I win the case?

7.1. It is unlikely that you will succeed. The fact is that you hopelessly missed the statute of limitations for this category of cases - 3 (three) months from the day when you learned or should have learned about the violation of your rights (in this case, about the transaction that took place). No, you can try to restore it, but the chances are microscopic. Therefore, the answer to your main question makes no sense.

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8. We are selling a room in a communal apartment, we do not yet have a waiver from the city of the pre-emptive right to purchase, the rest of the rooms are municipal. Can we already enter into an advance payment agreement with the buyer while we are waiting for the document and how can we stipulate in this agreement that we will not refuse them the purchase for reasons other than the situation if the city itself decides to buy the room? Because the Buyer requires a guarantee that we simply will not change our mind.

8.1. You need to receive a written refusal of the pre-emptive right of redemption from the second owner - DAYS. Only after receiving a written refusal, or no response to the offer within a month, can you sell the room to third parties on the same terms on which you offered to buy it DAYS.

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8.2. How to write it down: in words, that the seller is not responsible for meeting the deadline for concluding the contract, for not concluding a contract due to failure to receive the refusal of the owners of the rooms... or obtaining consent to buy out.

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9. We buy a room in a communal apartment. We have the right of first refusal. The owner did not offer us a written offer to buy the room. We agreed verbally. Now the owner's realtor wants to charge us an advance for this room. How legal is this? How can we justify our refusal to pay such an advance?

9.1. The advance is paid in pursuance of the main purchase and sale agreement. If you are planning to buy a room, there are no grounds for refusing to pay the advance.

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9.2. Hello. Justify that the (preliminary) agreement has not yet been concluded by you. It must be concluded in writing (this condition is mandatory) indicating the amount of the advance. A verbal agreement does not oblige you to pay an advance.

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10. A neighbor in a communal apartment does not sign a refusal to buy a room! She rents out her own room! The phone is not available!

10.1. Good afternoon. Send her a notarized notice of intention to sell the room with an offer to buy it. Upon delivery of your home, you can contact the tax office.

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10.2. Hello. If we are talking about waiving the right of first refusal, then send the offer by certified mail with registered receipt. Within a month after receipt, the neighbor must respond either with a refusal or accept the offer. If he refuses to receive it, wait a month from the date the letter was returned to you and make a transaction with the third-party buyer found.

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11. I am registered in a room in my mother’s communal apartment. Owner mother. I want to buy the next room. Does the seller need to take waivers from neighbors or do I have the right of first refusal?

11.1. Good afternoon If you want to buy out, then you need to take refusals; if it’s your mother, then she has the right of first refusal, because is a co-owner of the apartment.

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11.2. Ksenia, Good afternoon! Since you are only registered, but do not own property in this apartment, the seller is obliged to receive refusals. The pre-emptive right to purchase does not apply only to shared owners. However, if getting refusals is problematic, there is a way out! Send me a private message and I’ll tell you how!

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11.3. Only the owners have the right of first refusal; your mother may have this right, and not you.

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12. I want to sell a room in a communal apartment. The difficulty is that the owners of the next room are 2 minor children. Whose parents are not citizens of the Russian Federation. How can I formalize a waiver of the pre-emptive right to purchase children's data? Their mother has already signed the refusal at the notary.

12.1. Good afternoon. You will need to interact with the guardianship authorities. In your case, I advise you to contact a lawyer to properly prepare the documents.

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12.2. File a refusal through the guardianship authorities.

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13. Can neighbors write a waiver of the right to purchase a room in a communal apartment without having it certified by a notary?

13.1. They may write a refusal. More precisely, you must serve notarial notices.

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14. I want to sell my room in a communal apartment. There are 2 more owners who verbally refused to purchase the room. They don't want to go to the notary. How to correctly formalize their refusal?

14.1. Good afternoon, you need to send them an offer to sell, after the deadline you can sell it to third parties.

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15. I am selling a room in a communal apartment. One of the owners' neighbors is incapacitated and is in a penitentiary institution; there is no guardian. How can I get him to waive the right of first refusal to purchase a room?

15.1. You cannot receive such a refusal from someone incompetent; he does not evaluate his actions. Contact the guardianship authorities.

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15.2. Good afternoon From an incompetent person recognized as such according to all the rules 0 You cannot. Contact either the guardian of such a person or the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

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16. Please tell me, is it possible to formalize a waiver of the preemptive right to purchase a room in a dormitory in the FMS, the fact is that my mother owns a room in a dormitory (the status of a communal apartment) in the city of VORONEZH, AND SHE LIVES IN THE REGION IN THE CITY OF BOGUCHAR CAN SHOULD SHE REGISTER THIS WITH THE FMS of the city of Boguchar?

16.1. Julia, good afternoon! According to clause 4.2. Methodological recommendations for checking by a notary the observance of the preemptive right of purchase of a participant in shared ownership when certifying contracts for the sale of a share in the right of common ownership of real estate to an outsider, approved by the decision of the Board of the Federal Notary Chamber (Minutes No. 03/16 of March 28, 2016) by indisputable confirmation of the refusal of the participant in shared ownership property from the use of the preemptive right of purchase is the submission of a notarized waiver. Therefore, your mother needs to complete the refusal with a notary or his substitute (if there is no notary in the area).

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17. My niece is a resident of Ukraine. She received an inheritance, a room in a communal apartment in Moscow. She made a power of attorney for me to “accept the inheritance and manage all documents.” Now we want to sell this room, but we don’t know who else is registered in this apartment. One room belongs to the city and is sealed, the other is inhabited by a tenant. Question - how can I send letters of first refusal to purchase to the owners. Thank you.

17.1. You can take an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, or send it to apartments by registered mail with notification. No response is equivalent to a refusal.

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18. We are selling two rooms in a communal apartment. The neighbors have minor children. The neighbors refuse to go to the guardianship to obtain a decree, which is necessary to formalize the waiver of the pre-emptive right to purchase from a notary.

18.1. Good afternoon It's OK. The main thing is that you notified your neighbors. If your neighbors do not purchase rooms within a month and do not answer you, you still have the right to sell your rooms to third parties, on the same terms as you offered them to your neighbors.

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19. I am selling a room in a communal apartment. Besides me there are two other owners. They wrote and notarized the waiver of preemption in February 2014 and in May 2020. Will these refusals be accepted when registering a purchase and sale agreement?

19.1. No, now these failures will no longer pass; new ones are needed.

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19.2. They'll go, there's no time limit. BUT it’s better to show it directly to the notary.

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20. If a registered letter with notification sent by mail about the sale of the room arrived 3 days in advance. Edit title .And it was delivered to the addressee. And the addressee also sent a refusal by registered mail to purchase the share. Suppose I Hello. What documents are needed to submit when selling a share in a communal apartment. To the owner.

20.1. Documents are required on the basis of which you have the right of ownership of this share. A contract for the purchase and sale of a share in a real estate property (room or apartment) is subject to mandatory notarization. Contact any notary at your place of residence.

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I am looking for a sample application to the Department of Housing Policy and Housing Fund.

They live in Crimea, I am selling a room in a communal apartment, one owner cannot refuse the preemptive purchase of my share,

I am selling a room in a communal apartment. The neighbors have an owner with a child under 14 years old. What documents are needed in the Rono From Me to obtain permission to refuse a purchase?

One of the co-owners gave a notarized waiver of the pre-emptive right to purchase a share in a communal apartment.

Is it possible to sell a room in a communal apartment by gathering neighbors at the notary so that they write a waiver of the right to purchase, rather than sending registered letters?

I sent a letter notifying the addressee about the sale of a room in a communal apartment.

When selling a room in a communal apartment, is it necessary to formalize the neighbors' waiver of the right to purchase through a notary, or can you notify them yourself by telegram?

I live in a 3-room communal apartment. I occupy 1 room, it is municipal.

I am selling a room in a communal apartment. I notified the neighbors. They verbally refused the purchase.

Can I write on my own behalf a waiver of the preemptive right to purchase a room in a communal apartment,

I am selling a room in a communal apartment. The room is privatized. Besides me, there are 3 rooms in the apartment, two of which are also privatized.

About painful things. Refusals of neighbors from the pre-emptive right to purchase a room.

What does it mean?

This means that the room is not someone’s property, and therefore the state acts as the seller. The functional rights and responsibilities for the sale of vacant residential space fall on the work of the Department of Municipal Residential Space and the implementation of the housing policy program. The special city commission on the privatization of living space and on the management of the maintenance of housing stock apartments determines the cost of vacated premises in each specific case. After this, residents are notified with an offer to buy the vacant room. Persons registered at this address and permanently residing in this apartment can be approved as buyers. In this case, it does not matter who this person is in relation to the living space of the apartment - the owner of individual premises, a shared owner or a tenant of the room. Priority for purchase approval is given to those owners who need to improve their living conditions. There are other criteria for selecting applicants for living space. Disputes are resolved by court order. If among the described category of persons there were no people willing to purchase a room from an apartment in the Podolsk region, then it can be sold to anyone.

Situation 10

They wanted to sell a room in a privatized apartment, but did not have time to receive a refusal from their neighbor, as he died untimely. Now the notary confirms the purchase and sale agreement. What can you do?

The notary in this situation relies on legal grounds. The right of shared ownership together with the right of priority redemption will be inherited by his relatives. They, in turn, must register their rights before making transactions. Heirs will be able to register a neighbor’s room in their name only after six months have passed from the date of issuance of your neighbor’s death certificate. If the neighbor has no heirs, then his property is transferred to the state fund. However, this will not happen immediately, but only after the necessary time to find heirs.

This article examined the most typical cases of difficulties associated with the sale of shared ownership (rooms, apartments). However, as practice shows, there are many more disputes based on transactions with shared real estate, and the situations can be the most unclear and complex. In any case, one should not forget about the rights of neighbors who are co-owners. They have priority in selecting applicants for sale. In circumstances where the opinions and wishes of neighbors are not taken into account, the transaction may be declared invalid in court.

The cost of a room in a communal apartment or dormitory is much less compared to full-fledged separate housing, and if you correctly fill out the required documents in this case, you can get a good amount of space. But the legal side of the matter will be literally exhausting: in order to obtain permission to purchase and find a truly legal object, it will take a lot of effort and time.

Preliminary agreements – creating a favorable legal environment for the purchase

The main condition is that the purchased room must be privatized, but it is not at all necessary that the hostel as a whole or the entire communal apartment be privatized.

If the choice falls on a privatized communal apartment, you can buy a room in it only if none of the neighbors claims it. The fact is that legislative norms provide for the so-called first priority rule.

Property tax for individuals in relation to a room in a communal apartment

If the privatization of residential premises in a communal apartment was carried out by transferring into ownership of citizens a share in a communal apartment on the basis of the Decision of the Small Council of the Volgograd City Council of People's Deputies of February 16, 1993 N 3/50 and in the certificate of state registration of ownership rights as a real estate item is indicated apartment, while the right of common shared ownership is registered, then the taxation of said property is carried out in the manner established by Article 5 of Law N 2003-1, based on the total inventory value of the apartment and the tax rate corresponding to the resulting total inventory value of this apartment. At the same time, we believe it is necessary to note that in connection with the introduction of regulatory legal acts on the privatization of residential premises in the city.

Communal apartment: how to quickly and correctly sell a room

It lies in the fact that when the owner of space in a communal apartment wants to sell this real estate, the neighbors can buy it first.

An outsider can enter into a transaction only if the neighbors have written a notarized refusal to purchase. If you try to purchase real estate in circumvention of this rule, neighbors may go to court and force the deal to be annulled.

What to do if the property is not privatized?

If a potential buyer decides to pay attention to a privatized room, which is part of a non-privatized communal apartment or dormitory, the legal registration of the sale and purchase will be complicated. In this case, the property owners will be the city authorities, and all issues regarding the transaction will have to be resolved with them, naturally, after receiving the appropriate permission from the neighbors. Thus, the Kashirskoe hostel or any other, theoretically, may well be a good option for purchasing budget housing, but you will have to be patient - this deal cannot be finalized quickly.

There is another, not at all common, option, and its legality is still the subject of debate - the acquisition of non-privatized space in a non-privatized communal apartment. In principle, it can be purchased from the local city administration, but in order for the newly-minted owner to have the right to sell or exchange it in the future, the room will need to be privatized, which also leads to additional time and financial costs.

Is it possible to take out a mortgage to buy a room?

There is a minimal range of bank mortgage programs here; the buyer has practically nothing to choose from. Financial institutions are already reluctant to issue such loans, and if the housing has poor-quality communications, wooden floors and lacks the required amenities, the mortgage will most likely be denied.

In this case, many people take out non-targeted loans secured by property, and this method is acceptable if there is another movable or immovable object that is of interest to the bank, but you need to keep in mind that the interest on the loan will be extortionate. If the hostel was once a service building, you need to make sure that it has been transferred to the residential category, and find out if the property has any encumbrances or restrictions.

The legal side of the transaction to purchase a room in a communal apartment or hostel, unfortunately, has not yet been fully thought out by the legislator; the process is complex and labor-intensive. Provided that, in principle, the decision of purchase and sale formalities falls on the shoulders of the seller, the buyer will still have to carefully double-check all the documents provided - it is better to entrust this to an experienced lawyer.

How to sell a room in a communal apartment? This question arises for anyone who at one time invested in real estate in this way and for those who have a room as a result of privatization. I’ll say right away - from January 1, 2020, this will be even more difficult and more expensive to do than before.

According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 250), in the event of the sale of a share in real estate or a room in a communal apartment, your neighbors have the right of first refusal. That is, first of all, you must offer to buy them.

The state assumes that in this way the number of communal apartments should naturally decrease. But so far it’s not working out very well. And primarily because it is usually impossible to come to an agreement with neighbors. For some reason they want to buy much cheaper...

So, what do you need to do to sell your room to a stranger (not your neighbors)?

Transactions with communal apartments

Chapter 2. Real estate transactions - what are they?

Ownership rights to the apartment are transferred from the seller to the buyer during the transaction. Usually we talk about a purchase and sale

apartments, but there are many more types of transactions. Let us list the main types of real estate transactions.

When there are only two parties involved in a transaction - the seller and the buyer, it is called direct.

But not too many such transactions take place in St. Petersburg.
The majority of buyers seek to improve their living conditions by selling their old apartment and buying another, usually larger one. The seller, in turn, can refuse a large apartment and move to a smaller one. These types of transactions fall under the category of exchanges.
Exchanges can be
equivalent
when people move from one area to another into identical apartments.
However, it would be more correct to say at the same cost, since even identical apartments located in the same types of houses cost differently in different areas. If one of the exchange participants pays extra to the other, an exchange transaction with an additional payment is obtained.
It is transactions of this kind that prevail on the St. Petersburg market.

This is important to know: Animals in a communal apartment

A lot of “exchange” buyers come to real estate agencies, and each one has a relatively small amount of money, which is just enough to pay the difference between the cost of the old and new apartment. Therefore, realtors have learned to create so-called “chains”.

Citizen A. sells his one-room apartment, pays extra and moves to a two-room apartment. Citizen B. leaves his two-room apartment (to which A. will move) and dreams of a three-room apartment - of course, with an additional payment. Family V., who occupies a three-room apartment, is going to move into two one-room apartments. We already have one in our “chain”. All that remains is to find a seller who only wants to sell, but will not buy anything. At least not now. Or a buyer who will move the chain forward with “real” money. This is the most primitive “chain”, with a minimum number of participants. A realtor must “unite” many more people and objects. All contracts are signed and money is transferred on the same day. All participants in the “chain,” without exception, gather under the door of the notary’s office. If at least one “link” of this “chain” changes its mind at the last moment about selling or buying an apartment (it’s not a fact that this will be an ordinary whim or stubbornness, the circumstances are different), the entire deal, painstakingly put together over months, will fall apart. Therefore, when participating in a “chain,” you never know in advance where to “lay the straws.”

One of the types of exchange transactions is long-distance exchange.

This can be done by agencies that either have branches in different cities or enter into cooperation agreements with local companies. Of course, such transactions are convenient for clients, since they do not have to waste time and money on travel. The seller (or buyer) contacts the agency branch in his city, and the selection of an apartment in another city occurs remotely, that is, agency employees accompany the transaction in two cities at once. In intercity transactions, the role of a real estate agency increases enormously, since realtors coordinate the work of insurers, banks, appraisers, and counterparties in two cities at once. (See the transaction diagram for the technology of the MIEL holding in Chapter 5.)

Quite a lot of transactions are taking place, which in real estate slang are called “alternatives” (sale and alternative purchase).

In this transaction, the client first acts as a seller and then as a buyer. While a typical sales transaction may involve two real estate agencies (one with the seller, the other with the buyer), “alternatives” typically take place at the same agency. For alternative transactions, realtors have developed a special form of service agreement: it is important that the sale and purchase occur simultaneously. At a time when prices are rising rapidly, any delay means that the proceeds will be used to buy less comfortable housing than originally expected. If an alternative agreement is concluded, the person will not end up on the street.

There are an unprecedented number of communal apartments in St. Petersburg. The people who live in them naturally want to move to separate apartments, but for this they need someone (the city administration or a private investor) to resettle the communal apartments.

Settlement

The first communal apartments and even entire houses occurred back in the early 90s. Real estate agencies distributed communal apartments at the request of clients who wanted to live in large areas in the city center. By the end of the 90s, such requests became difficult to satisfy, since the most interesting apartments had already become private property, and people with large sums of money did not want to live in the second or third courtyards of even Nevsky Prospekt.

The resettlement of “communal apartments” continues even now, only for other reasons. Houses that are undergoing reconstruction are being resettled: the city has adopted a program for the resettlement of emergency housing stock (and these are mainly communal apartments) and the reconstruction of neighborhoods built with houses of the first mass series (“Khrushchev-era” buildings that will be demolished).

Relocation is a complex and exciting procedure not only for realtors, but also for the residents of the communal apartment themselves. Imagine that 8-10 families live in an apartment. They get the opportunity to improve their living conditions at the buyer’s expense, and move away so that they no longer have to meet unpleasant neighbors in the kitchen in the morning.

For current residents of communal apartments, two points are especially important. Firstly, no resettlement will be possible if at least one inhabitant of the apartment does not agree to move or changes his mind, no matter at what stage. Secondly, a private person who decided to buy this apartment is ready to pay a certain amount of money for it. If the residents' appetites significantly exceed the planned amount, the buyer may refuse to purchase this particular apartment, and realtors will find him another one. We must not forget that the buyer still has to spend money on expensive repairs.

This is important to know: Requirements for non-residential premises in an apartment building: standards

As a result of resettlement, each resident of a communal apartment has a chance to move to an apartment that he likes, receive monetary compensation or a smaller area with an additional payment. Sometimes resettlement is the only opportunity for a large family of several generations to move to different apartments. Residents, as a rule, demand apartments with better conditions than those in which they found themselves before moving in. This concerns, first of all, the area of ​​housing. In addition, many do not want to move to a different area or to new homes. Usually, resettlement requires 3–4 times more square meters than is available in the old apartment. It’s good if the potential buyer is ready for this.

Tax on property transferred to individuals by inheritance

Tax on property transferred to individuals as a gift

Since there are no noticeably fewer communal apartments, it is possible to buy a room in a shared apartment, that is, buy a share in a communal apartment. Each resident of a communal apartment has not only the right of ownership of the room in which he lives, but also a share in the remaining common areas: kitchen, bathroom, etc. The share depends on the area of ​​the room: the more square meters the resident owns, the more his share in the common property. To sell a share in the common property, the consent of all co-owners is required. In addition, neighbors have a priority right to purchase a room. That is, the seller must first offer his room to them and only then, after a month, if all the neighbors refuse, can he put his share up for sale. The share of rooms reaches 20% of the total supply.

The apartment can also be transferred into ownership under a gift agreement

and
by inheritance.
Naturally, when a person gives an apartment as a gift, we are not talking about money, especially if we are talking about relatives. However, such a transaction must be completed with the participation of a notary. And you still have to pay tax.

Option 1

• Having already decided on the price of the room and the terms of sale, you need to officially (preferably through a notary) offer to buy it to your neighbors.
• The notary notifies neighbors of your proposal and records their responses. It happens (rarely) that neighbors are ready to come to a notary and write a refusal to purchase. But most often you have to wait a month. Moreover, a month from the date of receipt of the notice of sale. What is very difficult to do is that the neighbors put a spoke in the wheels and avoid receiving it in every possible way.

Tip : If you bought a room as an investment, try to establish relationships with all your neighbors. It will be too late to do this for resale.

• After a month has passed from the moment all neighbors receive an offer to purchase a room, the notary sums up the results. If none of them has expressed a desire to buy the room on your terms, you can sell it to a third-party buyer.

Advice : If relations with your neighbors are no longer going well, you should not warn them that a notice of purchase is due. This way, you have a chance that your neighbors will immediately receive the document, rather than having to run and hide from the postman.

• From January 1, 2020, transactions for the sale of a room to a third-party buyer (not neighbors) must be carried out through a notary. Before this, they could be done in simple written form, but now it won’t work. This, of course, is an additional expense for notary services, which needs to be discussed in advance with the potential buyer.

Tip : To send offers to buy a room to your neighbors, choose the same notary through whom you will conduct the purchase and sale transaction. This way you will avoid additional costs and additional unnecessary steps.

Required documents

• Certificate of ownership or extract from the Unified State Register. You can receive an extract from the territorial office of the MFC 7 days before the date of the transaction. In case of problems with obtaining it, our specialists will help resolve this issue.
• The basis document is a purchase and sale agreement, privatization or other.
• Technical and cadastral passport.
• Extract from personal account and house register.
• Waiver of the pre-emptive right of purchase from the remaining owners.