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One day I was approached by a client who bought an apartment on the secondary market. A month after the purchase, an unknown person filed a lawsuit against him to demand this apartment from him. As it turned out later, there was a lawsuit involving this person and the previous owner. In the court case, the apartment was seized, but when the client bought the apartment, the arrest was strangely lifted. We found that the seller had conspired with the state registrar to sell the apartment. But it was too late. And now the buyer of the apartment has been forced to fight for the purchased real estate in court for several years.

When you buy an apartment on the secondary market you need to be very careful. Secondary real estate has a history in which there are dark pages. These are arrests, judicial illegal redevelopments and registered relatives. What are the risks when buying an apartment and how to buy real estate safely?

To begin, check the title deed to the property. This can be a contract of sale, a contract of gift or a certificate of inheritance. Legal documents may also be a court decision or a certificate of acquisition of real estate from public auction. In this case, there are risks that the court decision will be revoked by the previous owner and the newly acquired apartment will be taken away from you. It is also worth checking whether the property owner has been involved in litigation concerning the apartment. You can find court cases on the details of an individual on the website Judiciary.

Before buying an apartment, we recommend getting a certificate from the State Register of Real Estate Rights. From the certificate you can find out the owner of the apartment and whether the apartment is under arrest or mortgage. How to get help you can read here. Unfortunately, such a certificate will not contain information about previous owners and real estate problems that were before. The notary has full access to the register. Therefore, it is better to enter into a contract with a familiar notary who can check the history of the apartment.

If it turns out that the arrest was lifted from the apartment a few days before the deal, then there is no need to hurry to sign the contract. For example, if the arrest is lifted on the basis of a court decision, then such a decision may be revoked in the future, and your contract is declared invalid.

You also need to check whether other people are applying for the apartment. For example, if the property was acquired in marriage, the consent of the other spouse must be obtained for the sale of the property, even if the seller is no longer married. If the seller inherited the apartment, it is better to check whether the apartment is claimed by other heirs and whether there are lawsuits involving the seller.

Another important point is registered in the apartment of the person. If you buy an apartment with registered people, they will be able to apply for the use of the apartment. Therefore, before signing the contract, be sure to check the certificate of registration of residence of persons in the apartment. Because then you will have to write off such persons in court.

As described above, this is only part of the pitfalls when buying an apartment on the secondary market. There are a lot of risks. Therefore, in order not to lose money and not to be left without property, it is better to conduct a full inspection of the property before buying. Professionals will help you with this real estate lawyers.

Andriy Gevko, lawyer, partner of the law firm Bargen