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- Check seven times: in the Russian Federation they want to introduce a temporary blocking of funds from real estate sales
Check seven times: in the Russian Federation they want to introduce a temporary blocking of funds from real estate sales
The State Duma proposes that funds from the sale of an apartment should be blocked for seven days in order to check the validity of a real estate transaction. Such a proposal with amendments to the legislation was sent to the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina by deputies of the State Duma. In the document they report that in the Russian Federation there are more and more cases of fraudsters using the scheme of deception "seller under the influence", when citizens sell real estate without realizing it. The growth of such frauds is confirmed in the ONF and in the Guild of Realtors of Moscow, where they believe that some mechanism to verify the transaction is necessary, but it should not prevent citizens to dispose of personal funds.
What scheme do fraudsters use when cheating with real estate?
In Russia they propose to block funds from the sale of an apartment or house for seven days to check the validity of a real estate transaction. As "Izvestia" found out, a letter with such a proposal to amend the legislation to the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina sent Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Construction and Housing from the faction "United Russia" Svetlana Razvorotneva.
In the document, which was read by "Izvestia", she says that over the past two years, fraudsters have become active in the real estate market deception scheme, which is called "seller under the influence". As the deputy explains, the essence is that the attackers on the phone persuade the owner of real estate allegedly to participate in some operation to help their actions of the FSB or other law enforcement agencies. To do this, the citizen is offered to sell his apartment, and the money after that to transfer to these "employees" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB, etc. They convince the citizen that the property owner is to participate in some operation to help the FSB or other law enforcement agencies. At the same time, they assure that the sale is a fake and after the transaction the ownership right will be restored.
However, as the deputy explains, in the end, citizens are deprived of housing and the money received for it. Also suffer buyers who have nothing to do with fraud, but simply bought an apartment or house. After all, to move into the purchased housing they need to sue such a seller, who, of course, disputes the deal, as he was under the influence of deception.
"Despite the opposition of both the police and the professional real estate community, this method of fraud is only gaining momentum. According to data provided by the Guild of Realtors of Moscow, today, compared to 2023, the number of such situations has multiplied. And reaches up to 10 cases per week only in the capital," the deputy informs Elvira Nabiullina.
It is generally accepted that the transfer of the apartment in such a sale takes place within one week after the registration of the transfer of ownership and receipt of money by the seller. In this regard, Svetlana Razvorotneva proposes to introduce a freeze of citizens' funds from the sale of residential real estate for seven days without the possibility of withdrawal of cash or their transfer, but with the possibility of payment of loans, utility bills, debts on enforcement proceedings. The Deputy also informs the head of the Central Bank that she is ready to develop and submit to the State Duma the relevant bill.
- I was approached by affected citizens. Calls from fraudsters convinced them that they were participants in some kind of operation and help the law enforcement agencies with their actions. Only when real buyers of the apartment came to them, they realized that they had been deceived and lost their homes. But now it is impossible to do anything. Therefore, it is important to have such a period so that people could come to their senses and check their deal," Svetlana Razvorotneva explained to Izvestia.
One of the most high-profile cases of such deception in recent times is related to the sale of singer Larisa Dolina's apartment. As Izvestia reported, she sold the apartment for 112 million rubles, and also transferred her own several tens of millions to fraudsters. The artist was convinced that the deal was fictitious and by her actions she was helping the FSB and Rosfinmonitoring.
- We have received this appeal. The position of the Bank of Russia will be sent to the author of the appeal in due time," the press service of the Central Bank of Russia told Izvestia.
What measures can help protect citizens from fraudulent schemes
Every day more and more citizens lose their homes, property and savings in this way, the head of the ONF project "For the Rights of Borrowers", coordinator of the platform "Moshelovka" Evgenia Lazareva told "Izvestia".
- As a rule, victims of criminals, being under pressure, sell real estate at an undervalue and necessarily for cash, as this is the fastest way of mutual settlements, and "admirals of the FSB" hurry. They register such transactions in MFCs without the participation of notaries, without letters of credit, without safe deposit boxes and special accounts," she explained.
According to her, after receiving the money from the urgent sale of housing, the entire amount is handed over to a courier, who, according to the legend, will deliver it to the FSB, Rosfinmonitoring, the Central Bank, the Treasury and so on for safekeeping.
Therefore, according to the expert, the mechanism proposed by the deputies will help only if the money is transferred through a bank. Prohibit the same to pay cash for real estate - also not a solution, as this restriction will cause social tension and dissatisfaction of citizens, the expert believes.
- There are no accurate statistics of cases of selling housing under pressure with the subsequent transfer of money to fraudsters. Many victims, having realized what happened, do not go to the police and in principle do not inform anyone. The only thing we can say for sure is that there are more such cases in 2024, even despite the detailed repeated analysis of this scenario, - said Evgenia Lazareva.
Andrei Bannikov, Chairman of the Board of the Guild of Realtors of Moscow, believes that some additional measures to strengthen control over transactions are necessary, but they should not limit citizens in the disposal of their personal finances.
- Indeed, there are many more such frauds today. Moreover, people of absolutely different age become victims of fraudsters today, they lose both apartments and money," he said.
According to him, as for the blocking of funds for a week, it can deprive citizens of solving some important financial issues: to pay for medical treatment, education, etc.," he said. Therefore, it is logical to talk about strengthening control on the part of banks, so that they even more carefully check the transfer of funds, the expert believes.
Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor, on the contrary, believes that the initiative deserves to be studied, but he also suggests considering other measures.
- In cases when it comes to direct sales of apartments, additional insurance in the form of temporary freezing of funds is quite appropriate. Especially in the context of the fact that fraudulent practices are flourishing," the expert explained.
At the same time, he believes it is necessary to tighten the sales procedure itself, for example, to involve notaries and bank employees to control the transaction.
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