I own a metal garage in the ODO area, besides me there are also metal garages nearby. For two years, the administration of the Kirovsky district of Yekaterinburg tried to remove them, but the garage cooperative managed to negotiate with the administration. And now a letter has come from the administration that all garages need to be removed urgently by September. What to do?
Such questions, and on the contrary, how to demolish a garage, come to our lawyer for consultation with citizens. Let's look at this problem in more detail in this article.
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How to avoid demolition of a metal garage?
In answer to our Principal’s question, we can say: Since your garage is your property, which must be confirmed by relevant documents, the administration does not have the right to demolish these garages. Even if it's the city hall. Let's understand the procedure for demolishing metal garages.
On this issue, one can rely on the explanations of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated August 3, 2015, which states that when making decisions in favor of officials on the demolition of garages, courts of general jurisdiction do not always correctly make their decisions on land matters and the demolition of iron garages. This explanation follows a practice similar to your case and everything is “tied” precisely to evidence, to documents that confirm ownership.
It should be said that it is necessary to establish on whose land the garage is located. After clarifying this fact, you can try to conclude a lease agreement for the land plot so that the mayor’s office cannot demolish it without reason.
We need to find out at what point the garage has been on this land. And build on this when concluding a lease agreement with the land owner.
However, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 76 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, actions that violate the land rights of citizens and legal entities or create a threat of their violation can be stopped by, inter alia, restoring the situation that existed before the violation of the right and suppressing actions that violate right or creating a threat of its violation.
By virtue of paragraph 2 of Article 76 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, unauthorized occupied land plots are returned to their owners, land users, landowners, tenants of land plots without reimbursement of costs incurred by persons guilty of violating land legislation during the illegal use of these land plots.
If you really can’t come to an agreement with the administration regarding the lease, then you are powerless here. If you do not dismantle the garage in due time, you will be held administratively liable and subject to an administrative fine, in addition, the administration will vacate the land plot through the courts (Appeal ruling dated May 23, 2019 No. 33-3014).
Hello, garage
It is known that the authorities of large and small cities have been fighting against garages for several years and in most cases they are fighting successfully. The scheme of these “garage” battles is primitive - officials announce to car owners that a private garage is interfering with their plans and therefore the garage will be removed. As a rule, garages are destroyed by decisions of local courts, which in the absolute majority side with officials.
But judging by the latest decisions of the Supreme Court, the “garage” verdicts of local courts are not always flawless and are made on the basis of the law. The importance of these two verdicts is that the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases explained when and under what circumstances citizens’ garages cannot be touched and why individual court decisions made by local courts violate the rights of car owners.
So, the prefecture appealed to the Gagarinsky court of the capital with a claim for the demolition of the garage of citizen Gryzlova.
In it, the garage was called a metal box, and the owner did not have “duly executed documents for the land.” The citizen had to carry out the demolition within a week, otherwise the prefecture would do it itself, but would recover the costs from the defendant. The court ruled in favor of the officials.
The Moscow City Court completely agreed with this verdict. The Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases stated that both the district and city courts violated the law.
The Supreme Court began with the history of the garage issue. Back in 1975, there was a decision by the executive committee of the Oktyabrsky district to allocate a place for construction to the disabled front-line soldier Gryzlov and his neighbors “as an exception for temporary metal boxes.” By decision of local officials and a letter from the district architect, Gryzlov erected a garage to store the Zaporozhets car, which was provided free of charge to the front-line soldier by the state. The veteran died in 1988, and at the same time the Social Security Administration allowed his daughter to keep the Zaporozhets. The already rare car is still alive and lives where it was - in box N22.
The district court reasoned this way. The defendant has no evidence that she is using the land under the garage legally. And there are no documents that she was allowed to build a garage. And the permission from 1975 was temporary. And it was given to her father, which does not give the daughter any rights to the land.
The Supreme Court responded to these statements by clarifying the procedure for demolition of objects. It is spelled out in our civil legislation. The court recalled that in 2010, a joint plenum of the Supreme and Supreme Arbitration Courts considered claims for recognition of ownership of an unauthorized construction. It emphasized that the lack of a construction permit cannot be grounds for refusal to recognize property rights. And if the only sign of unauthorized construction is the absence of a construction permit or an act of commissioning, then the construction must be recognized. Provided that it does not violate building codes and does not threaten the lives of others. And the front-line soldier’s garage appeared legally in 1975. The current courts, neither the district nor the city, have given any hint as to what standards were violated during the construction of the garage.
The courts did not name the norms that the pensioner violated during the construction of the garage and for many years of its use
The Supreme Court recalled that the garage has never been recognized as an unauthorized construction in its long history: neither when it was built, nor when it was in operation, nor when it interfered with officials now. There are simply no other grounds for demolition in the law. The district court said: there is no evidence that the garage is a piece of real estate and there is a right of ownership to it. The Supreme Court noted that the courts did not provide a single piece of evidence why boxing is not an object of real estate.
Since the garage appeared a long time ago, before the Civil Code came into force, registration of ownership of the box was not required then. But the lack of registration is not an obstacle to recognizing a garage as a real estate property. “Temporary” placement is not an argument. No documents indicate the period until which the permit is valid. And this deadline was not canceled in accordance with the established procedure.
And the local courts forgot that, when resolving a dispute, it is necessary to apply the rules of law in force at that time. The Supreme Court also responded to the argument of its colleagues that permission was given only to disabled front-line soldiers. The court recalled the joint Plenum. According to it, the heir has the right to ask for the transfer of ownership rights. The right to use a plot is a property right and is inherited. The Supreme Court ordered the “garage” case to be reviewed anew, taking into account its clarifications.
The hero of the second “garage” case was war veteran and disabled person Alexey Tyshchenko. He lives in the southern district of the capital and asked to recognize his ownership of his brick garage. There were 18 garages like his. And they have existed since 1980. The garages were capital; back in those years, Mosenergo installed a meter in the garage association, and motorists paid for electricity. But the Chertanovsky court refused to formalize the ownership rights to the war veteran. The Moscow City Court agreed. But the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court studied the veteran’s arguments and said that he was right, not the judges.
The Executive Committee made a decision on the construction of garages legally back in 1973. Already in our time, in 2003, there was a meeting of the garage commission of the district government, where the application of a veteran to register a plot of land under his garage was considered. The veteran was respected and permission was given. The prefect signed an order to provide the pensioner with land for rent under a brick garage. But the Chertanovsky court, refusing the veteran, stated that the plaintiff “did not submit permitting documentation confirming his right to create or occupy the disputed facility.” And the garage, according to the court, definitely falls within the definition of an unauthorized construction. Once again, the Supreme Court reminded its colleagues about the joint plenum dedicated to the protection of property rights. And he emphasized that in refusing the veteran, the district and city courts did not bother to name the norms that the pensioner violated at the time when the garage was built in the early 70s of the last century and then operated for decades. No one has ever challenged the veteran’s right to provide a plot of land and build a garage on it. And his rights were not revoked. The court once again emphasized that the absence of a piece of paper with a construction permit cannot be a basis for refusal to recognize property rights.
And another important point - according to the Civil Code (Article 234), if a person owned openly any thing without being its owner for five years, and real estate for 15 years, then he acquires ownership of it. This is the so-called “acquisitive prescription.” In this regard, the Supreme Court emphasizes that the front-line soldier owned the garage for 34 years. And all these decades, local officials did not raise the issue of demolishing the allegedly unauthorized building. The Supreme Court called the mistakes made by the courts serious and ordered a complete review of this “garage” case.
Where can I complain about an illegally installed garage?
You can complain about an illegally installed garage to local authorities, namely to the department that checks compliance with land legislation by citizens and organizations (in Yekaterinburg this is the land committee of the city administration).
Based on the results of the inspection (if a violation is detected), a decision is made against the violator to impose an administrative penalty in the form of a fine. Unfortunately, this measure often does not stimulate the citizen to eliminate the violation.
In addition, the solution to this issue is further complicated by the fact that it is not always easy to establish the identity of the offender. The applicants themselves can make this task easier by providing the last name, first name, patronymic, state number of the vehicle or the address of residence of the citizen who owns the illegally installed garage.
USEFUL : watch the video with the rules for filing complaints, and also order from us the registration of this appeal to the regulatory authorities
In Kursk, an illegal garage on Pavlunovsky Street was dismantled
In the regional center, the fight against illegal stalls, garages and other buildings continues.
The public volunteer movement “Clean North-West”, organized by entrepreneur Alexey Kasatkin, is constantly involved in solving problems of city improvement. For example, raids on the North-Western microdistrict of Kursk contributed to the removal of an entire block of unauthorized garage boxes near school No. 59 and the clearing of a vacant lot.
— Recently, participants in our project drew attention to garbage and illegal garages near the house on Suvorovskaya Street, 17, at the intersection with Pavlunovsky. We reported this to the media and to the administration with a proposal to restore order there,” said Alexey Kasatkin, head of the Clean North-West organization.
News agency KURSKCITY joined the action. Journalists called the public utilities department of the administration of the Central Administrative District of Kursk with a request to comment on the situation. The next day, utility workers appeared near the garages, they cleaned the sidewalk and removed garbage along the road.
Then the owner of one of the boxes suddenly arrived and began preparing it for dismantling. He began cutting down branches around the structure. In a conversation, he explained to the journalist that he received a call from the administration and demanded that he urgently remove the illegal structure.
— Yesterday they told me by phone to clean out the garage. I recently bought it for 50 thousand rubles, the former owners live across the road. If you sell it for scrap metal, it will be 25 thousand. But I’ll move it to another place,” the owner said.
A few days later, more precisely on April 27, the owner of the garage appeared along with special equipment. The manipulator loaded the metal box and took it away in an unknown direction. A mountain of rubbish remained on a black rectangle of trampled earth.
More than two weeks have passed since then, and no one is in a hurry to remove the garbage. Judging by the cadastral map, this plot of land belongs to the municipality. But for Kursk, garbage on secondary streets is no exception. It seems that they do not surprise even the officials responsible for cleanliness and order.
The Department of Public Utilities of the Central District of Kursk refused to give us an official comment. It is known from open sources that just last year, 25 illegally installed garages were dismantled in the Central Administrative District. The work is being carried out in accordance with the plan and funding.
Although, as the case with the garage at the intersection of Suvorovskaya and Pavlunovsky showed, it is not always necessary to spend budget money to demolish illegal buildings. Sometimes one phone call to the owner is enough.
For your information. At Suvorovskaya, 17, there are still two illegally installed garages.
How to force the garage to be cleaned?
Only a court can force a citizen to remove a metal structure.
Both the owner of the land plot (whose rights have been violated) and his authorized representative have the right to file a claim.
Thus, if the site belongs to the owners of an apartment building, then the owners of the building themselves can go to court. If the territory on which the metal structure is erected is municipally owned, then the administrative body initiates the legal process.
What is needed to obtain permission to install a garage in the courtyard of a high-rise building
How to legally install a garage in the courtyard of a high-rise building? Are you ready for a long legal ordeal? Then carefully study what documents and actions will be required.
Many people solve the problem in a simpler way - they install a sectional prefabricated metal garage without a foundation and hope for a Russian “maybe”. Because a fine for unauthorized construction and relocation of a garage will cost less than legal state registration.
Perhaps amendments will be made to the legislation to quickly and inexpensively install a garage in the yard, but today car owners in cities have two options - a garage cooperative or unauthorized development.
If you decide to follow the letter of the Law, then remember that it is very difficult to obtain permission for a garage in the yard, but you will receive a decision to demolish your garage, which the administration did not yet know about, very quickly.
Why is it difficult to legalize a garage in the yard and who to contact to obtain a lease agreement for the land plot of interest:
- housing maintenance office supervising your home;
- the yard is the property of the residents of the house (apartment owners);
- your yard is municipal property.
It is not enough to solve the problem of how to find a plot of land; you need to agree with the land owners on the right to lease. Only when you have received the go-ahead from the owners of apartments in the building, from the housing office or the head of the town planning committee, collect a package of documents:
- we write an application to the city commission for combating unauthorized construction with a request to transfer your garage to private ownership;
- We attach copies of the following documents to the application: we declare a declaration on the construction of a garage;
- cadastre plan of the land plot;
- garage registration certificate;
- we receive a certificate confirming that there are no complaints from the residents of the house;
- You also need a certificate of no claims from municipal authorities - but it is almost impossible to obtain this document.
The City Commission for Architecture and Construction will give a positive decision in two cases:
- When constructing the garage, you complied with all the necessary building codes, rules and by-laws of the municipality;
- all owners of the land plot have no claims or demands for the plot and the building itself.
Such a legal solution to the issue will cost from 7 to 8 thousand rubles and does not guarantee a positive answer. But don’t give up; if you receive a refusal, you can go to court.
A self-built garage
There is no compensation for the demolition of an unauthorized garage; it is good if you manage to vacate it in time and pick up the property stored in the garage.
If a garage is erected without permission on an arbitrarily occupied territory, then no protection against the demolition of the garage will work here, since obtaining ownership of such a building is quite problematic, almost impossible. Although you can, of course, try, it will take a lot of time and effort. There are two ways to legalize such a garage:
- Submit an application to the commission for the suppression of unauthorized development to preserve the garage.
- Apply to the court with a request to legalize the unauthorized construction.
You will need to provide a package of documents:
- Evidence of the applicant’s own construction of the garage (work certificates, estimates, contracts signed by this person, invoices, checks, etc.).
- An extract from the state register confirming that there are no claims of other persons to the object.
- Garage registration certificate.
- Certificate of compliance with fire safety and sanitary standards.
- Evidence of non-violation of the interests of third parties.
And some other documents that may be required by the self-government authorities of your region.
Important! If the land on which the garage is built is not intended for development, then it will not be possible to obtain ownership of the structure, and the owner will not receive compensation if the garage is demolished.
