Supreme Court: How to force an owner to sell his share of the property

By CrimeaNEWS On Июл 24, 2024

CrimeaPRESS reports:

The problems of residents of apartments that are divided into shares have long been extremely relevant and have taken their own and not small place in the courts of the country. One of the most acute issues is the problem of owners of tiny shares, on which it will not be possible to live. One of such disputes reached the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

Sometimes, the only obstacle to becoming the full owner of an apartment is a distant relative who has received a small share of the housing as a gift or by will. Most often, such co-owners do not claim to live in the disputed living space, and are even ready to sell their share of the apartment, but usually at an inflated price. The Supreme Court explained whether it is possible to forcibly buy out such a share.

The head of a family from Cheboksary owned 4/9 of a three-room apartment, his wife owned 1/3 of the apartment, and his daughter owned 1/9 of the living space. The remaining share (1/9) was inherited from her mother by a relative. She never lived in the apartment, did not pay for utilities, and even offered her relatives to buy out her share for 373,500 rubles, warning that in case of refusal she would go to court. The family estimated the market value of 1/9 of the apartment at 187,000 rubles, and when the relative refused to sell her share of the apartment for this amount, they themselves went to the district court. The dispute was noticed by the portal Pravo.ru.

In court, the family demanded that the relative pay them the same 187,000 rubles, terminate her right of ownership to a share of the living space, and recognize each of them as the owner of their share of the apartment. They justified this by saying that it was impossible to allocate the relative’s share in kind, none of the rooms in the three-room apartment matched the square footage that belonged to her, and she refused to receive compensation.

The judge dismissed the claim, relying precisely on the fact that the relative objected to the family paying the cost of her share of the apartment in the stated amount (187,000 rubles). According to the court, there are no grounds for recognizing the relative’s share as insignificant, and the family’s assertion that it is impossible for all co-owners to live in the apartment «is of a formal nature.» The appeal agreed with this position.

But the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not agree with its colleagues. A forced buyout is possible, the Supreme Court believes. It sent the case back for retrial. According to the Supreme Court, Article 252 of the Civil Code can be applied here. The appeal did not examine several fundamentally important issues in the family’s lawsuit. Namely: can the relative actually live in the apartment without violating the rights of the owners who have a large share of the housing. And is it possible to provide her with an isolated room and does the defendant have an interest in using this property. In addition, the Supreme Court of Chuvashia did not find out how much a 1/9 share of the apartment actually costs and whether the defendant’s objections regarding the amount of compensation offered to her by the plaintiffs are fair.

Disputed relations between co-owners of apartments are regulated by Article 252 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation — «division of property in shared ownership». From the meaning of this norm it follows that participants in shared ownership can divide it in two ways: by agreement on the method and conditions of division of common property (allocation of a share of one of them) or, if such an agreement is not reached, «divide» through the court.

If the allocation of the share of one of the owners in kind is not permitted by law or is impossible without disproportionate damage to the common property, he has the right to payment of the value of his share by other participants in the shared ownership or to receive other compensation. Such payment is permitted only with the consent of the owner who is deprived of his property. Article 252 of the Civil Code makes it possible to forcibly deprive a participant in the common property of his share, with payment of its value or other compensation.

For example, when the share of living space is insignificant and cannot be realistically allocated, it is precisely this norm that the Supreme Court applied.

Supreme Court ruling N 31-КГ16-3

source: «Russian newspaper»

Crimea News | CrimeaPRESS: Latest News and Main Events