Definition of "self-capture"
Civil and legal entities can own land, and ownership can be either temporary or permanent, and occur free of charge or for a fee.
The law provides several legal rights to own land:
- Rental of territories;
- Purchase of territory under a sales contract;
- Acquisition of land by inheritance;
- Purchase of territory from the authorities or municipality at auction;
There are also other grounds that give the right to own land. They are described in the Land Code of the Russian Federation and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Each listed legal basis for land ownership, even though it is a temporary owner of the territory or a permanent one, gives him the right to protect his rights from unwanted and illegal actions of third parties. And protection from unauthorized seizure of territory is also included in this right.
As the Land Code and Civil Code of the Russian Federation states, unauthorized seizure of land occurs in the following situations:
- The owner of the territory acts against the law. This may be an illegal expansion of the territory of a land plot (examples are the transfer of fences to adjacent territory without legal grounds);
- Construction of a building, part of which overlooks someone else’s land plot or deliberate construction on its territory;
- Placing personal property on the territory of someone else’s land plot without the consent of its owner;
- Conducting activities on the territory of someone else’s land plot, without having the appropriate documents giving the right to do so;
- Conducting commercial activities on land without a previously issued document giving the right to engage in business;
IMPORTANT !!! The legal rights holders of territories where unauthorized seizure has been detected have the right to put forward demands to violators to eliminate legal violations. If the request is not granted, then the legal owners of the land have every right to use the protection of their personal rights.
Where to complain about land grabs?
The owner of the land has the right to stop any attempts to seize his property. The law is clearly on his side. In case of seizure of a land plot, its legal owner must:
Submit a written complaint. It is handed over against signature or sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.
File a complaint with the supervisory authority. Depending on the type of land, this may be Rosselkhoznadzor, Rosprirodnadzor or the Prosecutor's Office. You can file a complaint through Rosreestr.
Go to court. If pre-trial measures do not help solve the problem, all that remains is to apply to the district court at the location of the land. You must first collect all documents and other evidence of violation of the plaintiff’s rights. In court, you can recover compensation for damages and moral damages.
How to protect yourself from self-seizure of territories
The legal owner of a land plot has the exclusive right to protect and restore his legal rights that have been violated. This also applies to the unauthorized seizure of its territory.
There are several protection options that can be carried out if the owner wishes:
- Independent protection of your rights. For example, the owner of a site has every right to remove illegally installed fences by another person from his site.
- Appeal to the violator in writing, demanding to stop illegal actions on the territory of the copyright holder.
- Appeal to the State Land Supervision Service with a written complaint, which puts forward a requirement to visit the land plot with an inspection and establish the legality of the actions taken. If illegal actions are detected, the violator is brought to administrative responsibility.
- Applying to the court with a corresponding claim, in which the owner of the land demands that the violator be held accountable for his illegal actions.
The listed methods of protection against violation of personal rights apply to both civilians and legal entities, as well as public organizations. In order to be able to make a claim, you must have in hand documents establishing the right to own the territory.
IMPORTANT !!! It is worth knowing that there are no ownerless lands on the territory of the Russian Federation, and even if there are no buildings on the territory, this does not mean that they can be seized without permission. Any land plot in Russia belongs to the state and illegal use of land is punishable by law.
But how do you know that the rights of the land owner have been violated? First of all, you need to know the data set out in the boundary plan. As a rule, this is what documents from 2013 determine the exact boundaries of the land. If the owner of the land received it before 2013, and he does not have a boundary plan, then to determine his boundaries he will have to involve a cadastral engineer, who will draw up the necessary document.
It is the boundary plan that can reveal the seizure of someone else’s territory, since when it is drawn up, not only the boundaries are determined, but also the fact of agreement between the owners of adjacent territories.
Unauthorized seizure of land occurs if there is no written or oral consent of the owner of the land, giving the right to another person to dispose of his land or install buildings on it.
ATTENTION !!! In the event that neighbors have agreed among themselves on the use of their adjacent plots, then liability for land seizure may not arise even in court. For example, if a neighbor, by verbal agreement with another neighbor, used his garden for 10 years, then when a court case is initiated, he will be obliged to simply stop using someone else’s land, but he will not suffer any responsibility or punishment for this.
Lawyer for land registration in Yekaterinburg
If you need legalization of land squatting, then you can do it with our lawyer: professionally, on favorable terms and on time.
If your neighbor has squatted a plot of land, which violates your rights, then in this case an application is submitted to the prosecutor's office for illegal seizure of land. Or a complaint is filed with the land committee, after which the complaint is considered and the signal is responded to.
In any situation, our lawyer for land disputes at the Law Office “Katsailidi and Partners” can help you today; you just need to sign up for a preliminary consultation.
What responsibilities are provided?
The seizure of someone else's territory, according to current legislation, entails the following:
- Receiving a written or oral demand to vacate the land plot of another owner;
- Receiving a claim in which a demand is made to compensate for losses from lost profits of the owner while his land was in exploitation by the violator;
- Receiving a subpoena. During legal proceedings, the violator must forcibly vacate the land, and funds will be collected from him to eliminate the violations he has committed. For example, money may be charged to demolish an illegally built fence.
In order for the court to consider a case of unauthorized seizure of territory, it is necessary to confirm your legal right to the land plot. In the event that the plaintiff cannot provide the court with title documents for the land, since he does not have them (this can happen if the land was received according to the rules still in force in the USSR, and the archives on the distribution of land were not preserved), then he it will be necessary to write a statement requesting recognition of his rights to the property.
IMPORTANT !!! After the court establishes the legal rights to own the land, the plaintiff must contact Rosreestr to register his property in accordance with all the necessary rules.
After the owner of the land with existing title documents for the land comes to court to protect his rights from unauthorized seizure of the territory by another person, the violator will be called to administrative and civil liability.
The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, namely its Article 7.1, establishes the rules according to which the violator will be brought to administrative responsibility. Moreover, not only those who knowingly carried out an unauthorized seizure of someone else’s territory are subject to sanctions, but also those who did it unknowingly. For example, a land tenant who does not renew the lease agreement with the owner on time may also be subject to sanctions.
Appeal against refusal to register land
An appeal against a refusal to legitimize and register a land plot depends on who is refusing and on what basis.
If cadastral registration is refused, then the refusal is appealed according to the rules of the CAS of the Russian Federation, and an administrative claim is filed in court. The judge will examine all the circumstances of the appeal against the refusal to legalize land squatting, on what grounds the person was refused and to what extent the grounds for the refusal comply with the law. If the court establishes the fact of an unlawful refusal to legitimize the land that was seized, then the plaintiff’s claim will be satisfied and the refusal will be declared illegal.
If the refusal is expressed in the neighbors’ objections to agreeing on boundaries, then the dispute is resolved through a claim proceeding according to the rules of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. Taking into account what requirements will be stated by the plaintiff, a land survey may be necessary.
Specific punishments for seizing someone else's territory
Regardless of whether the territory belonging to another owner was partially or completely seized, the violator will be required to bear responsibility under the laws of the Russian Federation. The fine for the illegal use of someone else's land is assessed taking into account the area of the entire plot, as well as the cost that was indicated in the cadastral passport. In addition, the size of the fine also depends on which entity carried out the seizure.
So, as of 2021, the amount of the fine is equal to:
- For civilians - 1.5% of the value of the land indicated in the cadastral passport and 5 thousand rubles.
- For officials - 2% of the cost of land and 20 thousand rubles.
- For legal entities - from 2 to 3% of the cadastral price and 100 thousand rubles.
It is worth noting that individual entrepreneurs are not considered individuals, but organizations, and therefore the fine will be the same amount as for legal entities.
In addition to a fine, the violator will be required to return the seized land to its original form. This rule applies in cases where any changes are clearly visible on the ground. By a court decision, the culprit is obliged to remove all buildings erected on someone else’s land, or the injured person will be given the constructed objects in the form of compensation.
Also, in some cases, the violator may be held criminally liable.
This can happen if:
- squatting is directly related to another offense;
- the squatting occurred as a result of deception or acts of a fraudulent nature;
- the rules governing the disposal of real estate were not followed;
As judicial practice shows, cases concerning unauthorized seizure of territory in almost all cases are resolved in favor of the injured party. In addition, the violator is brought not only to civil, administrative, and even sometimes criminal liability, but, if necessary, he is obliged to pay compensation at the request of the victim.
Is it possible to legally register squatted lands?
Judicial practice shows that in some situations, squatted territories can be legalized, however, the violator is still not exempt from administrative liability and is required to pay a fine. Before you seize a seemingly unoccupied territory, you need to find out who owns it (very often the land is at the disposal of the forest fund). To obtain ownerless land as personal property, you must submit a corresponding application to the authorities, who, if they agree to a meeting, will register the land with the municipality and then rent it out.
