Perhaps, for each of us, the housing issue is the most relevant. When conducting real estate transactions, bona fide buyers may fall for the tricks of fraudsters, and their property may be appropriated to other people. In the legislation there is the concept of "limitation period for real estate transactions." What is it and how can it be used to challenge transactions?
The meaning of the term
The Civil Code of the Russian Federation contains a definition of this term (Articles 181, 195-205). Under this concept understand the period of time that has passed after the transaction with real estate. During this period, the transaction can be challenged, and its result is invalidated only in court. The need for this period is to protect the rights of owners.
In practice, this term is often used by lawyers in litigation on the sale of real estate, the division of property after divorce of spouses, gift contracts. Often, when making documents for the sale, mistakes are made. Some are easily repairable, while others may require a trial. If the statute of limitations has expired, the parties to the transaction will no longer be able to file a lawsuit with the court.
What does he mean?
This period is necessary for one of the parties to the transaction to file a lawsuit against the violator. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation governs these regulatory relations. It is not possible to change the time of this period. Two varieties of this period are legislatively fixed - general and special. The general one is used, as a rule, in litigations under sale and purchase agreements; its duration is 3 years. Special is not limited to a 3-year period. A special limitation period for real estate transactions is required when resolving issues arising after they are declared invalid.
The duration of a special period in accordance with the law may be:
- 3 months (if the right of preemptive purchase is violated).
- Six months (if the claim is drawn up by check-drawers).
- Year (if the claim is related to freight).
- 2 years (if the claim relates to poorly performed work).
- 5 years (if the buyer has identified significant shortcomings of the construction company).
When does it take effect?
The limitation period may not be affected by the initiative of one of the parties to the transaction. According to Russian law, this period begins immediately after one of the parties to the contract finds out about a violation that causes damage to it. However, not all individuals can be aware of or suspect violations due to inexperience. Based on this, the limitation period for real estate transactions begins after the fact of the violation has been revealed and the parties to the contract have been informed about it.
Is it possible to suspend the course of this period? Russian law states that this can be done in situations:
- An emergency occurred (determined in each case individually).
- Parties to the transaction serve in the Armed Forces.
- The legislative act that regulated these legal relations was suspended.
The limitation period may be interrupted and renewed when one of the parties filed a lawsuit or the other recognized the fact of the offense.
Challenging Deals
Disputable transactions are transactions with real estate, the legitimacy and validity of which is recognized by a court decision. Legislation defines the following features of a contested transaction:
- The conclusion of the contract occurred under the condition of deception, violence, threats to life and health, or by intentional agreement of the parties.
- The transaction was made by one of the parties in a combination of difficult circumstances on unfavorable conditions for it.
- The contract was concluded under the influence of delusion (the existence of this fact is proved in court).
- If one of the parties to the contract is an incompetent or minor person acting without the consent of the guardians or legal representatives.
- If the consent of one of the spouses has not been obtained for the transaction.
If, in these situations, the court recognizes the transactions with the property as invalid, the defendant shall return the property to the plaintiff. Received income of the defendant becomes the property of the state. In the case of disputed transactions, the limitation period is one year, but may also be extended by the court.
Fake deals
Fake deals are actions performed in order to cover one of the parties. Such actions are invalidated under any circumstances. For example, when an individual enters into a contract of sale of real estate with a company or enterprise, but which is executed as an exchange transaction.
Imaginary deals
Imaginary transactions are transactions performed without real intentions with the aim of misleading certain individuals. Often these frauds are committed in order to hide property from the tax office. For example, the parties make a transaction for the sale of real estate, but in fact the obligations and legal consequences do not arise and do not change.
Void Transactions
Real estate litigation is one of the most difficult, especially when it comes to recognizing the invalidity or invalidity of a transaction. Articles 168-172 of the Civil Code provide conditions for the recognition of the nullity of transactions, these include:
- Operations that do not comply with applicable laws.
- Actions contrary to the legal framework and morality.
- Imaginary or false deals.
- Actions committed by incompetent citizens and minors.
It is important to note that real estate transactions can be recognized as legal in court if they were committed by guardians, parents, adoptive parents of minors or minors in order to obtain the benefit of the latter. It is noteworthy that void transactions are invalidated without a court decision. The interested party is entitled to apply to the court to eliminate the legal consequences of the transaction.
Division of property: limitation period
Article 38 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation states that the statute of limitations on matters relating to the division of marital property is 3 years, as in general cases. However, this article does not specify at what point this period should be counted.
In chapter 9 of article 200 of the Civil Code, it is stated that the limitation period is calculated after one of the parties to the real estate transaction finds out about the violation of its rights. Thus, in the event of a dispute over the division of property, one of the former spouses may file a lawsuit with the court several years after the divorce, if necessary.
Statute of limitations for real estate transactions: gift
A deed of gift may also be declared null and void by law. The limitation period is 3 years, but it is counted from the moment the contract comes into force. If the claim is filed by a third party, the term is counted from the moment it learned about the gift. According to article 181 of civil law, this period should not be more than 10 years. The gift will be declared invalid if the plaintiff provides evidence. The gift will need to be returned in the form in which it was originally, otherwise the defendant pays its full cost.
Inheritance
Often in judicial practice, real estate disputes arise regarding inheritance. The statute of limitations in such circumstances is not legislatively fixed, therefore, an application to the court can be submitted in a few years. This applies to situations where the heir actually owns the property, but he does not have the right to property. And in disputes relating to the division of inheritance, when a will is disputed, a 3-year period for the possible filing of a claim is established by Article 196 of the Civil Code.
When making transactions with real estate, disagreements often arise between the parties to the contract. The limitation period for real estate transactions is a guarantee of the rights of their bona fide participants. In general, the duration of this period is 3 years. Transactions may be both void and contested. It is necessary to pay attention to this when preparing a statement of claim.