Realtors gave recommendations on registration of ownership of occupied housing

Citizens have a chance to become the owner of real estate, which they have been using for many years, but under certain conditions. Details of sb.by were told by specialists of the capital AN "Vanguard Real Estate".

Experts described the situation:

- Often people live in a house or apartment for years, take care of the property and pay the cost of its maintenance, but officially they are not owners. The reasons may be different: lack of documents, unformulated inheritance or other circumstances. In some cases, it is possible to issue such property through the procedure of acquisition limitation - subject to the established conditions.

Acquisition prescription is a way of obtaining ownership of real estate, which a person owns for a long time as his own, although officially the owner is not.

- For registration of the right, it is necessary that the possession was conscientious, that is, that a person does not hide the fact of using real estate and does not know about the illegality of possession, the experts specified. In addition, such ownership must be open (property was used explicitly, without attempts to hide this fact) and continuous (possession continued for a long period without termination). One of the key conditions - the period of such ownership of real estate must be at least 15 years.

- To prove the fact of long-term ownership, it is necessary to collect confirmation, the agency said. These can be receipts for payment of utilities, documents on payment of taxes, confirmation of repairs or maintenance of the house, certificates and other documents, testimony of neighbors and other witnesses. The more evidence confirms that a person really treated real estate as his own, the higher the likelihood of successful registration of ownership.

There are two main options for registration of real estate, experts said.

Administrative procedure is possible if the state bodies do not have information about the registered ownership of the object. In this case, it is necessary to apply to the local executive and administrative body, providing evidence of long-term ownership of real estate. The administrative procedure is carried out free of charge. The application of a citizen is considered within 15 days, and in the case of a request for documents and (or) information from other state bodies, other organizations - 1 month.

A court order is required if the property is already registered with another person (for example, a former owner who has died) or disputes arise over ownership. After receiving a court decision or a supporting document, ownership must be registered in the prescribed manner.

- There are situations when citizens manage to arrange a house for themselves, if the former owner died, the realtors informed. For example, if a person for many years lived in the house of a deceased relative, cared for him, paid expenses and at the same time the heirs did not declare their rights, the issue can be resolved through the procedure of acquisition limitation. However, the procedure for registration depends on whether the ownership of the former owner is registered and whether there are other claimants to the property. If the immovable property is registered for any natural person, even the deceased, the establishment of ownership is possible only in court.