The lawyer named the main risks when buying a second home

Buying an apartment with a document check does not always guarantee that the new owner will keep the house. Even a bona fide buyer may face the risk of losing real estate if it turns out that the transaction was carried out with violations or the seller did not have the right to dispose of the apartment. ""On September 16, " "Izvestia" was told by Sergey Minaev, a trial lawyer and managing partner of the Absolem law firm, in which cases the buyer is left without protection and how to reduce the risks of the transaction.

According to the expert, the concept of good faith does not work in all real estate disputes. It all depends on the basis on which the former owner or other interested parties are trying to challenge the deal.

"In a general sense, good faith means the behavior of the owner, taking into account the rights and legitimate interests of the other party. There is a special criterion for the buyer: he did not know and could not have known that the seller had no right to alienate the property. This criterion works in lawsuits about the owner's claim of an apartment from a buyer who purchased it from a person who did not have the right to sell," Minaev explained.

However, in a situation where the apartment was removed from the ownership of the original owner without his will, for example, due to forgery of documents, the buyer's good faith does not always allow to save housing.

Another risk for buyers is the bankruptcy of the seller. According to the lawyer, they may try to challenge the deal if the apartment was sold at a significantly reduced price or without confirmation of payment. In this case, it is not necessary to prove that the buyer acted in bad faith.

Documents confirming the market value of the property and the reality of the payment can protect the new owner. Also important is the lack of information about the seller's problems at the time of the transaction.

How to protect yourself when buying an apartment on the secondary market. Analysis

Certain risks arise in disputes over inheritance. According to Minaev, if the heir's rights to the apartment have been challenged, the integrity of the new owner may be taken into account when considering the claims. In such cases, the new heir may demand compensation for the value of the property, rather than the automatic return of the apartment from the buyer.

At the same time, good faith is not a defense in all cases of invalidation of the purchase agreement. For example, a transaction may be cancelled if it is proven that the seller did not understand the significance of his actions at the time of signing the contract.

The lawyer paid special attention to cases when sellers claim to be victims of fraud. According to the expert, one statement of fraud is not enough to automatically cancel the transaction and return the apartment.

"In the high–profile "Dolinoy - Lurie" case, the Supreme Court pointed out that one should not confuse the grounds of invalidity and automatically return housing to any victim of fraud only on the basis of the seller's statement about deception. The only applicable reason is temporary incapacity, which must be confirmed by a psychiatric examination," Minaev said.

According to the lawyer, buyers often confuse good faith and discretion. The first means that there is no knowledge of violations on the part of the seller, and the second is related to how thoroughly the person checked the object and circumstances of the transaction.

To reduce the risks, the expert recommends studying the history of the apartment and the documents confirming ownership in advance. An additional measure of protection, according to him, may be the passage of a psychological and psychiatric examination by the seller directly on the day of the transaction.

On August 26, Artur Martirosyan, the founder of "ART GROUP" Group, said that the remote purchase of real estate allows you to get a mortgage, sign a contract and register ownership without the personal presence of the buyer and seller. According to him, this format has already become widespread in the primary market: up to 90% of transactions with new buildings are executed remotely. So, instead of several trips, a buyer from another region may now only need a visit to receive a finished apartment.