Who are “black realtors” and how do they work: fraud schemes used in the secondary market and in new buildings. Black realtors

Purchasing real estate is one of the most serious events in a person’s life and, of course, such a purchase must be planned with special care and maximum caution.
It's no secret that the real estate market also attracts those who want to make money through fraud and deception. Various frauds in the real estate industry are unfortunately very common.
In order to avoid falling into the hands of so-called “black realtors” and simply swindlers, you need to know what deception schemes exist when making a real estate transaction.
Buyers of apartments and houses are deceived much more often than sellers. At the same time, “black realtors” use a great variety of methods of fraud, but the most common are the following.
1) “Invalid transaction.” After selling a home, a person files a lawsuit with a request to declare the transaction invalid for some reason. By court decision, the seller is returned his apartment, and the buyer is given the amount specified in the contract. As a rule, in order to reduce taxes, the contract specifies a significantly lower amount than what was actually paid for the apartment. Thus, at best, the buyer gets back the amount under the contract, and the seller keeps the apartment and makes a good profit.
2) “Tenant not allowed to travel abroad.” After selling an apartment or house, a person continues to occupy the living space, citing the fact that he has nowhere to live. The court usually forces the apartment owner to return the money to the buyer. The property owner states that he has already spent the money or it was stolen from him, and he will gradually return it from his salary. Since he does not refuse to pay, it is difficult to apply any sanctions to him. But even if he officially receives a salary, no more than 30 percent can be withdrawn from the debt. With an average salary, the buyer will be able to return the money spent in 50-70 years.
3) “Simultaneous selling session” Selling an apartment to several people at the same time. A citizen leaving abroad, having made duplicate documents, within one day in different notary offices certifies the purchase and sale agreement, receives the money - and leaves abroad with a suitcase full of money. In this case, only one of the buyers will be lucky - the one who manages to register it first.
4) "Pay-per-view". Some “firms” charge a little money for viewing options. They take clients to different apartments (many of which the owners don’t even think about selling), and when interest arises, they set impossible conditions or prices. Buyers refuse, but you won’t get your money back for viewing.
5) “Privatization based on trust.” An advertisement is posted for the sale of a non-privatized apartment. The buyer is given a full package of documents for registration of privatization and purchase and sale of apartments, and is also given a power of attorney to complete the above transactions, while the seller receives money. Next, the so-called seller applies for the loss of documents for the apartment, restores them, privatizes the apartment and resells it to a third party.

To avoid becoming victims of scammers, we recommend:
- Conduct a real estate purchase and sale transaction, preferably through a real estate agency, and not through random people who willingly agreed to act as intermediaries. When contacting real estate agencies, carefully read the agency’s documents and details. The actual and legal addresses must be the same. When meeting an agent, ask for his passport and write down his details for yourself. In addition, he must have with him a power of attorney from the company, indicating that he (she) is indeed a representative of this company and is authorized to carry out the relevant transactions.
- Require employees and management of the real estate agency to enter into an agreement for intermediary services.
- Be careful with people who want to do everything urgently, rush you, and take care of all the paperwork themselves, citing their existing connections.
If you nevertheless decide to find an apartment for yourself (or buyers for your apartment), keep in mind: the participation of specialists is necessary, at least in the final stages of completing the transaction. Specialists will ensure timely preparation of documents and help the buyer find out how “clean” the apartment is, for example: whether there are encumbrances on the apartment, whether registered persons remained in the apartment before the purchase and sale transaction, etc.
To summarize, I would like to emphasize once again that the secondary real estate market is very large, and in addition to unscrupulous real estate agencies, “black realtors,” there are also professional reliable real estate companies and decent professional private brokers, but no one is immune from the fact that you personally will not encounter a real estate scammer or simply an incompetent realtor.
A real estate development and research agency operating in the real estate market for more than five years will become a reliable partner for you, guaranteeing high quality of services provided and security of transactions.

Black realtors often appear on TV in crime stories. This is the most dangerous category of intermediaries. A meeting with them always ends tragically. They can deprive you of your life and your apartment. They work as part of criminal groups whose goal is to take possession of real estate at any cost. They use deception, violence and murder in their work.

After reading the article, you will understand how not to get into their sight and not become prey. Who works together with them and how they can be evicted from the apartment. You will see stories and a documentary about black realtors. Our goal is to help figure it out, because the issue is very important and can affect everyone. We will give recommendations and talk about protection methods. This article contains all the working methods and schemes of fraud of black realtors for 2019.

Who are black realtors?

This is a private broker or employee of a real estate agency who, through fraudulent transactions, deception and violence, tries to take possession of real estate. They are called black because their working methods are often associated with death and crime. There are no borders or laws for them. There is only a fine line when the court can give a suspended sentence, release a person altogether, or sentence him to life imprisonment. A black realtor's career usually ends in prison.

Schemes of black realtors

The entire field of real estate agency services is built on deception. It all starts with minor deceptions, but then some intermediaries’ work becomes like the plot of a horror film. And most importantly, you never know in advance who is a black realtor or just a scammer.

Various schemes are being invented. The main goal is to take possession of real estate or money for it. The owners are treated in cold blood. Some are taken to another city to live in a barracks, others are simply killed. Deception, crime and any methods of violence are used. These people don't care what happens to you and your family. Below we will look at all the main schemes of black realtors.

Take a person away - sell an apartment

The scheme works with gullible, lonely people, pensioners and alcoholics. Having received information about a good apartment, a black realtor is looking for a way to gain trust and deceive. Alcoholics are drunk with vodka. Pensioners are being deceived. They may promise to exchange housing, help sell or exchange for a better apartment.

And then they act according to circumstances. The goal at this stage is to rewrite the apartment. Those who do not agree to give up their apartment voluntarily are forced to use physical violence. You need to obtain a general power of attorney for further sale. As soon as the power of attorney is signed, the owner is in great danger. Often, after a transaction, people are taken to live in a dilapidated rural house. Helpless and weak old people are driven to death. And if all methods do not work, then they simply kill to cover their tracks.

The price of the apartment contributes to any turn of events. People disappear from behind their apartments, end up in a mental hospital, and die mysteriously. After this, the property becomes the property of new owners, who may not have known about the sad fate of the previous owner. And the black realtors and their accomplices rejoice and divide the money. By writing out a power of attorney to an intermediary under various pretexts, you are in great danger and will almost immediately lose your apartment. Remember this.

Withdraw money after payment

After helping to sell an apartment, black realtors sometimes forcefully, sometimes voluntarily put the former owner in their car and take them away from the city. They can simply take the money at the exit from the notary and hide. They can take you out and strangle you with a rope along the way. You need to be very careful after the transaction and not get into the cars of realtors or their accomplices. Worry in advance about how you will carry the money.

Loan agreement secured by an apartment

This scheme is no longer fraudulent, there is no violence. A black realtor promises to give money as collateral for your apartment. The person agrees and goes to the notary to sign the agreement. But instead of a loan agreement, the intermediary slips in a purchase and sale agreement, arguing that this is a loan, that’s what everyone does. The victim signs, and at the same moment loses the apartment.

Forgery of contract

The scheme is similar to the previous deception. Black realtors often take advantage of people's simple legal ignorance. Few people read contracts in full and understand the essence of each clause. This is what intermediaries take advantage of. They tell you one thing, but they slip you a completely different agreement. Instead of a preliminary agreement, immediately the main one. By signing it, you think that you are only agreeing on the terms and taking an advance, but in fact you have already lost your apartment. Instead of a power of attorney for the provision of interests, they can enclose a general power of attorney. In all cases, you lose your apartment.

Video about black realtors from Kyiv who killed people for 2 years

Apartment raiding

There is a category of black realtors who buy shares in apartments. They buy half or any part of the apartment with the second owner. Having completely legal ownership rights, they simply ring the bell and enter the apartment. Or they cut off doors and locks and break in. When they move into an apartment, they create unbearable living conditions for the second owner. That's why they are often called survivalists.

Realtors introduce a cheerful group of criminals and they already influence the second owner. They force him out of the apartment by removing the toilet and plumbing, breaking out windows and doors. They are turning the apartment into a garbage dump and a very dangerous place to live. They threaten reprisals and murder to anyone who gets in their way. The goal is to buy part of the owner’s apartment for a low cost. And after that, sell the apartment completely.

Sale of apartments of deceased

The scheme is very common among black realtors. Informants send them details of apartments where a person has just died or has not been home for a long time. You need an apartment where no one lives and no one will disturb you. After this, a false power of attorney is created. Using this power of attorney, a lock picker is summoned. Together with them, they enter the apartment on a seemingly legal basis.

The owner’s things can be taken out, or they can leave them, taking away the most valuable ones. After this, black realtors falsify certificates from the Housing Office and other documents necessary for the transaction. And through the purchased notary, the apartment is re-registered to the new owner. And no one cares that when the old owner or his relatives find out about this scam, there will be a lawsuit against the apartment. New tenants will sue the old ones. And the black realtors simply scammed everyone and made money.

Lifetime maintenance agreement

In this way, pensioners and lonely old people are deceived and deprived of their lives. Not all life agreements are bad, but due to the thirst of black realtors for profit, many problems happen. During the transaction, the grandmother may be given a sales contract right away. After that, she is simply kicked out of the apartment.

If they sign a normal contract, then they can help the grandmother end her life faster. They do this because the right to dispose and sell real estate will appear only after the death of the owner. Therefore, this scheme is widespread. People receive prison sentences in rare cases, because it is difficult to prove the death of a grandmother by violent means if she was simply gradually poisoned. One of the common ways black realtors make money.

A film about black realtors

I recommend viewing. This is a documentary film on real cases of fraud by black realtors in Russia. A lot of scams are happening because of expensive real estate in the capital. Every mediator is very tempted to cross the line. And in all cases, they cross it, leaving people to live on the street. And this is the best outcome of a meeting with a black realtor. At worst, they lose their lives.

How they work and who is the organizer

A black realtor organizes the fraud, attracting the right people to the business. They work as a criminal group, where everyone is responsible for their part of the work. Then it depends on the specific scheme of housing acquisition. Bandits and former criminals are used for crime. Fraudsters for forging documents. The more people in the business, the less money everyone gets. That's why sometimes a black realtor does all the dirty work. Because of violence and crime they are called blacks.

How to become black realtors

Black realtors are people who are inclined to get rich quickly and have no moral principles. This is a feature of many working intermediaries in real estate agencies and private brokers. But those who want to earn even more cross the line. A 5% commission is not enough for them. They want the full price of your apartment.

During times of crisis and decreased consumer activity, realtors have fewer transactions, and the family needs to be fed. Intermediaries begin to look for new ways to earn money and try to earn more. This is how criminal groups appear. In a conspiracy to take possession of apartments, everyone from the director of the agency to the employees of passport offices, housing office, police, notaries and authorities.

Who's at risk

Lonely people are at risk. They won't look for them or make a fuss. Trusting pensioners. They may not even read the contract. Alcoholics and drug addicts. Persons with utility debts. People who don't understand documents. Sole apartment owners. All information is leaked to intermediaries by Housing Offices, district police officers and other informants.

You should trust a realtor, tell him about your property, family or relatives, and you are at risk. Anyone who can succumb to suggestion and deception can become the prey of black realtors. There are no categories here. Some are more, some are less, but everyone can be in danger. Because black realtors also work in regular real estate agencies and as private brokers.

Terrible things happen because owners talk too openly to outside realtors about their purchase desires, property, family and money. You don't know who you're talking to. The intermediary gains confidence and is already fraudulently looking for a way to leave you without an apartment or deprive you of money. And in some cases, life, to cover their tracks.

List of black realtors

As such it does not exist. Because a black realtor can be any intermediary who is ready to cross the line. They are indistinguishable from ordinary people. A black realtor can be a private broker or an entire real estate agency. Many scammers receive prison sentences for such crimes. But after the zone they go out and go about their usual business again.

The only way to compile a list of black realtors and real estate agencies is to include all intermediaries. Don't contact them at all. But they will call you themselves and offer their services. You can run into them at any time. You will find out whether it was a black realtor or an ordinary intermediary when everything is done.

Their job is to deceive. At first they will simply put up an advertisement with the left-hand photos, then they will handle the matter with the documents. And if a really big deal comes along, with the opportunity to cross the line, but earning 50 thousand dollars. Not everyone, even a previously decent realtor, can resist the temptation. This is how they become black brokers.

Which cities have the most black realtors?

Black realtors appear where there is an opportunity to earn a lot of money quickly and at once. The larger the city, the greater the risk of running into a black realtor. According to statistics, 7% of transactions fall into this category of criminals. This is approximately every 14 trade. The most criminal frauds are registered in Moscow, Kyiv, and Minsk. In the capitals, where the cost of housing is maximum.

But even in the million-plus cities of Odessa, Kharkov, and Dnieper, there are plenty of black realtors. Due to the very high cost of housing, people make any transactions with conscience. They are ready to deprive anyone of housing who owns expensive real estate and is not very protected. Even in small villages there are problems with illegal acquisition of property and its resale. So there are black realtors everywhere and in every city. There are more of them in big cities, less in towns.

Black realtors from Odessa. Channel 7 Investigation

The story is from 2017. In Odessa, a son and daughter-in-law, the owners of a real estate agency, decided to send their mother to a psychiatric hospital. And sell her apartment on Shevchenko Avenue. They began to squeeze out the apartment according to the classic scheme of black realtors, but without crime. They wanted to send her to a hospital, declare her crazy, and sell her apartment. A doctor at a medical institution was bought and participated in this scam.

The grandmother was saved only by her neighbors, who did not allow her to be taken to the hospital, where her fate was already sealed. There she would have ended her life under heavy drugs. But the neighbors managed to make noise and call the police. They did not allow the raiders to leave the front door and turned to journalists to cover the situation. It was only thanks to these actions that the grandmother remained living in her house. But her own son, a realtor, could not sell her apartment.

2017 story about black realtors from Belarus

Black realtors chose victims from single people who had debts on utility bills or liked to drink. They met under the guise of a married couple or a bailiff who came to collect a debt. Realtors fraudulently persuaded and helped sell the apartment.

To be convincing, they showed the victim the apartment into which she would later move. To do this, we simply rented it daily. After registration and sale of the apartment, the victim was taken to the forest, the money was taken and they were killed. For these brutal crimes, the organizers were given the death penalty, and the accomplices were given 46 years in prison between them.

Only 1 person escaped from the embrace of death, and then by coincidence. With the help of a friend, he was able to escape and survive. The plot is not for the faint of heart, but worth watching. This is how the most cruel black realtors work.

How to protect yourself from black realtors

It’s better to try not to contact any realtors at all. Search and sell an apartment on your own, engaging a lawyer to accompany the transaction. No intermediaries are needed. This way you will protect yourself as much as possible. If you own a large apartment with a high price, it is better to protect yourself.

Seizure on an apartment

You can enter into a loan agreement with a relative secured by your apartment. Get it registered with a notary. Thus, the notary will seize the apartment and it can be sold only after it is lifted. You can lift the arrest in one day, and you don’t have to lend money. The notary does not care about money issues between you, but black realtors will not be interested in an apartment under arrest. They will not get involved in such a complex scheme.

Sale and caution

If you have a large apartment, you are the only owner and you don’t really need it, then it is better to sell it and move to one that will not interest scammers. The fewer people who know about your money and housing issues, the safer it is. Don't tell anyone about your relatives and family connections. How many apartments and houses do you own? Money loves silence. This is your peace of mind and safety.

Pay your bills for the apartment, do not contact realtors or contact them. Do not leave the apartment unattended for a long time. One month may be enough to hack it and sell it. The main thing is to be careful and avoid unnecessary people. Black realtors are not scary if they don’t know about you and what you own.

Conclusion

In many cases, trouble happens because the owner does not read the contract or simply does not understand it. This is understandable; it is difficult to understand the legal intricacies if you have never encountered this. That's why black realtors deceive, depriving owners of apartments. For them, this is an easy way to earn big money.

Read all the contracts yourself. Tell other people less about your home, analyze the risks with the help of lawyers and do not contact realtors. You can sell, buy, rent real estate yourself. Why do you need unnecessary intermediaries in the chain? This only increases the risk of information leaks and fraud.

Imagine that you want to sell an apartment. Of course, more profitable, and to be one hundred percent sure of the transparency of the transaction. Who will you turn to for help? Surely, to a person you trust. Your future clients think the same way.

Why are we taught to recognize the actions of black realtors?

Because your career will often depend on it. To have an impeccable reputation as a reliable realtor, you will have to work hard: study the Housing Code inside and out, understand the situation on the housing market, learn to navigate its trends and understand exactly what can ruin the reputation of a realtor.

Bad news and negative information travel much faster than good news. Take my word for it: before you know it, all your clients will go to more reliable realtors and you will be left without a job. Maybe forever. So, what do you need to know to protect your reputation?

• Who are black realtors and how do they differ from decent ones?
• How black realtors work and how to see through an unscrupulous colleague.

Black realtor: who is he and how to spot him

At first glance, a black realtor is no different from an ordinary one. He is betrayed by actions that immediately catch the eye of a vigilant person:

• Even if a black realtor has a certificate of work in a real estate agency, he will never invite a client to go there or conclude an agreement in the office.
• Black realtors often work with shares of apartments when ownership is registered in the hands of several family members.
• A conscientious realtor will never extract money from a client “on receipt” - for paperwork, for eviction of the seller, and so on.

How black realtors operate: the most popular schemes

Scheme No. 1: inattentive client. The point is that the client signs the contract without studying it carefully, the black realtor begins to “work”, look for housing, but all the time offers the “wrong” options. However, when the client wants to terminate the contract, it turns out that for this he must pay the agency 0.5% of the cost of housing.

Scheme No. 2: apartment with a tenant. The fact that no one is registered in the apartment should be alarming: it is quite possible that its owner is in prison, in a psychiatric hospital or in military service. Such people may be temporarily deregistered, but have the full right to re-register even if the apartment has been sold.

Scheme No. 3: in replenishment networks. This scheme is based on the legal ties of the companies that participate in the investment project. The client pays a deposit to one of them, she transfers it to another, another to a third, and so on. When companies terminate contracts, the developer has every right to declare that he personally did not have a contract with the person, which means there is no obligation to transfer the apartment.

Most often, lonely elderly people, disabled people, alcoholics, drug addicts, and simply gullible people become victims of unscrupulous realtors. In this case, black realtors act with dirty methods: they exert psychological influence, they can get them drunk or conspire with bandits to intimidate and even kidnap a person.

Despite the fact that it is not so difficult to check a realtor for honesty, few people actually do it. Much more often, people simply turn for help to friends in whose competence and honesty they are confident. This is why we believe that realtors who are trusted and in whose competence the client is 200% confident become successful. And we believe that this can be taught.

Come to the training center of the Transfer company to learn how to avoid all the pitfalls of the profession!

How can you escape from black realtors?The specifics and features of life in Russia are structured in such a way that everyone can encounter scammers of various types and qualifications. Black realtors have not been left out either. However, this does not mean that every realtor is a swindler and a fraudster who is trying with all his might to take away the apartment. There are just some people who use any means to make money.

Therefore, the main protective measure is to carefully review the documents provided by realtor, and also read through any paper that you have to sign. Otherwise, a meeting with a realtor can become tragic.

What is important to pay attention to?

When talking to a potential employee, it is important to think about the fact that this is a scam. The first thing you need to pay attention to is the presence of an office. Ideally, it is better to see the office yourself, without deception, and not just trust a person’s word. Such an office is a real estate agency. This place must be inhabited, it must have appropriate equipment and a large staff of workers. If black realtor argues that they don’t have an office by working at home (well, they need money for an office, but they prefer to save), then it’s better not to have anything to do with such people at all.

The second point to pay attention to is slogans. The scammers have colorful slogans with by deception something like “we will do it quickly, efficiently”, “in the shortest possible time” or “nothing is required from you”, and others in the same spirit. The fact that the company is deliberately in a hurry should at least raise doubts. Besides, black realtors will try to put pressure on a gullible person in any way possible so that the transaction takes place and is completed as quickly as possible. This is also a move with by deception.

As for real, conscientious employees, they will not rush, since excessive haste in such matters is punishable by a fine for them due to speed and deception. In addition, they will search long and hard for suitable real estate options, and not give away the first ones they come across.

The third point is speech. If black realtor uses those speech patterns that usually cannot be heard from a civilized person, as well as phrases like “You don’t trust our company?”, then it’s better to find someone else.

What to avoid

The first thing you can’t do without is deception, this is the lack of necessary expertise to evaluate real estate. Most of all, this concerns not even the sale, but the exchange of one apartment for another. Black realtors do not need such ballast as checking the cost of an apartment. They pay money for it, plus it takes a long time, and if they are scammers, then these checks are of no use to them.

Also, you should not sign a real estate agency agreement if there is a clause according to which you need to pay realtor just for searching for an option. Who knows, maybe the owner of this option will refuse to sell apartment, and the search service was completed. In this case, the realtor will receive money only for indicating the address.

You should also avoid those about whom nothing is known, they can also deceive. Indeed, realtors and there are a lot of companies in which they work, so it is best, if necessary, to turn to those who have reviews of the work. Ideally for those who have already worked with acquaintances, friends or relatives.

Another point: if all checks have been completed successfully, you need to find out how the money will be transferred. If realtor, then you need to take a receipt from him stating that he received the money and will give it to whoever needs it. It is important that he indicate his passport details, as well as the reason and detailed circumstances under which he received the amount of money. We need to check that there is no deception. When concluding a transaction, you must take a copy of the agreement with you.

Salesman

Very often, black realtors work alongside sellers. In order to avoid falling for such fraud and becoming a victim, you must:

1. Meet the seller personally and find out his passport details;
2. Take the corresponding extract from the Unified State Register. There you can determine exactly who the property is registered to and whether there is any fraud;
3. Go to a notary to request information about the apartment, as well as find out information about the presence or absence of heirs to this apartment.

How to protect real estate

The worst and most dangerous thing about black realtors is that they act legally, that is, they draw up contracts in such a way that they cannot be terminated in a short time in court if something happens. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the actions of realtors and check all the information they offer.

There is an excellent option for protecting your property - this is registering it in the name of your loved ones as an inheritance for the future. Thus, through inheritance, it will be possible to appeal against almost all transactions of black realtors that were concluded through deception.

And one more option - if the owner of the apartment is a socially unstable person, that is, a person who drinks, is constantly in debt, or someone who is undergoing treatment, you can register in his apartment. In such a situation, he will not be able to independently conclude sales agreements.

If debts arise for an apartment, black realtors may appear as bailiffs. They will say that they will soon take the apartment for debts. And then, after a couple of days, your accomplices will come and say with a kind face that this can be avoided.

Important! To everyone who has encountered black realtors, if you were deceived when selling an apartment, house, cottage, or if you were deceived when buying an apartment, house, cottage, building, land, you don’t know what to do, where to turn:

Call the legal hotline number 8-800-777-32-63 for housing issues, which operates throughout Russia.

Lawyers for housing issues and lawyers for housing and criminal issues who are registered on Russian Legal Portal, will advise you on all questions and try to help, taking into account existing practice.

Sergey Vishnyakov, security expert in real estate transactions, owner of Prime Quality company Photo: facebook.com

Taken to a remote village

“In the fall of 2011, “black” realtors deprived my brother, Mikhail Kolchin, of his only housing - an apartment in Moscow. My brother is disabled and suffers from mental illness. The scammers met my brother on the street, gained his trust, and got him to “work” as a “director” in their grocery store. Sitting in the “director’s” chair, he obediently and resignedly signed various papers that were brought to him. My brother gave them all his documents, including those for the apartment,” this is how he tells his story of loss Muscovite Irina.

The scammers concocted a contract for the sale and purchase of an apartment and a receipt for money that no one, of course, received.

“Two weeks later, my brother, half naked, in slippers, was taken to the remote village of Stepantsevo in the Vladimir region and placed in an abandoned apartment, where he was kept locked up for almost two months, soldered and doomed to inevitable death,” says Irina. – Also, two more Muscovites, deceived by scammers, were brought to this apartment. After my brother went missing, we filed a police report to search for him. When we found Mikhail with the help of the police, it turned out that he was no longer the owner of the Moscow apartment.”

Law enforcement agencies opened a criminal case, which is now suspended. The apartment purchase and sale agreement could not be declared invalid. Mikhail has been homeless for four years now.

The victims of “black realtors”, as a rule, are socially vulnerable people (mentally ill, lonely elderly, or suffering from alcoholism). It is extremely difficult for a single person with no connections and no big money to prove his case in a civil court and return his property.

But here's another story. “My sister Veronika Malygina, a mentally ill person with drug addiction, was deceived into signing a donation agreement for a share in our shared apartment. Me, my parents and small children are threatened by black realtors and forced to sell their share. We honestly tried to fight legally, filed lawsuits and applications to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The court is groundlessly denying us a psychiatric examination, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has not opened a case against fraudulent actions,” writes the author of the petition on Change.org, Ksenia Malygina.

Ksenia notes that her sister almost immediately after the transaction reported deception and unwillingness to transfer property free of charge. But no criminal case has yet been opened into the incident.

Sergey Vishnyakov, realtor, lawyer, security expert in real estate transactions, owner of the Prime Quality company confirms that such cases are not uncommon.

“We were once involved in selling an apartment that was owned by an alcoholic. His sister was selling the apartment. She acted very wisely: scammers had already tried to take over this man’s home once, and our client wrote a statement to the passport office. She said that if they come to them without her for documents for the apartment, then they should not give anything to strangers, and they would immediately warn her,” says the expert.

There are many different ways to deceive vulnerable people. Often people who abuse alcohol are deceived with the help of a fake marriage: “They find a lonely old man, marry him, get him drunk - and “the client is ready.” The wife registers an inheritance or a gift for herself.”

Information about vulnerable people is mostly leaked to scammers by social services.

Social service workers can use the information in their own interests. A recent case: a social service employee found a lonely woman and agreed to sign an annuity agreement with her. Social workers are prohibited from such actions, and when the organization found out about this, she was fired, but in the end she managed to get an apartment.

Notaries are often involved in fraudulent transactions. A normal notary cannot fail to notice that a person is an alcoholic and that he is inadequate when recording an agreement or an important document. Actually, recording the status of all participants in the transaction is the essence of the notary’s profession. Consequently, he is part of an illegal transaction and is paid extra for his inattention.

Fraud involving apartments in an organized group, in which a notary, a housing office, and representatives of other structures with access to documents participate, is very common. Recently, cases have become more frequent when the owner of an apartment does not even know that he is no longer the owner, but finds out about it in retrospect: behind his back, everything was re-registered many years ago, and he, it turns out, has not been living in his apartment for a long time.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW: Many are afraid of losing their passport, assuming that it could be used by apartment scammers. Using a document you lost, criminals can indeed issue a loan or, for example, a guarantee for a mortgage. But for a fraudulent transaction with an apartment, one passport is not enough.

Make friends with the local police officer, visit your loved ones more often

What should you do to protect yourself, your relatives and your property?

The first and perhaps most correct - reissue documents on the property of a vulnerable person suffering from mental illness or addiction, for an adequate relative.

Of course, if the home owner himself is against it, there is nothing you can do about it. He is not deprived of legal capacity; only the court deprives him of legal capacity. This means he is free to dispose of his property as he wants, which is what scammers take advantage of. If a citizen is registered with the PND, then this does not mean his incapacity, the lawyer reminds. In particularly difficult cases, it may make sense for loved ones to go to court and deprive their relative of legal capacity in order to protect him from loss of real estate.

Try to block all real estate transactions in advance, ask for notification.

The case when a woman at the passport office accepted an application for a “ban” of any actions with her relative’s apartment without her knowledge is quite rare, the expert notes. Usually, if relatives try to block in advance any real estate transactions of a socially vulnerable family member, they will not be listened to. And, in general, they will do the right thing, because relatives can (and do) also have their own interests, and a sensible attempt to protect family property is understandable, but is not legal. But at the same time, Sergei Vishnyakov recommends trying this method of protection and going to the passport office, explaining the situation, asking not to give out any documents regarding your relative’s apartment to strangers and notifying you immediately. The decision will be at the discretion of the passport office workers, but perhaps they will accommodate you.

Take the property documents.

If they are not available, this is already a problem for scammers: they will have to make duplicates. This is still a slowdown in the process.

Visit your relatives more often.

When scammers hear from their “client’s” neighbors that friends and relatives are coming to see him, he is not alone – they usually retreat.

Write an application to Rosreestr to prohibit the registration of the transfer of ownership of housing without the personal participation of the applicant.

This is another way to protect yourself and your loved ones. The Law on State Registration of Rights was amended in 2013. According to them, the owner of the property or his legal representative - for example, parents, guardians of minor children or representatives of those who are deprived of legal capacity - can write an application to Rosreestr to prohibit the registration of the transfer of ownership of housing without his personal participation. That is, if some stranger comes with a power of attorney for a transaction with an apartment, then nothing will be registered without the owner. “Try to discuss the situation with your “difficult relative”, go with him to Companies House and write this statement on his behalf. This is the most legal and protective move.

Special subtleties: what to pay attention to

If you are selling or buying an apartment, you are going through a difficult path, and along the way you encounter many “unimportant little things”. Let's say you are purchasing an apartment, and the selling party is acting under a general power of attorney. Trifle? Certainly! Is a general power of attorney a legal form? Still so legal.

It is necessary to check the validity of the power of attorney at the time of the transaction in the Register of revoked powers of attorney at the notary chamber.

“Nowadays there are often cases of selling real estate under a “general” power of attorney. But you must understand what this may mean,” explains Sergei Vishnyakov. – A general power of attorney is often made if a person is not in adequate health (is not registered with dispensaries, but does not control himself, does not understand what is happening). In this way, they try to hide the owner’s condition from the buyer. Not long ago I had a similar case in my practice: a man said that a power of attorney was issued for him by his aunt, the owner of the apartment, who is not thinking well, and therefore at the family council it was decided that the transaction would be carried out by his nephew. Yes, this could be a completely ordinary case, without any deception. But what happens in case of fraud? Firstly, it may be a revoked power of attorney, which you do not know about. Let's say a person first wrote such a power of attorney, they sold you an apartment, and then you find out that the power of attorney was no longer valid at that time.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW: It happens that scammers act by agreement: one gave the other a power of attorney for an apartment, and then revoked it. You buy an apartment using a power of attorney (already secretly revoked), but the first fraudster, the author of the power of attorney, then revokes the apartment by court. The apartment will be returned to him as the previous owner, but no one will return the money to you, the buyer. Yes, the seller may be required to pay the purchase price of the apartment. But if there is no seized capital, they can write off your salary for more than a year or two.

Now, a register of revoked powers of attorney at the notary chamber has finally been created, in which it is possible and necessary to check the validity of the power of attorney at the time of the transaction.

We need to get the owner to negotiate a deal.

Power of attorney comes in different forms. There is a power of attorney to collect documents. And there is - for the sale of real estate. And this second option should already raise questions. Necessarydrag the owner out for a deal. “We usually say, show us the owner. If they are hiding it, then it is suspicious. I suggest clients refuse such a deal,” says Sergei Vishnyakov. – If the owner comes, then everything is in order. We recently had such a case: an elderly apartment owner was in the USA and could not come. At the insistence of our client, we finally finalized the deal. But it’s still a time bomb; you don’t know when it will explode.”

Be wary if the money is received not by the owner, but by third parties. This could be a realtor by proxy. If the owner says - no, I won’t come to the bank, I won’t go to the cell, my representative will come from me, immediately ask why.

Receive an extract from the Unified State Register.

“Usually people see a certificate of ownership of real estate and calm down,” the expert notes. – It makes sense to obtain an extract from the Unified State Register of Rights to Real Estate (USRP). From it it will already be clear who is the current owner, whether there is a ban on transactions with this apartment, whether there are any arrests or encumbrances placed on it. Sometimes even the owners themselves don’t know this or have simply forgotten. This will save you from entering into a deal on a problematic apartment.”

Quick resales should always raise questions.

Why is a person in such a hurry to part with his property? “It happens that the owner claims, let’s say, that he lived in Yekaterinburg, bought an apartment in Moscow, and then again decided that he would live in Yekaterinburg and urgently (in a month) sells the Moscow apartment. This is nonsense and almost always untrue. We had a situation - the apartment we found for a client was purchased by the seller less than 5 months ago. We started digging, why is the new owner suddenly selling the home? By the way, it’s worth considering that you can’t check such nuances on your own; you need a real estate lawyer, says Sergey Vishnyakov.

“It turned out that there was a will for the apartment. The former owner lived in Zhulebino and died in Tsaritsino. And the owner (heir) is not even a relative. At the same time, the signatures in the transfer and acceptance certificate and in the purchase and sale agreement were different. And the price in the contract for the apartment was 990 thousand rubles, although the real price of this one-room apartment was 6 million rubles. Perhaps the previous owner was deceived and did not pay the real amount. We did not carry out a transaction on this apartment.”

You should be wary of the very old age of the seller

You should be wary if the owner belongs to a risk group. Real estate risks are extended - for example, very elderly apartment sellers are in the “risk group”. For a man over 70 – for what reason is he selling his apartment? Does he really want this? “For example, statements like “I’m going to visit relatives in Perm” or “I just need money” are suspicious.

A family with children who is being discharged “in the air” or to relatives

This is also a dangerous bell. The guardianship authority will always stand up for the child, and he can be moved into his final place of residence - that is, in your apartment.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW: Remember also that our law on bankruptcy of individuals has already come into force, and there are some points on the basis of which the apartment can be seized from the buyer. If you buy an apartment from a future bankrupt, and the court decides that the property was deliberately removed from the general bankruptcy estate (this is one of the explanations for the goal of quickly getting money for the apartment), the apartment will be taken away from you, the buyer. And you will stand in line with this bankrupt for your money.

Local risk areas

Bitter share. A share in an apartment is a local risk zone. This is often a drama; you become a participant in dramatic events, making a separate apartment a communal one.

“However, the problem is that the co-owner begins to twist his arms, offering to sell the share for less than its value. In 90 percent of cases it is impossible to reach an agreement with the co-owner.

Therefore, in this case, a gift agreement was often made - there is no need to notify a neighbor or relative about it. And then the person who received a share in the apartment as a gift under a sham transaction (replacing the purchase and sale agreement with a gift agreement) begins to outlive the second owners,” explains Sergei Vishnyakov. When it comes to the moment of donation, this is the point of no return, the expert believes.

This is already an emotion. The owner acts on the principle “to spite my mother I will freeze my ears.” Let me get less, but “these” will get in too. As a result of the conflict, both parties receive less money and more problems than if they had agreed to sell the apartment together.

In return, the offended and angry owner often finds those who professionally buy shares and sell them cheaper (usually no more than half the real value of the share), but receive at least some money, and not a piece of real estate with which they cannot do anything.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW: “Now the situation with transactions on shares in an apartment has changed - on June 2, a law was passed according to which such transactions are carried out only through a notary. Previously, it was possible to conclude a regular contract in simple written form. Now the notary must certify the agreement on the alienation of shares. Unfortunately, having protected the co-owners, the state “punished” everyone else. Now even those share owners who sell an apartment together are forced to pay significantly more money to the notary for registration and collect a larger set of documents for the transaction.”

Inheritance. Sergei Vishnyakov does not advise buying real estate if it was recently inherited by the owner, and the period of inheritance has not yet exceeded three years. It is within three years that unexpectedly showing up relatives - children from another marriage, or even illegitimate or adopted children - can present their rights to the apartment.

Apartments once purchased under a rental agreement are also dangerous. “It happens that after the death of such an old woman or an old man who entered into an annuity agreement with someone, their relatives go to court and say: the buyer of the annuity did not fulfill the agreement. As a result, the apartment may be taken away.”

“I had a client who very rarely communicated with her father (her parents divorced a long time ago and she stayed with her mother), and when she decided to visit him, she found out that he had died and strangers were living in the apartment. It turned out that the client’s grandmother, the man’s mother, took over the inheritance, declaring that he no longer had relatives, and then sold the apartment to the social security authorities. In exchange for their housing, such lonely old people receive from companies that professionally work with rental apartments and with old people another apartment, not for ownership, but for living. In return, such a company undertakes to support the elderly person for life. The girl began to fight for her part of the inheritance and even won the first court case, but they did not have time to bring the matter to an end; the grandmother died.”

Rent. More than half of our population lives in rented housing. But few people think about protecting themselves from deception. “For example, it happens that there are several owners of an apartment, but only one person signs the lease agreement. And then the rest appear and say: we are against it, get out.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW: This is often done on purpose, says Sergei Vishnyakov. “Elderly ladies also do this, and they “suddenly” declare that their housing was rented out without their consent. Or it happens that an apartment is rented out by a person who is registered there, but he is not the owner. And you can be evicted too. And after all, when renting a home, they take in advance the cost of living for the first month, a deposit in the amount of the price of one month, and plus also for the work of the realtor. You lose all this money.

Recently, the lawyer says, an apartment was found for rent that had three owners. “I asked everyone to sign a lease. And they refused. We did not rent such an apartment for the client.”

In the case of renting housing, Sergei Vishnyakov recommends looking at property documents and asking all owners to sign an agreement. Check the passports of home owners, do not remove them by power of attorney. And it is desirable that all these are not copies, but originals. Because they may show you a copy of an already outdated document.