Registration of ownership of an apartment: deadlines, documents and subtleties

When purchasing an apartment in a new building, the main document before handing over the house is an equity participation agreement (DPA). However, it does not confirm ownership, only participation in shared construction. You can become the full owner of an apartment only after state registration of ownership.

In this article we will look at why and how you need to register ownership of an apartment, what pitfalls there may be and what you should pay attention to.

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Why do you need to register ownership?

Registration of ownership of an apartment confirms the fact of ownership of the property. The full owner receives more rights, but also certain responsibilities.

What can the owner do before and after registering ownership of the apartment in 2021:

Before registering property rights	After registration of ownership
Conducting transactions (purchase and sale, rent, donation, will)	it is forbidden	Can
Registration at place of residence	it is forbidden	Can
Redevelopment	it is forbidden	Can
Tax deduction	Yes	Yes
Property tax	no need to pay	need to pay
Housing and communal services	need to pay	need to pay

Registration of ownership is usually necessary to receive a tax deduction for the purchase of an apartment and mortgage interest - but in the case of new buildings, the right to a tax refund arises immediately after signing the transfer and acceptance certificate. You do not need to register your home for this.

Regardless of whether the right to an apartment is registered or not, residents are required to pay for housing and communal services. It will not be possible to apply for utility benefits without registering an apartment.

If an apartment is purchased with a mortgage, then the bank imposes certain restrictions even if the property is registered. For example, you cannot sell or donate real estate without the approval of the bank. In addition, the bank's consent may be required if you want to register non-close relatives in the apartment.

Registration of ownership of a new building

Those who are interested in how to independently register ownership of an apartment in new buildings should know that this will be possible after the developer completes construction of the facility and receives permission to put it into operation.

After this, the new building is assigned a postal address, the house is connected to communication networks, contracts are concluded with the management company, and then the shareholders, together with a representative of the construction company, go to inspect the purchased housing. If there are no complaints, then an acceptance certificate is drawn up, which is signed by both parties, the shareholder is given the keys to the apartment, and now you can begin to register ownership.

In addition to the standard set of documents, you need

Act of Handover.
A registered share participation agreement.
If concluded, then an agreement for the assignment of rights of claim.
If available, then an additional agreement.

After submitting the necessary documents, the registration process will take about a month. However, if the developer does not provide a complete package of documents to the state registration authority (the most common reason is disputes between the construction investor, the customer and the contractor, so it is better to initially choose a reliable developer), then the time frame may increase significantly. The best option for the apartment owner would then be to file a claim with the court at the location of the property for recognition of ownership rights.

When the case is decided in favor of the plaintiff, the registration authority can contact the registration authority with the court decision that has entered into force and certificates from the BTI and receive the long-awaited certificate of ownership, even if the disputes between the participants in the real estate construction have not yet been settled.

What is needed to register property

Now the ownership of real estate is confirmed by an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate (USRN) - in paper or electronic form. Outdated certificates of title will not be issued as of July 15, 2021.

You can register ownership of an apartment after signing the transfer and acceptance certificate, but first you need to make sure that the developer has registered the house in the cadastral register and has been assigned a postal address. Staging may take up to 6 months.

The state fee for registering property rights is 2,000 rubles. You can pay at any bank or in the bank’s mobile application. Payment details are available on the Rosreestr website.

To register an apartment as your property you will need:

buyer's passport;
agreement (DDU, PDKP, assignment agreement);
act of acceptance and transfer;
cadastral passport with explication;
receipt of payment of state duty.

The package of documents may vary depending on specific circumstances. For example, if an apartment is registered as joint ownership, a marriage certificate will be required. If the property is registered in the name of a child, his birth certificate will be required.

How to register ownership of an apartment?

Any type of housing (apartment, house or townhouse) is classified as real estate according to Russian law. Property rights require state registration in a regulated manner. This necessity is not influenced by how the property was received for use - by will, purchase and sale agreement or by exchange.

Documents for registering ownership of an apartment

At the initial stage of registering property rights, you should prepare the documents necessary for this process. These include:

Documents that establish ownership of real estate. It can be:
Certificates of inheritance of an apartment.
A court decision that has legal force.
Application for state registration of property rights.
A document confirming payment of the fee for state registration of property rights. Providing a receipt is not required. However, if information about the payment is not available in the unified information system, then the applicant may be denied consideration of the documents. Therefore, it is better to make the payment in advance and attach the receipt along with a package of other documents. At this moment, for individuals, the cost of state registration of housing rights is 2,000 rubles.
Consent from the guardianship authorities to dispose of real estate in which the minor is registered. Before drawing up a contract for the purchase and sale of an apartment, parents must contact the territorial guardianship authority and submit there an application containing the corresponding wish. Additionally, you must provide copies of parents’ passports, children’s birth certificates, and any title document (for example, a share participation agreement). Written consent is usually ready within 2 weeks.
An officially (notarized) copy of consent from the husband/wife of the person who is selling the joint property.

Local authorities may additionally provide for the submission of any other documents. It is also better to make copies of all documents in advance - they may also be needed.

Registration of ownership of an apartment: step-by-step instructions

If you proceed step by step, the process of registering real estate will not cause any particular difficulties.

Submission of documents

After preparing the documents, they can be sent to the department of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cartography and Cadastre (abbreviated as Rosreestr). You must contact the department of the institution whose competence includes the apartment for which the right of ownership is issued. In this case, documents can be submitted in four different ways:

Personal visit to the registrar. You must have a document with you to prove your identity.
By mail. In this case, it is imperative that the signature on the application be certified, as well as additionally provide copies of the last pages of the applicant’s passport.
Through the multifunctional center. You must also go to this institution with your passport.
By email. When sending documents via the Internet, each document must be certified with a qualified digital signature of the applicant.

After receiving the documents, Rosreestr employees are required to issue the applicant a notification of their receipt. If the submission is not made during a personal visit, then the receipt is sent the next day after receipt of the documents.

Documents receiving

The legally established period for registering the right to housing is 10 working days. This period may vary for certain cities and regions. For example, in Moscow it is somewhat less and is 12 calendar days.

After successfully completing the registration procedure, the applicant is issued a certificate of ownership of the apartment. It must immediately be checked carefully for errors and typos. In this case, special attention should be paid to the surname and initials of the owner, as well as information regarding the description of the property. If a discrepancy is found, the document should be returned immediately for correction.

In some cases, Rosreestr employees may suspend or completely terminate the procedure for registering property rights.

Reasons for refusal

It is worth noting that applicants often receive a refusal from the registration authority to obtain ownership of an apartment. Among the reasons, a small percentage is occupied by bureaucratic delays. Before registering ownership of an apartment, you need to familiarize yourself with the most likely reasons for refusal when registering the right to a property:

Provision of documents is not complete.
Preparation of necessary documents with violations.
The presence of restrictions related to the possibility of free disposal of the apartment (for example, seizure).
The presence of grounds indicating signs of lack of authenticity of documents.

If the Rosreestr department decides to refuse registration, the applicant must be notified about this as soon as possible. In this case, the notification indicates the specific reason for this refusal. A citizen can eliminate the identified deficiency and re-apply to the registration authority. If the registration of ownership of the apartment occurred in violation of legislative acts or the applicant disagrees with the refusal, he has the right to file a lawsuit.

Evasion of mandatory registration

All transactions related to various real estate activities are subject to official registration. However, in practice, situations often arise when the seller believes that formalizing the purchase and sale of an apartment consists solely of signing the relevant agreement. He receives money for real estate and avoids appearing at Rosreestr. In this regard, the buyer of the property cannot formalize the right to the purchased apartment in the proper manner.

If no amount of persuasion works, a bona fide buyer can rely only on the protection of the court. He has the legal right to file a claim in court. If state registration is impossible only because the seller of the apartment evades it, then the agreement to transfer ownership of the apartment can be registered in court. And according to it, Rosreestr will be obliged to issue a certificate of registration of rights to real estate.

Features of registering the right to a mortgaged apartment

When registering the right to an apartment purchased on credit, there are certain nuances. Such real estate becomes the property of the borrower immediately, even before its cost is fully repaid to the lender. Therefore, registration of ownership must be done before repaying the loan.

As with any other type of real estate, documents are submitted to Rosreestr. However, in addition to the standard list, a collateral agreement is additionally requested. It states that if the mortgage conditions are violated, the property will be transferred to the disposal of the mortgagee, who is a credit institution.

Most banks are in close contact with real estate agents. Therefore, their employees often offer to take control of the issue of registration of property rights. You can only do this if you have complete confidence in the professionalism and honesty of your lender. Before doing this, you must at least make sure that the financial institution is a member of the All-Russian Guild of Realtors. If problems arise, the same organization can provide qualified legal support.

How to register ownership of an apartment in a new building?

At the initial stage of registering ownership of an apartment in a new building, it is necessary to ensure that the developer complies with the following conditions:

drawing up a protocol for dividing residential commercial real estate;
signing a transfer deed, which is issued by the State Construction and Architectural Organization;
registering the house with Rosreestr;
availability of a technical passport for the house from the BTI;
obtaining a Permit to put the house into operation (issued by local authorities);
assigning a postal address to the house.

You can find out about the availability of all the above documents directly at the office of the developer. If all the documents are in order, but the desired certificate has not been issued, then you can file a claim in court. Often, developers themselves push their clients to go to court, citing the fact that this way registration will be faster.

The main advantage of registering the right to housing through a developer is that a responsible company is responsible for collecting and submitting documents. However, this process is often delayed, since there are many shareholders, and documents are submitted to Rosreestr en masse. You can register your right to housing much faster if you take care of this issue yourself.

Independent registration of ownership of an apartment in a new building

State registration of an apartment is carried out in 2 stages: collecting documents and submitting them to Rosreestr.

Initially you need to prepare:

Transfer deed for housing (can be obtained from the construction organization).
Cadastral passport for an apartment with an extract (apartment plan).
Permission from guardianship authorities (in case of a minor child living in an apartment).
Mortgage and mortgage agreement (when purchasing real estate on credit).

A representative of the construction company must be present at the registration stage. Registration occurs in the following sequence:

Future homeowners apply to the Registration Chamber with the above documents, as well as passports and birth certificates of children. If the registration is carried out by an authorized person, then an additional notarized power of attorney must be submitted.
An application for registration of property rights is filled out electronically by an employee of Rosreestr and signed by the home owners.
A state registration fee is paid. This can be done at any bank branch. If there are several owners, then the amount of the duty is distributed among them in equal proportions.
An employee of the Registration Chamber checks the presence of all owners of the residential premises and the developer’s representative, as well as the presence of the necessary documents. After this, a receipt is issued for the acceptance of documents indicating the time of issue of the certificate for the apartment.
Verification and registration are carried out within 30 days. However, there are cases when this period is extended, for example, if the housing is encumbered with a mortgage or there are many apartment owners.
At the specified time, each owner can receive his own personal copy of the transfer deed and certificate of registration of title. Documents are issued using a passport and an issued receipt.

At this point, registration of ownership of an apartment in a new building is considered complete.

How to submit documents

There are several ways to submit documents for property registration:

in the offices of Rosreestr;
in the MFC;
in electronic form (on the website rosreestr.gov.ru);
by post (to the Rosreestr office where the property is located).

If property registration is carried out by veterans and/or disabled people of the Great Patriotic War or disabled people of groups I and II, it is possible for a Rosreestr employee to visit your home.

To register property rights without the personal presence of the owner, you need to issue a power of attorney from a notary. It is important to clearly define the agent’s powers so that there is no abuse on his part.

Registration of property with a mortgage

If an apartment in a new building was purchased with a mortgage, then it is pledged to the bank. To register property in this case, you will need the following documents:

mortgage agreement;
agreement with the developer;
pledge agreement;
the lender's consent to use the apartment.

If the mortgage agreement contains an obligation to formalize the mortgage, this needs to be discussed with the bank. It may be enough to sign an additional agreement to cancel the mortgage.

After repaying the mortgage, you need to register the removal of the encumbrance from the apartment. As a rule, banks themselves issue the necessary documents when the debt is closed. After this, you need to provide the MFC with:

application for release of collateral;
passport;
a mortgage note from a bank with a note of redemption;
credit agreement;
an extract from the Unified State Register confirming ownership.

Registration of an apartment with maternity capital

Children are entitled to a share in new housing if maternity capital was used when purchasing real estate in a new building. It is necessary to allocate a share when registering property rights - this is a requirement of the guardianship authorities.

If the property was purchased with a mortgage and at the time of registration of ownership it has not been repaid, it is necessary to obtain permission from the bank and guardianship authorities. The bank must agree to the allocation of shares in the collateral real estate, and the guardianship authorities must agree to pledge the children’s shares.

Registration of property rights for children under 14 years of age occurs upon the application of the parents. Children over 14 years old can sign the application themselves with parental consent.

The amount of the state duty is divided in the same amount in which the shares were distributed. For example, if the shares are registered equally among four family members, then the state duty will be 500 rubles. per person. You need to pay with different receipts on behalf of each family member.

Registration of property through the developer

From July 13, 2021, developers can register ownership of completed apartments on behalf of shareholders. To do this, you do not need to issue a power of attorney - the developer will act on the basis of Federal Law No. 202-FZ

The process of registering an apartment through the developer is as follows:

The developer rents out the house and registers it with the cadastral register.
The developer applies to Rosreestr with an application to register ownership rights on behalf of the shareholder.
After registration, the developer provides the shareholder with an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate.
The shareholder submits a share participation agreement or assignment of rights to the MFC to affix a Rosreestr stamp on registration of ownership rights.

The state fee when registering property through a construction company still needs to be paid. The developer can do this, and the owner will then reimburse these costs.

Where to register?

The procedure for registering ownership of an apartment is determined by legislative act No. 218, which came into force on January 1, 2017. According to the regulations, you can register:

Using a real estate agency is a convenient option because it does not require the personal presence of the apartment owner, since all the work will be done for him by specialists in real estate transactions. It is enough just to issue a power of attorney from a notary to execute documents through a third party.
Through the State Services website, the portal helps to carry out various official transactions, including registering property rights. To do this, you need to fill out a standard application form and upload scanned images of all necessary documents. The advantages of this method include the absence of queues and an individual reception at the registrar at the appointed time, notification of which you receive in advance by mail.
By contacting the MFC, the center’s specialists will help you fill out the papers and check them for compliance with state standards. As practice shows, in the future this can significantly minimize the risk of refusal to issue a certificate.

Briefly - how to register ownership of an apartment in 2021

When signing the transfer and acceptance certificate, check with the developer about the time frame for registering the new building with the cadastral register or wait for a notification from him.
Collect a package of necessary documents (passport, contract, acceptance certificate, cadastral passport, state duty).
Submit documents for registration to Rosreestr: in person at the MFC or Rosreestr office, online on the Rosreestr website or through an intermediary.
Receive a paper or electronic extract from the Unified State Register within 7-9 business days.
It is worth consulting with the bank manager in advance about additional steps if the apartment was purchased with a mortgage.
Despite the fact that the law does not indicate how long it takes to register ownership of an apartment, it is better not to delay. Without state registration, you will not be considered the full owner of the home.

Registration procedure

Of course, it is possible not to register ownership of the apartment, but in this case the person will not be the full owner of the apartment, since only the certificate of ownership of the property is a valid document in this case.

The procedure for registering ownership of an apartment is as follows:

collect a package of documents;
make an application;
pay the state fee;
attach the application and receipt for payment of the state duty to the package of documents and submit them to Rosreestr;
obtain a certificate or refusal to issue a document.

After the registrar receives and checks the package of documents, the applicant receives a corresponding receipt and takes the original documents, leaving only copies for the further procedure. In the latter case, you need to correct the mistakes made and go through the registration procedure again. If the refusal was unlawful, then the person has the right to go to court with a corresponding statement of claim.