An expert spoke about ways to protect the rights of shareholders in case of bankruptcy of a developer

Viktor Panchenko, head of the restructuring practice of YUR-PROJECT, spoke on February 17 about ways to protect the rights of shareholders in case of bankruptcy of the developer.

According to him, the main such mechanism is escrow accounts. The apartment must be purchased under a share participation agreement (SPA) after July 1, 2019.

"In this case, the money from the account is returned to the shareholder, and the register of creditors' claims can include claims for penalties and losses. Additionally, the escrow system protects funds from possible bankruptcy of the bank, which guarantees their safety," - said the expert in conversation with "Gazeta.Ru".

For those who bought an apartment before the introduction of escrow accounts, Panchenko advised in the case of bankruptcy of the developer immediately apply to the bankruptcy trustee for inclusion in the register of creditors' claims. He added that the register is closed two months after the publication of information about the bankruptcy of the developer in the newspaper "Kommersant", so missing the deadline will lead to the impossibility of making claims.

In order not to buy real estate from an unreliable developer, the expert urged to carefully check companies before buying an apartment.

"Constant monitoring of bankruptcy information in the newspaper "Kommersant" and on the website of Fedresurs allows you to timely track possible problems. The absence of major lawsuits in the file of arbitration cases may also indicate the reliability of the developer," Panchenko specified.

He also recommended to come to the construction site to personally assess the progress of work.

A meter of problems: a decline in the number of transactions may lead to bankruptcies of developers

This could come amid a decline in new residential construction

According to the research "NDV Supermarket Real Estate", the activity of construction companies in 2025 will be significantly reduced due to unfavorable conditions in the field of mortgage lending. It is expected that in 2025 developers will commission 1-2 buildings even within large projects to assess the level of consumer interest and then adjust both prices and sales volumes.