Bought an apartment with debts – what to do and who should repay them?

Very often in the secondary real estate market, you can face such a problem as buying an apartment with debts. In most cases, we are talking about communal debts. Why does this happen? It's all the fault of insufficient inspection of the real estate object. The buyer can find out about the debt already after receiving the first payments from representatives of communal organizations. In this article, we will talk about the following: bought an apartment with rents - what to do and who should pay them off? To begin with, we note that one of the areas of activity of our lawyers Prykhodko and Partners is legal support of real estate transactions.

Legislative framework of the issue

When buying real estate on the secondary market, not everyone pays attention to the presence of a certificate of utility debt. Of course, it is not mandatory when making a purchase and sale agreement. Debts are also not an obstacle to selling an apartment or house.

However, as practice shows, it is very important to pay special attention to this. Here you can use one of the options:

• Ask the seller - the owner of the property to provide a certificate from all communal organizations.
• Check the absence of debts yourself - through the Unified register of debtors.

The Law "On Executive Proceedings" provides for the seizure of housing in the following case: the debt amounts to 20 minimum wages. This option is possible only in cases where the relevant real estate is the sole property of the godman. If there are debts and there is no arrest, its owner can do absolutely anything he wants with the real estate object.

What to do when buying an apartment with debts?

According to the current Ukrainian legislation, all debts for the use of communal services must be paid by the owner of the real estate object. If the debt is the problem of the previous owner, it is he who is obliged to pay it. That is, after a claim to the court from representatives of communal institutions, the claim can be rejected. If you received information about the existence of a debt and do not want to wait for a lawsuit, you need to follow the following algorithm of actions:

• Prepare a statement of claim to exclude the fees of the previous owner from your account.
• Make a statement-claim against the utility service provider.
• Prepare additional documents (passport, TIN, sales contract, receipts, which will confirm the payment of utilities after acquiring property rights).
• File a lawsuit.

It is quite difficult to do the above on your own. It is better to use the services of professional lawyers.

Legal support of real estate transactions

To avoid many problems with real estate, in particular, buying an apartment with debts, it is better to use the service of legal support of real estate transactions. Lawyers Prykhodko and Partners can help you with this.

We will be able to carry out a comprehensive inspection of the real estate object, namely:

• Verification of the seller (documents, legal capacity, consent of other property owners, presence of minor children, etc.).
• Checking the presence of a lien, property rights, mortgage.
• Legality of acquisition of property rights by the seller.
• No debt.

Our specialists offer all this and much more. It is quite difficult to pay attention to all the nuances and pitfalls of real estate transactions on your own, without the appropriate legal knowledge. It is better to use the services of Prykhodko and Partners lawyers in a timely manner.

Do you still have questions? We are waiting for a preliminary consultation! To calculate the cost of a lawyer's services in support of real estate transactions, fill out the form below.