Double sales of apartments in a house under construction

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03/05/2011
ON THE FACTS OF DOUBLE SALES APARTMENTS IN A BUILDING HOUSE CRIMINAL CASE LAUNCHED

The prosecutor's office of the Moscow region of St. Petersburg conducted an audit of the implementation of the current legislation on the shared construction market of LLC Stroy-Soyuz at a construction site located East of Yury Gagarin Avenue, ul. Ordzhonikidze, between houses No. 59 and 63 (east of house No. 59 on Ordzhonikidze St.).

During the audit, as well as the results of the meeting of the working group at the district prosecutor's office to coordinate activities in the field of counteracting violations of the law in the shared construction market, facts of double sales of apartments at the construction site were revealed.

It was established that in March 2010 the management of Stroy-Soyuz LLC concluded a contract with a woman for the participation in the construction of a residential building in the amount of more than 4 million rubles. However, the company, having received the money, did not intend to fulfill its obligations.

Based on the results of the audit, the district prosecutor's office sent materials demanding to initiate a criminal case on the fact of double sale of apartments in the SU at the Department of Internal Affairs in the Moscow district of St. Petersburg. Having studied the materials, the investigating authorities opened a criminal case under part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud committed on an especially large scale).

Currently, investigative actions and operational-search measures aimed at identifying other affected citizens are being carried out in the criminal case.

Source: https://www.prokuratura.sp.ru/news.html? ... 11/03/05/2

 

[Матушкин Андрей Николаевич]

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How to avoid cheating when making a deal

Preparing and conducting a real estate transaction is a special period in a person’s life. At this time, his mind is usually overloaded with information, and feelings (from the joyful anticipation of a housewarming to the fear of doing something wrong) prevent him from thinking soberly.

Unfortunately, scammers often use this - both small ones who are ready to wedge themselves into the process at some stage of the transaction and snatch their tens or even hundreds of thousands, and large ones who plan to take over the entire apartment.

Another person
Nobody knows how many real scams are made on the real estate market in St. Petersburg. Many victims, if they were "thrown" for a relatively small amount, prefer to forget about the incident and continue the transaction, trying not to step on the same rake. However, a general idea can be made on the basis of statistics from the Office of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography of St. Petersburg (the former Fed). So, in 2010, the Office received more than four thousand documents on arresting real estate, almost two thousand messages from law enforcement agencies about inspections, investigation of criminal cases related to real estate, and almost three thousand requests from individuals and legal entities to suspend state registration of rights.
Often, state bodies themselves suspend registration - after checking submitted contracts and powers of attorney, certificates of inheritance, court decisions.

The identity of the applicant is also verified. “Once we received an apartment purchase and sale agreement in simple written form for us,” says Olga Kolobanova, deputy head of the arrest and prohibition registration department of the Rosreestr Department for St. Petersburg. - A photocopy of the passport of the seller of the apartment was presented in the package of documents. When comparing it with a copy available in the DPD (legal documents - Ed.), It turned out that the photos of the owner on them do not match. Then we sent a request to the Federal Migration Service and received a response: the signature and photograph on the submitted copy differed from those in the application for the issuance of a passport. That is, fake documents were submitted for registration. ”

In addition to passports, contracts, powers of attorney, certificates of inheritance, court decisions are also forged. Upon detection of fake, the registration authorities send notifications to the Prosecutor's Office and the Main Department of Internal Affairs of St. Petersburg. They conduct an audit and, if there is a crime, start a business. In 2010, the St. Petersburg Rosreestr sent about 70 such letters.

Pension or apartment?
Fraudsters are looking for a weak link. For this reason, pensioners, people with mental disabilities, drinking, etc. , President of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Real Estate. “For example, the pensioner is promised an increase in the pension, and on the pretext that they need to submit documents to the appropriate authorities, they receive a legal documents and a power of attorney.”

“Once a grandmother came to us, around whom several people curled. The receptionist suspected something was amiss and asked about the purpose of her visit. As it turned out, she was told that now there is a new procedure for receiving a pension and some papers need to be signed. And she had to sign an application for registration of a donation agreement for her apartment in simple written form. Fraudsters were detained, ”Olga Kolobanova shared the real story.

There is no turning back
Sometimes registrars have to rescue quite capable citizens from trouble. So, one citizen came to the Office of Rosreestr with a contract of donation of his only apartment to a new friend. When receiving documents, he was asked where he was going to live in the future. “How - where,” he was surprised, “in this apartment, but I am registered here ...”. This person did not understand that, having presented an apartment, he loses not only the right of ownership, but also the right to reside in it. And the new owner, if desired, can then "write" it to nowhere.

“If a fraudster forged documents or a deal was made with a mentally unhealthy person, it is possible to rectify the situation in court. But if a fully capable person himself, with his own hand, signed an agreement, unfortunately, there is no turning back, ”says Alexander Petrenko, lawyer, deputy head of AF YURINFORM CENTER. He gives a recent example. The criminals kept a drinker, albeit a completely mentally healthy person. Processing it, they continued to solder. As a result, he signed the sales contracts of two apartments, confirmed the receipt of money, and signed a power of attorney for registration with a notary. It is now impossible to recognize the deal as illegal - the signature on the documents is genuine, to prove that a person has been drunk all this time, it is impossible, finally, any examination recognizes him as capable. We must not forget about the second point: these apartments now have bona fide purchasers. What to do with their legal right?

Today there is no real mechanism to protect poorly protected categories of citizens from fraudsters. It remains to rely on the "registration filter", which, fortunately, works for us. “Some time ago, a senior citizen disappeared. His sister wrote a statement to the police, a search case was opened, and the police informed our administration about this, ”says Olga Kolobanova. - At the same time, we received a contract of sale of his apartment in simple written form, submitted by an authorized person. The power of attorney for the delivery of documents was notarized in the Leningrad region. We suspended the registration and demanded the personal presence of the seller. The swindlers who abducted the owner of the apartment kept him alive in case of complications in the preparation of documents. Law enforcement agencies were warned, and the seller and accompanying persons were tracked, the prisoner released, and the fraudsters detained. The released apartment owner said that he had no intention of selling it, and that he had been forcibly held in the Leningrad Region for several months. ” Happy end, but he is not too happy: in general, the situation with protecting the interests of people at risk remains difficult.

Take and hide
Cases where criminals take possession of a victim’s apartment occur from time to time, but, of course, not as often as during the emergence of the Russian real estate market. Much more now in the market of small scams, the initiators of which often manage to evade responsibility.

The most common freebie scams. A potential buyer is offered an object at a super low price, which in fact does not belong to the seller. In the wake of euphoria, the client makes an advance payment, and then loses all connection with the other side - a similar scheme applies to the rental market, says Dmitry Schegelsky and adds: “As a rule, people who seek real estate on their own, without a professional representative, become victims of such scams.”

Often, scammers attract their victims not only at outstanding prices, but also with the brand of a company known in the market. So, in February of this year, two guests of the Northern capital were deceived. Internet advertising led them to “specialists” who introduced themselves as employees of the Ithaca real estate agency. Having signed a lease agreement and paid a rather large amount in advance to the false realtors, clients found at the address indicated in the contract, not an elite apartment with a view of historical sights, but a commercial premises closed for repair. To get in touch with the "realtors" at that time was no longer possible. In another case, an agency unreasonably posed as an official partner of Ithaca. Receiving advances for dubious mediation services, they promised to pass on customer requests to Ithaka Academy professionals. None of these promises were fulfilled either, says Elena Ledovskaya, sales director of Ithaca.

The conclusion suggests itself: in order to avoid fraud, both large and small, you need not to be gullible, not spare money for lawyers, use the services of real, not imaginary, realtors. And, perhaps ... to start a large family, because loners at our risk.

In conclusion, we add that the topic of fraud in the real estate market will be discussed in detail on March 17, 2011 at the seminar "Risks in the purchase of finished and under construction housing and how to avoid them." It will be held as part of the Housing Project exhibition and seminar at the Baltic House Theater.

How to avoid fraud during the transaction (prepared by the specialists of the Office of Rosreestr in St. Petersburg):

Signing a contract of sale or donation of an apartment in simple written form only if you are legally competent and understand all the subtleties available here.

Do not save money and seek advice from a lawyer or notary. They will explain to you the essence of the transaction and all the consequences that will come after its conclusion, will help to draw up a contract in which all your interests will be taken into account.

Do not give documents and passports to people you do not know well, do not draw up a general power of attorney. And when issuing a power of attorney, indicate what specific powers you assign to your attorney. If for some reason you no longer trust him, you must immediately contact the notary with a statement about the cancellation of the power of attorney and submit to the Rosreestr Office a notary's certificate about its cancellation.

If you are a buyer, then you should not give money until you receive a certificate of ownership of real estate in Rosreestr.

If you have lost your passport, any documents or certificate of ownership of the apartment or have been stolen from you, you must immediately apply not only to the police, but also to the Rosreestr Office. This will exclude possible fraudulent activities with your apartment.