Real estate can now be seized on a signal of misuse

On September 1, amendments to the Civil Code came into force in Russia, regulating the right of ownership of real estate. In particular, according to the new rules, the state can initiate the forced purchase of residential and non-residential premises in case of their misuse. In other words, the owner of a residential apartment may lose it for organizing a hostel, and the owners of garages may lose them for setting up a warehouse or business there. The first step in this procedure should be a complaint from the neighbors.

In the Civil Code, two chapters appeared at once, devoted to the peculiarities of the legal regime of immovable things (this is the name in the code of residential and non-residential buildings, premises and, in general, any real estate objects). In particular, from September 1 of this year, the use of real estate for other purposes, as well as in violation of the rights of owners of other premises located in the same building, may entail the forced sale of the object through public auction.

In other words, you can lose your property for turning a residential building or apartment into a hostel or an industrial site (the option “I also sew and stamp rubber products a little on the machine”, as well as cryptocurrency mining). But there is one good news for this bad news for strong owners: the property will not be taken away right away, for a start they will issue a warning. And one ambiguous one: the procedure for checking private houses, apartments, garages and sheds will be launched almost exclusively at the “signal” of neighbors who are disturbed by something.

Law without details

So, two new chapters appeared in the Civil Code: 141 – “Immovable things” and 287 – “Property rights and other real rights to buildings, structures, objects of construction in progress, premises and parking spaces.” The first of them contains the definition of premises and regulates the options for their legal formation. But the regime of “sanctions” for misuse is contained in Article 287.

The fundamental quote is as follows (Article 287.4, paragraph 1): “The owner of the premises, parking spaces owns, uses and disposes of the premises, parking spaces belonging to him in accordance with their purpose. The owner of the premises, parking spaces is not entitled to use them in ways that violate the rights and legally protected interests of the owners of other premises, parking spaces located in the same building, structure.

The same article (paragraph 3) once again confirms that it is not allowed to do anything in a residential building (private house, apartment) except for the actual “residence of citizens”, without transferring this premises to the category of non-residential.

Sanctions come (Article 287.7) if “the owner of the premises uses it for other purposes, systematically violates the rights and interests of neighbors, or carelessly maintains the premises, allowing its destruction.” Then the state or municipal body – in other words, the local authorities – can “warn the owner of the need to eliminate the violations” (if we are talking about repairing the “ruins” – they will give a commensurate period for its implementation).

For those who do not heed the warning and continue to misuse (or violate the rights and interests of neighbors) or do not make repairs without good reason, a judicial procedure is launched, again initiated by the local authorities. The court is not obliged, but “may decide to sell such premises at public auction with payment to the owner of the proceeds from the sale, minus the costs of enforcement of the judgment.” It is especially emphasized that all these rules apply to parking spaces.

As you can see, the law is quite in line with the Russian legal tradition, “framework”: what is misuse and what may be a violation of the rights and interests of neighbors, will be determined by by-laws. In addition, the freedom of maneuver is left for local authorities (they may fight against such phenomena, but are not obliged to) and the courts (they may decide to sell at auction, or they may not).

Who to be afraid

But what is very atypical for the Russian legislative system is the acceleration of the entry into force of the law: instead of September 2023, we have new articles in action now. Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation, motivated this by “the current difficult economic situation in the country.”

Innovations fall on the already existing judicial practice: in many regions, not excluding Moscow, there have been and are ongoing litigations between the owners of real estate and local authorities or the administration of residential and garage complexes. Their subject, as a rule, is the “creative” use by property owners of their properties for income.

For residential apartments that have not been converted to non-residential stock, these are, of course, hostels (in individual development zones – guest houses) as a way to make money on tourists and non-resident workers. For garages, boathouses and sheds, the choice of “role” is much wider: from the same self-made hotel (this is loved by residents of coastal cities) to tire shops, car services and even mini-factories. And, of course, warehouses of everything.

Often, even before legislative innovations, litigation ended in the defeat of property owners: the court ordered to liquidate the hostel, “squatter” or hazing activities in the territories of the GSK. Now, apparently, it will be easier for the courts to make such decisions: the Civil Code offers a standard mechanism for this.

“The main consequence of this innovation is the expansion of mutual influence of neighbors on each other,” comments lawyer Alexei Golubev. – First of all, we are talking about neighbors in GSK, SNT and apartment buildings: the residents, as well as the boards and councils of the house, have a real lever of influence on those who interfere with them. For example, the incident with the breeding of chickens in a garden plot: this is an inappropriate use, and now a complaint to the authorities against such a neighbor may threaten not with an abstract order from the court, but with deprivation of property. At the same time, neighbors in the private sector in rural areas also received such leverage: infringement of their rights will not in itself be the reason for the seizure, but they can draw the attention of the authorities to the use of the house or garage for other purposes.

According to the lawyer, in real life, the question of what can and cannot be done at the site will still be decided more or less informally in most regions. However, doing “anything you want” on your territory, ignoring the local community and authorities, will be much more difficult.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28862 dated September 6, 2022

Newspaper headline:
Own garage in the hands of a neighbor