Is it possible and how to cancel the privatization of an apartment?

A housing privatization agreement concluded in violation of someone’s rights can be challenged and cancelled .

In this case, the apartment is returned to the state with the possibility of a repeat transaction in accordance with the Law. How is the privatization of an apartment cancelled?

Read about where you can find out whether an apartment has been privatized, as well as the terms of free privatization on our website.

Conditions for declaring illegal

Privatization is considered illegal and is subject to cancellation on the following grounds:

1. The transaction did not involve a person registered in the apartment at the time the contract was concluded and who had not previously taken part in privatization. If there was no voluntary refusal to participate in the process, the citizen can be included in a new agreement and receive a share in the apartment.
2. Some of the persons listed in the agreement had previously participated in privatization, and this fact was hidden by them when signing the document.
3. Forged documents were used in privatization.
4. Infringement of the rights of a minor citizen by not including him among the persons participating in the process.
5. When establishing the fact that a person is in an inadequate state, misleading him, signing an agreement under pressure or under the influence of threats.
6. Incapacity of any person involved in privatization.
7. Exceeding the powers of a person holding a power of attorney.
8. Lack of authority on the part of the owner of the institution that concluded the contract.

begin the process of challenging privatization by filing a lawsuit in court if at least one of the listed conditions is present. The regulations for carrying out this procedure are contained in Article 209 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Article 9.1 of the Law “On the privatization of housing stock...”.

Civil Code of the Russian Federation Article 209. Contents of property rights

1. The owner has the rights to own, use and dispose of his property.
2. The owner has the right, at his own discretion, to take 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 rights possession, use and disposal of property, pledge property and encumber it in other ways, dispose of it in any other way.
3. Possession, use and disposal of land and other natural resources, to the extent that their circulation is permitted by law (Article 129), is carried out by their owner freely, if this does not cause damage to the environment and does not violate the rights and legitimate interests of other persons.
4. The owner can transfer his property into trust management to another person (trustee). The transfer of property into trust management does not entail the transfer of ownership rights to the trustee, who is obliged to manage the property in the interests of the owner or a third party specified by him.

Law “On the privatization of housing stock in the Russian Federation” Article 9.1.

Citizens who have privatized residential premises, which are their only place of permanent residence, have the right to transfer the residential premises belonging to them by right of ownership and free from obligations into state or municipal ownership, and the relevant executive authorities, local government bodies or persons authorized by them are obliged to accept them into property and conclude social rental agreements for these residential premises with these citizens in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation and the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, regulatory legal acts of local governments of the relevant municipalities.

Find out from our articles where to start privatizing an apartment, who is best to privatize, whether it is possible to privatize an apartment with debts, as well as if the order is lost, and in what cases a refusal may be received.

Initiators of cancellation

How to sue a privatized apartment? Individuals and government bodies can challenge the conclusion of an agreement . The following may file a claim in court:

• persons whose interests are violated by an illegal transaction;
• representatives of persons whose rights have been violated;
• state regulatory authorities (guardianship departments, prosecutor's office, Housing Inspectorate, etc.);
• local government bodies, which previously owned residential premises.

Particular attention should be paid to situations where privatization agreements are challenged by regulatory authorities or legal entities .

According to the privatization document, real estate is transferred free of charge from one owner to another. In this regard, the party transferring the property must have the right to dispose of it .

The following have the right to conclude agreements on behalf of legal entities:

• local government bodies;
• state unitary enterprises;
• municipal unitary enterprises;
• various organizations and departments on whose balance sheet the building is located.

The person signing the agreement must have the authority secured by orders, orders, resolutions or other documents confirming the ability to enter into real estate transactions.

Particular care should be taken when registering ownership of departmental and official housing and real estate on the balance sheet of state unitary enterprises and municipal unitary enterprises.

• The apartment to be registered as a property must be included in the list of buildings that are subject to privatization.
• Read our articles about the peculiarities of the privatization of cooperative apartments, as well as military housing.
• Is it possible to challenge the privatization of an apartment?

Challenging algorithm

Therefore, challenging it is a requirement to cancel the transaction, that is, a ban on the illegal acquisition of property by any person.

If a citizen believes that the contract has grounds for its cancellation, he must declare this, attaching relevant evidence .

How to challenge the privatization of an apartment? First of all, you need to decide on the subject of the claim filed in court. Having decided on this issue, you should file a claim at the defendant’s place of residence.

The statement of claim must contain the following points:

1. 1. “Caption” containing the name of the judicial authority and information about the applicant.
   2. Title – indicates the subject of the claim.
   3. Statement of the essence of the claim with a description of the circumstances of the case. In this part, it is necessary to indicate the grounds for challenging the transaction with references to the violated norms of the law.
   4. A list of the consequences of the illegal transaction of illegal privatization of the apartment.
   5. Request for recognition of the privatization agreement as invalid. This paragraph should begin with the words “please,” located in the center of the sheet.

Your demands should be supported by the rules of the law that were violated during the transaction.

1. List of supporting evidence for the application.
2. Applicant's signature, date.

The date on the application must match the one that appears on the list of incoming documents in court.

You can find out whether it is possible to privatize a room in a communal apartment, a dormitory, or a share in an apartment from our articles.

What happens after?

If the court finds the claim to cancel privatization justified and accepts the evidence presented, the transaction will be declared invalid (Article 167 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

After the privatization of the apartment is declared invalid, it will again become the property of the state, and the owners will become tenants .

However, the court does not always decide to completely cancel the privatization agreement. Often in the process of considering cases, the court concludes that the contract does not meet all the requirements and that it needs to be re-signed.

This outcome of the case arises when the applicant demands to be included among the owners of the premises . The court makes a decision to amend the contract, which is not canceled, but renegotiated on new terms.

Having received a court ruling (after 10-14 days), the former owners will have to contact the local government and enter into a new social tenancy agreement . Moreover, if there are persons who were illegally evicted from the apartment, their registration must be restored.

After the privatization agreement is declared invalid, persons who previously participated in it have the opportunity to again exercise their rights. Under these conditions, they can participate in the free re-privatization of this living space. An agreement can be concluded only if the violations that served as the basis for challenging the transaction are eliminated.

You can learn about how to achieve recognition of property rights through the court from our article.

Changing the terms of the concluded agreement

How to change the conditions for privatization of an apartment? There are cases when complete invalidation of a privatization agreement is not required. There is only a need to change some of its points. In this case, the contract is recognized as partially invalid and requires re-conclusion with amendments made to it.

The reasons for declaring a contract partially invalid and making amendments to it may be the following:

1. Exclusion from the list of owners of any person who wishes to privatize another premises in the future.
2. Inclusion in the list of owners of a person who previously signed a waiver of privatization.
3. Making corrections to incorrectly completed entries.
4. Entering information about the distribution of shares, if until this moment the apartment was registered as joint ownership.

Is it possible to change the privatization of an apartment? In such cases, it is permissible to resolve the issue at the administration level, without involving the judiciary .

Exceptions are those cases when the organizations that own the premises are liquidated and it is not possible to renew the contract with them. In this case, the contract can be partially changed only through the court .

To partially change the terms of the contract, all parties to the transaction must submit an application to the authorities that executed the contract. Previously prepared document. It is canceled and a new deal is concluded with amendments . The parties again go through the procedure of signing the agreement, then the previously issued Certificates are “cancelled” in Rosreestr and new title documents are drawn up.

Time limits for challenging a contract

What is the statute of limitations for housing privatization? When is it permissible to challenge a contract? Regarding the issue of the limitation period for challenging a privatization agreement, an important point should be taken into account.

The calculation of the period begins not from the moment of execution of a void transaction, but from the time when the interested party became aware of the violation of his rights .

At the same time, the statute of limitations for the privatization of an apartment for a person who is not a party to the transaction should not exceed 10 years from the beginning of its execution.

If the opposing party does not file a motion to skip the limitation period , the contract can be terminated without taking into account the statute of limitations. In exceptional cases, the court may recognize the reason for missing the deadline as valid and consider the case after three years.

Civil Code of the Russian Federation Article 181. Limitation periods for invalid transactions

1. The limitation period for claims to apply the consequences of the invalidity of a void transaction and to declare such a transaction invalid (clause 3 of Article 166) is three years. The limitation period for these claims begins from the day when the execution of a void transaction began, and in the event of a claim being brought by a person who is not a party to the transaction, from the day when this person learned or should have known about the beginning of its execution. In this case, the limitation period for a person who is not a party to the transaction, in any case, cannot exceed ten years from the date of commencement of execution of the transaction.
2. The limitation period for a claim to declare a voidable transaction invalid and to apply the consequences of its invalidity is one year. The limitation period for the said claim begins from the day the violence or threat under the influence of which the transaction was concluded ceases (clause 1 of Article 179), or from the day when the plaintiff learned or should have learned about other circumstances that are the basis for declaring the transaction invalid.

Such circumstances may be associated with the plaintiff’s personality: illness, illiteracy, helpless state, being in a prison camp, the need to care for a sick relative, the death of a loved one and the associated psychological state, military service, etc.

The reasons for absence are recognized by the court if they occurred in the last six months and are equal to no more than six months.

In order for the court to take into account valid reasons, it is necessary to submit a separate application to the court indicating the circumstances under which the person became aware of the conclusion of a privatization agreement in violation of his rights and indicate valid reasons why he did not become aware of this fact earlier.

This application must be accompanied by the relevant supporting documents: a certificate from the hospital, an extract from the medical history, a certificate of release from the MLS, etc.

How to stop privatization?

Until the privatization agreement is signed, it is not considered concluded and may be canceled or suspended.

The reasons for suspending the execution of a contract may be the following:

• registration of marriage by one of those registered in the apartment;
• birth of a child;
• death of one of the parties to the transaction.

These facts lead to the fact that the number of owners of the premises changes, therefore, it is necessary to draw up a new privatization agreement in connection with the changed circumstances.

In addition, the final execution of the contract may be suspended due to the serious illness of any participant. In this case, the signing of the document is postponed until the person recovers.

How to cancel the privatization of an apartment? To suspend the process, you must submit an application to the authorities formalizing the transaction with a written statement justifying the reasons .

The reason for stopping the process may be a decision of the state registrar. He may refuse finalization if there are doubts about the authenticity of the documents or the legality of the transaction, or due to the absence of any of them.

The process of completing a privatization transaction can be suspended for a period of no more than three months . After this time, the parties to the transaction are denied registration. The package of documents will need to be collected again and a new application for privatization of the apartment must be submitted.

The ability to defend one's rights is necessary for every citizen. If your rights are violated during the privatization of housing, feel free to go to court . Even after a privatized apartment is illegally sold, you can cancel the property registration agreement and receive your share in the property.

How to stop and is it possible to challenge the privatization of an apartment?

What to do if your rights were infringed during the privatization process? Is it possible to cancel a real estate transfer agreement? What is needed for this? In this article we will briefly answer these important questions.

Who can argue?

Several parties may doubt the legality of an agreement on the gratuitous transfer of real estate into private ownership.

These include:

• individuals whose interests were affected by an unlawful contract;
• organizations representing municipal authorities;
• unitary enterprises to which this property was assigned.

According to Article 166 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a privatization agreement may be considered unlawful due to its controversy. There may be several reasons for canceling the privatization of an apartment:

• the presence of citizens registered in the apartment who are not indicated in the document and have not previously participated in privatization;
• one of the adult participants in the process has already used his right to transfer property free of charge earlier;
• the legal right to do so participated in the procedure ;
• a citizen registered in the premises who has not reached the age of majority ;
• one of the participants in the process is incompetent ;
• false information was used , as well as false certificates;
• misunderstanding among the participants in the process;
• intentional misleading of one of the parties or coercion to carry out a procedure.

How can you cancel the process of privatization of an apartment?

If one or more violations occurred during the registration of real estate, then you can have the privatization declared invalid. In this case, property rights must be restored to their previous state.

Statute of limitations

The period during which a claim can be filed is 3 years.

During this period, it is necessary to prepare documents and send them to the court.

Of course, there are cases when the trial drags on for several years. The main thing is that the claim must be filed within three years from the date of transfer of property.

At the end of the 3-year period, you can also challenge the decision and get a refusal to privatize the apartment, but in this case you will face long and rather complex procedures:

• restore and justify the statute of limitations of the claim;
• you must state compelling reasons for such late proceedings and submit them to the court for consideration;
• whether the case will proceed depends entirely on the decision of the judge, so without significant arguments you should not count on a positive result;
• collect and present to the court documentary evidence of illegal registration of property;
• The longer the period has passed, the more difficult it will be to restore and collect the necessary certificates and certificates.

You can even challenge decisions that were made more than 10 years ago.

However, whether an appeal will be considered after the expiration of the 3-year period depends on the “mood” of the court. In contrast, if an appeal is filed within the period provided by law, it will be considered by the court in any case.

Trial

• Yes, but only a court decision can determine the illegality of privatization, and therefore you will have to go to the courts.
• The first and most important thing you need to do is collect available evidence of violations when registering an apartment.

Collect all the facts - even the smallest evidence can play a decisive role in the court's decision.

Once you have collected the necessary information, you will need to take several steps:

• come to the court department at the location of the apartment;
• draw up a statement challenging the transfer of property;
• pay the state fee (approximately 200 rubles) and provide a receipt;
• attach the contract and the documentary evidence you have of your right to a share in the real estate;
• You also need to attach evidence of violations when preparing this document.

If the court, after considering the evidence presented, upholds your appeal, the transfer of property will be canceled - the rights to the property will return to their original position.

It is not always possible to quickly challenge privatization, so be patient. If you do not have a good knowledge of the laws, and you do not know how to competently remove an apartment from privatization, use the services of a good lawyer who will protect your rights.

Statement of claim (what must be written?)

• header , including the name of the court, information about the parties to the process and requirements;
• title , in our case “Statement of Claim for invalidation of the privatization agreement”;
• introduction , briefly indicating the essence of the claim;
• a list of violations committed by the defendant during registration;
• pleading part , which includes your legal requirements;
• list of attached documents;
• date of compilation and personal signature.

ATTENTION! When challenging privatization, you have the right to ask the court not only to cancel it, but also to apply other sanctions against the defendant.

If you find it difficult to complete the application yourself, you can seek help from private lawyers. The court office can provide you with a sample on which you can easily enter the necessary data yourself.

Challenging – judicial practice

Judicial practice in Russia shows that it is quite possible to achieve the cancellation or revision of a privatization agreement, especially when gross violations were committed during the registration process. This also applies to cases where the period for filing a claim has expired.

There are cases when citizens managed to challenge the decision 14 years after registration of the property. Of course, not all processes end so rosy. If you have concrete evidence of harassment of your rights, be sure to file a claim.

Deprivatization or cancellation of apartment privatization: how does it happen? How to cancel a previously performed operation?

In an effort to formalize their rights to housing, most citizens went through the process of free privatization. Currently, the excitement associated with plans to cancel the free procedure has passed.

People began to understand that in some cases living in an apartment under a social tenancy agreement is more convenient and profitable. The question arose: how to undo the actions taken and deprivatize the living space?

What is deprivatization?

In fact, this is recognition of the procedure for transferring housing ownership as invalid. The owners renounce their rights and transfer it to the state. These actions are carried out based on their personal statements.

If the procedure is carried out with any violations, the process is carried out through the court.

It will be impossible to re-register ownership of privatized housing!

For personal square meters it is necessary to make a number of payments (tax, contribution for major repairs), from which citizens living under a social tenancy agreement are free .

In your own housing, you also need to pay considerable fees for the maintenance of common property, taxes, and no one will carry out major repairs of worn-out communications inside the premises for free. While in municipal housing the replacement of equipment falls on the shoulders of public utilities .

It should be noted that for single citizens, in the absence of heirs, it is indeed more profitable to live in a municipal apartment and get rid of unnecessary payments.

Lonely and elderly people often fall for the tricks of scammers who deceive them into taking over their home. The tenant of a state apartment is of no interest to them, so pensioners can rest easy.

Divorce or unwillingness to leave living space as an inheritance to unwanted relatives.

Opportunity to get a larger area

Reckless design of dilapidated or demolished housing limits the ability of a large family to obtain a sufficient number of square meters.

If it is their own, the family receives the same area as in the old one. While relocation from public housing is carried out according to standards .

Privatization of a small apartment also deprives various categories of beneficiaries of the opportunity to receive a new one. In order to receive housing under any government program, they need to abandon what was previously privatized.

How to cancel the privatization of an apartment?

How to get out of the privatization of an apartment? Previously, it was possible to recognize a privatization agreement only in court, and it was allowed only to low-income citizens. Currently, any citizen can voluntarily refuse privatized housing if there are no obstacles mentioned above.

You should start the process by submitting an application to your local authorities. From organizations involved in housing registration issues, you can receive detailed instructions on how to prepare for the process of transferring it to the state.

There you will be given a sample document . All owners must personally declare their intention to transfer housing to the state.

The application is considered by the authorities within 30 calendar days.

Application for refusal of privatization.

Based on the results of the consideration, a resolution is issued and within two months the administration concludes an agreement on the transfer of the apartment to the state and concludes a social rental agreement with the residents.

Currently, the refusal process can be carried out through the MFC services created under each administration of cities and towns.

The following documents must be attached to the application:

1. Copies of the personal document (or documents) of the owner.
2. Original Certificates of Ownership.
3. Certificate of no restrictions issued by Rosreestr.
4. Extract from the house register. It must include all records from the moment you moved into the apartment.
5. A technical passport with an explanation and a housing plan, issued by the BTI.
6. Document confirming payment of the registration fee.

Each region has its own by-laws regulating this procedure, so check with your local government authorities for the exact list of required documents.

Is it possible to cancel the privatization of an apartment through the court?

Privatization is one of the ways to obtain ownership of housing from a state or municipal fund, provided that it was previously provided to a citizen for use. It would seem that this only benefits the residents.

However, sometimes there is a need to return previously privatized square meters to the state. Sometimes this is necessary to protect the violated interests and rights of citizens. In other cases, the owners themselves may want to get rid of the burden of responsibility.

So is it possible to cancel the privatization of an apartment? And how to do this in 2023.

Is it possible to cancel privatization?

Privatization involves the process of transferring an apartment from state or municipal ownership into the hands of the tenant, but as the owner. This deal is completely reversible. However, you need to follow some rules:

1.  Housing can only be deprivatized once.
2.  These tenants will no longer be able to re-privatize their living space.
3.  You can only deprivatize the entire premises at once; this cannot be done in shares.
4.  Termination of the contract requires the consent of all owners. If at least one refuses to sign the consent or there is a death certificate of the owner, then it will not be possible to terminate the contract.

Depending on the grounds and circumstances, the contract can be terminated by general consent or through the court. In this context, it is worth distinguishing between deprivatization and deprivatization. The first refers to the return of housing to the state by court decision, and the second is a voluntary act.

It must be said that today this issue is not fully regulated by law. Only the issues of judicial termination of a contract on the grounds provided for by current legislation have been well worked out. It is necessary to fully assess the prospects for deprivatization in each specific case separately.

Attention! It is impossible to deprivatize an apartment that was received in any other way other than privatization from the state.

Grounds for canceling the privatization of an apartment

There are a number of reasons why owners might make this decision:

•  A privatized apartment requires payment of real estate tax. If the square measures are returned to the municipality, then you will not have to pay taxes, and the right to use the property will remain.
•  In some regions, residents under a social rental agreement can save on utility costs, including major repairs.
•  In the case of emergency housing again or participation in the renovation program, the conditions for relocating residents under a social rental agreement will be more favorable than for the owners. The fact is that the owners are provided with exactly the same premises that are being seized. Improvement is possible only at their own expense. Employers receive based on the social norm per person. Often, this is a much larger area, without any additional payment.
•  Apartment in social network hiring cannot be sold, given away, etc. Raspriatization can be a way of preventing such actions.

List of documents for privatization of an apartment in 2023

For deprivatization by court decision, it is necessary to prove the legal reasons for this decision, or rather violations of the law:

1.  Illegal actions that violate the law. For example, coercion of a participant, as well as other frauds.
2.  Unlawful determination of the size of participants' shares.
3.  Infringement of the legal rights and interests of weakly protected owners: children, disabled people, pensioners. For example, a mother deceived her into refusing to privatize her child or ignored his rights.
4.  Detection of the fact of the tenant's repeated participation in the privatization program.
5.  Providing false documents, as well as with erasures, corrections and damage that make them unreadable or create difficulties for understanding the content.
6.  Housing, for some reason, could not be privatized in principle, for example: apartments in closed military camps, emergency or dilapidated stock.
7.  An incapacitated or partially capable citizen independently took part in the transaction.

The basis for deprivatization will ultimately be a court decision.

Step-by-step instruction

So, termination of privatization is possible at the will of the owners or by court decision. It’s worth starting with the voluntary option. Currently this process is not well regulated by law.

Therefore, there may be differences in the regions, as there are in the privatization process itself. You can consider it in the light of the capital. Here you can refuse privatized housing in the same place where the transaction was concluded.

You need to have with you:

•  Application for termination of the contract—deprivatization,
•  Passports of all owners and their copies,
•  Extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate,
•  BTI technical passport,
•  An extract from the house register or an amendment about the composition of the family.

Attention! If minor owners have shares in the apartment, then the written consent of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities will be required.

You can complete the procedure completely free of charge, excluding the costs of completing the necessary documents. There are restrictions on returns in the capital:

1.  Only the only housing for all owners can be returned,
2.  The apartment should not have new residents registered during privatization,
3.  Changes in area or redevelopment,
4.  There must be the consent of all owners.

Consideration of an application for deprivatization, as well as privatization, will take no more than 2 months. If any documents have been lost, they will have to be restored. This will delay the process somewhat.

There is no statute of limitations on this issue. Therefore, it seems that the apartment can be returned to the state at any time as long as the conditions for this remain in place.

Going to court

Going to court makes sense only if there have been violations of current legislation. You can verify the legitimacy of your position and the prospects of the case by contacting a professional lawyer. If there are indeed grounds for terminating the contract, then you can begin collecting documents:

•  Statement of claim. It is necessary to state the circumstances of the case as succinctly and clearly as possible with reference to the regulations whose norms have been violated.
•  Title documents for the apartment.
•  Extract from the Unified State Register of Property Rights.
•  BTI technical passport.
•  A copy of the applicant's passport.
•  Extract from the house register.
•  Receipt for payment of state duty.

Statements of claim are sent not only to the court. Copies are also addressed to the defendant.

Attention! Such cases have no statute of limitations. Regardless of how many years have passed since the transaction was completed, you can go to court or return the apartment to the state yourself. Review of the application will take at least a month. Circumstances may arise that require clarification, and then the proceedings will be delayed.

After receiving a court decision, you can contact the municipal authority, which within 01 days will issue a re-registration of ownership, returning the apartment to the state or municipality.

Illegal privatization of an apartment - how to restore your rights

Privatization has become another tool in the hands of fraudsters. There are often cases when citizens were left “overboard” and found themselves deprived of the right to become one of the owners of the apartment.

It turns out that the whole process can be challenged. The main thing is to go to court in time and be able to defend your interests. In what cases privatization is contested or declared illegal, we will tell you today.

Is it possible to cancel privatization?

Let us say right away that it is possible to invalidate the privatization of an apartment, the main thing is to have good reasons for this, supported by documents.

Challenging the privatization of an apartment is possible under certain circumstances. Let's list them.

1. One of the citizens living in the apartment was not included in the privatization agreement and had not previously participated in privatization;
2. One of the adults living in the residential premises repeatedly exercised the right to privatization;
3. The minor registered in this apartment was not included in the privatization agreement. The participation of children in the privatization of an apartment is mandatory;
4. The privatization agreement was signed by a person who did not have the authority to do so;
5. Illegality of the privatization procedure. We have already written about the procedure for privatizing an apartment under a social tenancy agreement.;
6. Registration of privatization using forged documents;
7. Recognition of one of the privatization participants as incompetent;
8. Misleading one or more privatization participants;
9. Making a deal under pressure.

Any citizen who considers his rights to be violated can file a lawsuit to challenge privatization. But before you start declaring your rights, you need to know these very rights. The following categories of citizens have the right to privatize an apartment:

• all adult citizens of the Russian Federation who live in this premises on social rental terms;
• minors permanently residing in the apartment.

To carry out the privatization procedure, it is necessary to obtain consent to conclude a transaction from all adults, as well as citizens from 14 to 18 years of age. You can find out what a sample consent to privatize an apartment looks like in our previous article.

In the case when among the persons living in the apartment there are minor citizens under the age of 14 years, privatization is additionally approved by the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

The absence of the above agreement is the main reason why privatization is contested in practice.

How to cancel the privatization of an apartment? The privatization of an apartment can only be declared illegal through the courts. If a transaction is declared invalid, it is cancelled. That is, the apartment will be returned to the ownership of the state or municipality.

It is important to take into account that after the cancellation of privatization, all participants in the procedure lose the right to re-enter a similar transaction.

But there is an exception to this rule.

For example, during the transaction, a citizen with such a right was not included in the privatization agreement. In this case, if there are appropriate requirements in the statement of claim, the court has the right to issue a verdict on the inclusion of this person among the participants in the privatization.

Then the apartment will remain the property of the citizens, but the shares will be distributed in accordance with the new number of participants.

The statute of limitations for declaring the privatization of an apartment illegal is three years. If this period has expired, you will first have to restore the statute of limitations and only then begin the challenge procedure. What does this mean? You have the right to challenge the transaction within three years after you learn of a violation of your rights.

In judicial practice, there are cases where privatization was challenged 14 years after the transaction was completed. The main thing here is to be able to present undeniable evidence to the court.

In such a situation, not everyone was able to defend their rights. Some simply naively thought that nothing could be done and gave up, while others doubted the positive outcome of the matter. However, privatization can be recognized as illegal if you take action.

The statute of limitations for declaring the privatization of an apartment illegal is three years.

How to challenge privatization in court

Is it possible to terminate privatization through the court, and how to do this? It turns out that everything is not as difficult as it seems. You need to file a claim to have the privatization declared illegal.

In the application, you must indicate on the basis of what facts you consider the transaction to be outside the scope of the law, and attach supporting documents.

It is important to comply with the statute of limitations for filing an application, which is also three years.

To be sure of a positive court decision, you can use the help of a lawyer. He will be able to competently defend your interests, relying on those legal norms that you may simply not know about.

If the court satisfies your demands, the registration authorities' record of the right to ownership of the property is canceled. At the same time, the apartment is seized so that fraudsters do not have the opportunity to sell it. How long can it take to sell an apartment after privatization? Read more here.

The whole process will take no more than six months.

Cases of privatization being declared illegal

Among the most common types of illegal actions in the privatization process are the following:

1. no refusal to participate in the privatization process for citizens over 14 years of age. Information on where to view a sample refusal to participate in the privatization of an apartment is here;
2. repeated participation in privatization of one or more persons;
3. illegal deprivation of the right to become a participant in privatization.

Regarding the first two points, everything is quite clear - these are direct violations of current legislation.

Minors over 14 years of age participate in privatization on their own. Therefore, in order to register ownership of an apartment, either their refusal or consent is required. Otherwise, the privatization process is considered illegal.

The same is true with repeated participation. Citizens have the right to participate in privatization only once.

The exception is minor citizens under the age of 14; for them, such a repeated right is enshrined in the Law.

What is meant by illegal deprivation of the right to privatization? Fraudulent actions are possible here, subject to the temporary deregistration of a citizen.

Basically, such withdrawal is made in relation to persons called up for military service or sentenced to imprisonment.

While a citizen is serving conscription or serving a sentence, unscrupulous relatives can take advantage of the situation and formalize a deal without allocating a share in the apartment to the absent person.

But other citizens also risk being deprived of their rights to privatization on illegal grounds. For example, one of the citizens registered in an apartment actually lives in another living space (the wife lives with her husband or vice versa).

In any case, by going to court, you can restore your registration record and claim that the privatization transaction is declared illegal.

Is it possible to suspend privatization?

The privatization process can be suspended at any stage until the state registration of property rights.

Suspension of this process is possible if certain conditions arise that prevent the transaction from being completed legally.

This may include the registration of a marriage or the birth of a child and, as a result, the emergence of a new citizen who has the right to become a participant in privatization. Information on the procedure for registering a newborn in a municipal apartment is here.

In this situation, you will need to redo all privatization documentation taking into account the new number of participants. Here privatization is suspended based on the will of its participants.

There were also cases when housing, in some unknown way, turned out to be not registered in the municipal property register. Here registration is suspended for reasons beyond your control.

The process of registering property rights may also be suspended by decision of the state registrar. The most common cases:

• the registrar has doubts about the legality of the transaction;
• doubts about the authenticity of the documents provided;
• incomplete package of documents.

The period of such suspension is three months. After its expiration, an official refusal to register the transaction is issued.

Privatization can only be declared illegal through the courts.

The registration process can also be suspended by a court decision.

For example, if, before the state registration of a housing privatization transaction, someone filed a lawsuit to declare this privatization invalid or illegal.

In this case, the period of suspension is not defined by law and depends on the duration of the trial.

Is it possible to redo privatization?

Recently, notes have appeared on the Internet that privatization can be redone. Actually this is not true. Privatization is the process of transferring housing occupied under social rent and owned by the municipality into the ownership of citizens. Therefore, nothing can be changed; you can only challenge and cancel it.

If you want to change the number of owners of a privatized apartment, register the purchase and sale or donation of shares.

To summarize, I would like to encourage citizens to be able to defend their legitimate interests. If in some unknown way privatization bypassed you, feel free to go to court. It is possible to include you among the participants even after state registration of the housing privatization transaction. Lack of self-confidence is a reason not to give up, but to turn to a qualified lawyer.