No money for the sold apartment: why payments on «Kherson certificates» have been stopped

Alexander Dybin

Immediately in several regions there were complaints about delays in payment for «Kherson certificates», which were received by residents of a new region of Russia who decided to leave their home. The certificate can be used to purchase a home. But this spring there were problems. Despite the approval of the deal and even the transfer of ownership to refugees, Russians cannot receive payment for their real estate.

«The purchase and sale agreement was concluded on April 4», — the seller Yulia Markova told Novye Izvestia, «on May 15, the department approved the transaction and transferred the data to the territorial development Fund. On June 1, we were told that the application in Moscow was approved and the money would arrive before June 16. This date has passed, now they say to wait, they promise supposedly from July 15 transfers to the regions. It turns out from the moment of the transaction 3 months, from the moment of approval one and a half. According to the deadlines, the fund must consider an application from the region in 4 days and transfer money after another 3, but all deadlines are violated, there are no exact dates. We had a counter-deal that fell through. I went to a meeting with the buyers, agreed on my stupidity that they would move in after approval, since in practice they were transferred quickly before, people have been living in an apartment for a month and a half, and I am without money and without an apartment. Yes, there is an encumbrance on the apartment, but, in fact, according to the law, it has been owned by new owners since April 4».

And there are dozens of such stories. People have even created a chat in which they tell their situations and discuss what to do. Most of the complaints are from the Krasnodar Territory, Voronezh, Rostov and Leningrad regions. People are also trying to convey the problem to the authorities, for example, in the tg-channel of the SDGs of the Krasnodar Territory, sellers massively describe this problem.

«Why did they sell the house according to the „Kherson certificate“, but there has been no money for two months. Calls are not answered in any Moscow, nor in In Krasnodar, they throw each other, and people don't know where to find answers», — writes a resident of the region. — This is generally a strange situation. First, the right of ownership passes to the buyer, and only then all possible reviews of the real estate object begin, in most cases, taking place in violation of deadlines. And even after consideration, and after making a positive decision, no agency can announce the specific terms of payment for the Kherson certificate. As a result, both sides are in limbo and uncertainty. Someone rents an apartment and incurs losses, personally, tomorrow I burn a deposit on a counter transaction. Real estate is getting more expensive during this time, and it is unclear what I will be able to buy after waiting for the payment. When will the order be restored? They do not give any objective information by the phone number of the foundation indicated by you, moreover, they also did not respond to the complaint left!»

All situations are typical: a deal has been concluded, but the money does not come according to the certificate. Since almost all of these transactions are in the economy segment, there may be aggravating circumstances. For example, people sell real estate to close a mortgage or buy another property. If the money does not come, new deals are disrupted, you have to rent a house or pay off loans.

What the authorities say

Almost all complaints about delays are accompanied by negativity towards the authorities, who cannot explain anything. Regional authorities transfer funds according to the certificate, but they receive them from Territorial Development Fund. In practice, both structures offer dissatisfied sellers to call colleagues and find out information from them — a vicious circle turns out.

So in the chat of the SDGs of the Krasnodar Territory, a representative of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy and Housing and Communal Services of the CC came with a response to complaints, who said that he had done everything that depended on the local authorities.

«We would like to inform you that the Ministry, together with the Kuban Center for State Support of the Population and Development of the Financial Market, fulfills its obligations in full. The payment of applications is handled by the Territorial Development Fund. From our side, appeals have been written to the fund with a request to speed up the transfer of funds to the region», — the message says.

In May 2023, it was reported that 50 thousand people applied for the Kherson certificate. At that time, 35,775 documents were approved for issuance. At the same time, it was reported that 13,912 certificates were implemented. In money, this statistic looks much more impressive. Only in the Leningrad region, 424 certificates were sent for the purchase of housing, transactions were drawn in the amount of 1 billion 388 million rubles. Another half a billion have so far hung up and out of Moscow has not been received.

The authorities of the Leningrad region told 47 Novosti that they had done everything that was required, and the issue of payment for certificates should be resolved in the capital.

«On the part of the Committee for the construction of the Leningrad Region, all documents on the provision of subsidies to citizens under the program of resettlement of residents of Kherson are drawn up in due time. The committee's specialists constantly receive citizens and provide additional consultations on the paperwork. On the part of the government of the Leningrad region, work is underway with federal authorities to accelerate settlements under the program», — officials said.

What should sellers do

According to the realtor from St. Petersburg Dmitry Shchegelsky, transactions with the «Kherson certificate» have recently taken a significant place in the work of realtors.

«Their presence in the market is noticeable. Probably, up to 10% of the total number of transactions is definitely there. Mainly in transactions with economy class objects, — says the expert, — according to colleagues, realtors in Krasnodar has problems with payments to sellers on transactions with Kherson certificates. Some have been for more than a month. Realtors from Anapa say that they have been waiting for payment for 3-4 months».

What exactly caused the delays is not clear. According to one version, a change in the order of approval and accrual of funds. Now the regions are waiting for the money to arrive from the capital, and previously they paid with their own. According to another version, there is simply no money and you need to wait for them to appear.

Real estate lawyer Olesya Bukhtoyarova told Novye Izvestia that at the beginning of the year she asked her subscribers to share their experience of transactions on Kherson certificates. Over the past couple of months, complaints about payment delays have been received en masse. According to her, people choose two tactics: to cut off the phones of the responsible departments to speed up the payment, or cancel the deal. The latter is possible, but is associated with legal difficulties. The transaction can be terminated by mutual agreement with the buyer, who has already obtained ownership and, as a rule, moved into a new apartment. Or through the court, but the procedure will be so long that most likely the money will already come.

«You can give advice, be sure to prescribe in the contract of sale a condition on the possibility of termination in case of non-payment. Otherwise, there will be no grounds for termination, only for debt collection, — says the lawyer, — if payment is not received, then the parties can conclude an agreement on termination in connection with violation of the terms of the contract. If the other party does not agree, then in court on the same grounds. In both cases, the practice is positive».