Exchange of non-privatized housing: how to exchange a municipal apartment

Exchange of non-privatized apartments
Non-privatized apartments go to Russian citizens under a social tenancy agreement. As a result, the individual does not become the actual owner of the home, but rents it from the state. According to the law, the sale, gift or inheritance of such real estate is impossible. The only option for improving living conditions is to exchange living space in Moscow, if it is not privatized. In this case, you also need to exchange it for a municipal apartment or house.

Legal aspects of exchanging a municipal apartment

Until the employer decides to voluntarily participate in the privatization transaction, the premises will belong to the state fund. Having decided to exchange a municipal apartment, a citizen will be faced with a number of features:

The conclusion of an agreement does not transfer ownership rights, so there is no need to contact the registration authorities (Rosreestr) for re-registration.
The exchange of municipal housing according to an advertisement is possible only with the consent of all citizens of adult age who live in the living spaces.
Concluding an agreement to exchange housing for municipal housing requires written consent from landlords on both sides. They have the right to refuse a transaction only on grounds taken from the Russian Housing Code.
Tenants do not dispose of housing as their own property, therefore they do not have the right to enter into contracts for compensation (with the receipt of profit).

You can find out in detail how to exchange a non-privatized apartment at the agency. In any case, citizens have the right to choose their own options for changing their housing conditions, drawing up a mutually beneficial agreement and contacting landlords to formalize the transaction. In real life, residents of municipal apartments often enter into informal agreements with an additional payment in case of exchange of objects with a great price.

We are looking for a suitable option

The selection of options for exchanging a municipal apartment is complicated by two circumstances. Firstly, you have to choose from a very small number of non-privatized housing. Secondly, the procedure itself assumes that several people, most likely strangers to each other, will move into your previous apartment. And finding 2 families who agree to live in a common, albeit spacious, area is not so easy.

You can also contact a professional realtor to select exchange options. True, not every intermediary deals with such specific transactions.

You will have to look for exchange options yourself: post advertisements, post information about exchange in local newspapers and on real estate websites, look for counter offers.

The State Unitary Enterprise “Moscow Center for Rental Housing” can make the task easier for residents of the capital. This organization has fairly complete information about municipal real estate and citizens who want to exchange non-privatized apartments. However, as experts warn, you can’t count on a large selection here either, but the center’s employees will help control the purity of the transaction.

And the housing to which you plan to move must be approved by all participants in the exchange. After all, it is not uncommon that as a result of a transaction someone will get a spacious two-room apartment, and someone will get a room in a communal apartment.

What documents are needed to exchange social housing?

When wondering how to exchange a state apartment, you need to understand the list of documents for concluding a transaction:

application for exchange of living space, drawn up according to the form;
lease contract;
permission to exchange if it is a departmental apartment or house;
extract from the migration service;
confirmation of family composition with an extract from the house register;
apartment plan;
a certificate confirming the sanitary and technical condition of the facility;
approval of the guardianship or guardianship authorities.

Certificate from guardianship authorities

In addition, if minor children, persons with limited legal capacity or incompetent persons are registered in the apartment that will be exchanged, it is necessary to provide the consent of the guardianship authorities in writing. It is worth noting that obtaining a document concerning a minor child is quite difficult. Moreover, the child must be discharged from his current apartment, and this operation can only be performed if he is immediately registered in another residential area. The second place of registration should not be inferior to the previous one. Otherwise, it will not be possible to discharge the child and it will simply be impossible to obtain a certificate from the guardianship authorities.

If one of the residents is against the exchange, then in this case everything is decided by the court.

A special housing commission created under the municipality reviews the application for exchange and makes a decision. A negative decision can be challenged in court.

Exchange of two non-privatized apartments

Through a social real estate rental agency, municipal apartment exchanges between citizens are often carried out, but people also often enter into informal agreements and exchange apartments with an additional payment. At the same time, the transfer of money does not carry any legal consequences, since the objects are not owned by individuals. The procedure for the forced exchange of municipal apartments is as follows:

Obtaining approval from all residents of a private house or apartment for the transaction.
Finding a suitable option for municipal exchange.
Agreeing on the terms of the exchange of a state apartment in a joint agreement document.
Providing this agreement to each renter.
Preparation of written consent of residents for the exchange.
Re-registration of social employment contracts through an agency.

The exchange of citizens of occupied residential premises does not cause problems, but it is better to do everything through an agency - it will be faster and easier.

What cannot be exchanged

The legislation establishes a certain list of situations in which the exchange of municipal housing will not be approved by the administration. In order to find out whether it is possible to exchange a specific housing, you need to know the situations when this is impossible. These include:

Situations when the living space and this house are subject to major repairs and redevelopment of apartments in the near future.
The housing was declared unfit for habitation.
The housing is located in a dilapidated building or is being demolished.
In certain cases where the tenant may soon lose the right to housing.
When a tenant has filed an application to terminate the tenancy agreement.
If some registered residents are against the exchange.

Based on these points, before starting to formalize a housing exchange transaction, it is important to check it for compliance with the established requirements.

Nuances of exchange

Before you start looking for possible exchange options, you definitely need to prepare your apartment for exchange. The better its external condition, the faster there will be a buyer ready to exchange his apartment.

In addition, having made good repairs and eliminated all significant defects, the apartment can be exchanged at a more favorable price.

Another important consideration is whether you leave the furniture. It is possible that it will not fit your new apartment and it will be easier for you to exchange the apartment with a certain additional payment. This will be an advantage for the other party to the transaction, since they will not have to buy a new one or transport theirs. And you can get from them the furniture that is ideal for your new apartment.

In addition, before you start looking for an exchange, you need to accurately determine the cost of a municipal apartment. It has the same market price, only 30 percent lower than the same privatized apartments. You also need to take into account the territorial location of the house in the locality and proximity to infrastructure facilities. And even the floor where the apartment is located plays a big role in pricing.

After such an assessment, you need to correctly assess the real market value of the property you like. Since its residents can initially overprice it.

Exchange of a non-privatized apartment for a privatized one

A common question is whether it is possible to exchange municipal housing for a privatized house or apartment? By law, such an operation was permitted until 2005, after which the legislation was changed. The Russian Housing Code contains Article 72 (Part 3), which states that it is impossible to exchange, buy or sell a privatized apartment for a non-privatized one.

To carry out such a transaction, it is necessary to privatize housing and then proceed with the exchange. The difficulty is that privatization is a long process that requires significant investment. At the same time, notaries today offer the opportunity to urgently privatize living space, but you will also have to pay for this.

If you decide to exchange a privatized apartment, the transaction will be declared invalid, and this will happen immediately or after some time. Experts do not recommend agreeing to such fraud, even if you are assured of their complete legality.

How to carry out an exchange if one of the residents objects

Exchange becomes impossible if one of the owners does not give his consent to the procedure. A person cannot be forced to perform any actions with the property that belongs to him. Even if living with this person becomes unbearable due to character or health reasons.

The only possible option is the sale or exchange of shares of those owners who do not object to the transaction.

But you must receive a written statement from each of the owners that they are waiving the pre-emptive right to purchase.

On the forced exchange of living space

The judicial process is used to get out of conflict situations if they arise. Each of the residents has the right to draw up a statement in such situations. The main thing is to take into account the interests of all owners who are associated with this lawsuit.

Examples of apartment exchange.

In practice, a negative decision is made in more than half of all such cases. The court will not be able to make the right decision if there is no option for departure.

Is it possible to rent out a state apartment?

According to the Housing Code of Russia and other legal acts, privatized housing is the property of the municipality, that is, the state. Persons living and even registered at the property are not owners, but tenants. Thus, in order to rent out a non-privatized apartment, you need to obtain written consent from the owner (municipal district, city).

To receive the document, an application is sent to the head of the department, in which the citizen sets out a request for permission to rent out the object. The application is signed by all residents who belong to the apartment warrant. Potential tenants also sign up. The application must be considered within ten days.

If all the papers are approved, you can rent out municipal housing. In this case, the new tenant becomes a subtenant. If the sublease agreement is drawn up correctly, the owner has the right to evict the tenants ahead of time only through the court (even if the tenant stops paying the rent).

Procedure

If residents of municipal housing determine that their housing meets the established criteria for the possibility of exchange, then the procedure should be as follows:

searching for alternative housing for exchange, it must also be municipal;
collection of necessary documents;
providing papers to the municipality to obtain permission for exchange;
signing the exchange agreement and completing the transaction;
termination of previous employment contracts and signing of new ones.

When is the exchange and exchange of non-privatized apartments impossible?

We found out whether it is possible to sell/buy/exchange state or municipal housing, be it a private house or apartment. It remains to consider situations in which the forced exchange of non-privatized objects is prohibited by law:

The tenant has debts to utility services. Debts are a reason for court, and the lawsuit does not allow the exchange or sale of apartments on social security. I'll hire.
The apartment requires major renovation. The law prohibits transactions with emergency real estate. This also applies to municipal apartments in Moscow.
When a minor has less than 12 sq. m of area, this also becomes a direct obstacle to the exchange of non-privatized apartments.

There are other conditions that do not allow exchange transactions, but each of them is considered individually in court.

The Votchina real estate agency will help you properly exchange your home, and will also provide the full range of real estate market services. We are often approached with similar questions, and over the 18 years of our existence we have accumulated extensive experience in this field. Also contact us if you need to exchange an apartment from a district to a district in Moscow.

Exchange through court

Unlike privatized apartments, which no one can forcibly divide into shares, municipal property is divided into shares in a court case.

But in order for the court to make such a decision, it needs a strong justification for its actions and the need for an exchange. If this is proven, then each tenant will receive their share in a separate apartment after the exchange.

This option is not common, since it is not beneficial to both parties to the transaction. Anyone who is against it has no right to participate in the choice of housing and will move to where the court decides.

For the plaintiff, the only problem is the long wait for the completion of legal proceedings. Not every other party to the transaction will want to wait indefinitely until the first party’s legal proceedings are completed.

In what cases is it possible

Is it possible to exchange a municipal apartment in the absence of the consent of the residents? In principle, this option is not excluded. However, to objectively assess the feasibility of such a solution, real time losses and monetary costs should be taken into account.

The forced method, if it is necessary to exchange an apartment between relatives, is used in the following cases

official dissolution of marriage;
violation of public order rules by one of the residents;
dangerous infectious disease of a neighbor.

Statement of claim

If it is not possible to voluntarily exchange an apartment between relatives, they go to the court of general jurisdiction according to the territorial location of the property. The application indicates the requirements and evidence of the plaintiff’s innocence. Make reference to the standards of current legislation.

The list of accompanying documents presented below is adjusted taking into account the specifics of the real situation:

a valid social employment contract;
consent of the municipality to resettlement (exchange);
confirmation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs about registered residents;
certificates about the presence (absence) of debts for housing and communal services;
consent of the OOiP and other participants in the exchange;
divorce certificate;
floor plans;
other evidentiary materials.

How to support your position in court

You must go to court by preparing a specific exchange option. Otherwise, it will be difficult to count on a quick positive decision. For example, maintaining or improving the living conditions of a minor child after the exchange of a municipal apartment between relatives is of great importance.

Other useful tips:

the ex-husband cannot exchange the apartment in the absence of registration, since this property is not property acquired jointly during marriage;
Not only the employer, but also any family member has the right to file a claim in court;
in any case, permission from the owner is required to make an exchange;
The municipality's refusal can be appealed in court.

Exchange of municipal housing through the court

Exchange of municipal housing through the court means obtaining permission from the court to exchange or replace a municipal apartment occupied by household members if one of the residents of the apartment is against the exchange.
To carry out the procedure for exchanging an apartment, you must obtain the consent of all members of the tenant’s family, even those who are temporarily absent, and the consent of the municipality. If all of us residents agree to the apartment exchange procedure, then the residents of this apartment can leave.

Reasons for exchanging a municipal apartment

Usually, the exchange of a non-privatized apartment through the court is done because of domestic quarrels and disagreements between residents, and in the absence of a peaceful life between them.
The reason may also be the fact that one of the residents intentionally harms other residents of the apartment. For example, he acts as a hooligan, lives antisocially, and makes the life of other residents as unbearable as possible, or even puts it in danger. And the solution to the issue of leaving the tenants did not reach a compromise; one of the tenants is against the move, or the landlord has already given a refusal. In this case, only going to court will help. If the issue reaches the court, then it is possible to contact a lawyer. This is a very difficult issue, the forced exchange of residential premises under a social tenancy agreement; it is very difficult to figure it out on your own. Lawyers take into account many nuances and points that can significantly affect the course of a court case, which usually a person will not even notice. A lawyer will help you draw up an application and help create an evidence base, will represent your interests in court, and if you win in court, you will be able to implement the permission received. The statement of claim must be filed in court in the same number as there will be participants in the process. The application must be submitted to the district court of general jurisdiction at the place of residence of the responding party, that is, the defendant.

The claim is drawn up in any form and must contain certain information. And this is the full name of the court department where the proceedings will take place, the passport details of the applicant, the defendant, the status of the apartment, if there are minors or incapacitated parties to the transaction, then the index data. It is also important to justify the reason why you require separation, what attempts were made to resolve this issue before the trial, what exchange options were considered, who rejected them and for what reasons.

Indicate the document details from the board of trustees, if there was permission. Describe your requirements for resettlement and sign the date. Attach the necessary documents.

In addition to the application, you need to prepare other documents:

the landlord's consent to exchange a municipal apartment;
permission from the guardianship authority;
personal account details;
written consent of family members;
technical passports of the apartment that will be exchanged;
possible pre-trial correspondence;
certificate of family composition;
receipt of payment of state duty;
identification of all persons involved in the transaction.

It is difficult to say exactly how long the court will make a decision, since it depends on various factors.
The final court decision will specify the exchange of living space, and indicate who should move where.

To get permission from the board of trustees, you need to write an application there and show them a plan for possible resettlement.

This is a mandatory procedure, since the government department must know and be sure that the minor citizen will not be deprived of his living conditions. Document preparation takes 2 weeks.

Terms and cost of registration

It is difficult to name the exact timing of registration from start to finish, since everything depends on the presence of litigation and the speed of granting permits from various persons and authorities.

Definitely, the process will last for several months , since just the search for suitable living space can be lengthy.

All exchange processes are free of charge . The parties can draw up the agreement on their own; obtaining all approvals does not require material costs.

Additional costs may arise in connection with the involvement of a lawyer in the process or going to court, where the payment of a state fee for consideration of the claim will be required.

In addition, if suitable real estate is found with the help of the administration department, then a set amount will have to be paid for this.

Features and nuances

This process has some nuances when it does not follow the standard scenario . Let's look at some examples.

How to exchange a municipal apartment if one is against it? In this case, it is possible, in accordance with the law, to demand the forced exchange of a non-privatized apartment for an apartment.

This right is enshrined in Article 72 of the RF Housing Code as an opportunity to achieve one’s own in court.

Moreover, what decision to make is decided by the court on the basis of hearing the explanations of the disputing persons . In fact, an unambiguous, clear mechanism for making a decision by the court on such issues is not known. The court is guided by laws, business customs and common sense.

Difficulties may arise in the process of obtaining each consent. However, it is even more difficult if one of the family members is absent (under treatment, in the army, in prison, on a business trip, etc.).

The legal requirements are such that regardless of the person's presence at the place of residence, his approval must be obtained.

Thus, it is possible to exchange municipal housing . However, for this you will have to go through a long process of registration.

Starting with the search for an acceptable alternative that corresponds to the exchanged object, it is necessary to contact certain persons in order to approve the transaction.

However, as a result, you can get more profitable housing not only in terms of its own characteristics, but also in location.