Monetary offset: realtors want to introduce a self-lock on cash on the secondary market

The Russian Union of Real Estate Market Participants suggested using only online payment for transactions starting from a million rubles with secondary housing. They believe that such a measure is necessary to combat fraud — in 90% of the schemes of intruders, this particular payment method is used. The total damage is estimated at 10-20 billion rubles annually. The State Duma questioned the need to limit payment methods, but indicated that it was possible to require all cash transactions to be confirmed by a notary. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

What are they planning to limit

The realtors offered the sales participants to voluntarily waive cash payments for a transaction amount of one million rubles or more. This initiative was initiated by the Russian Real Estate Market Participants Union (which includes companies from 51 regions of the country). Earlier, the organization appealed to the government with an initiative to completely ban cash payments for the purchase of housing by individuals on the secondary market.

To do this, the Union has developed a declaration on non-cash payments (Izvestia has it), said Alexander Popov, president of the association, CEO of Aeroplane Plus.

"We suggest that agencies take responsibility for the transparency of payments and customer protection right now," he said. — We are not waiting for the changes to become mandatory, but we are offering the market to voluntarily adopt the new rules now. This is not an alternative to legislative changes, but before they are introduced, the community itself is ready to regulate these relations.

The affiliated companies undertake to recommend only non-cash payment forms to customers, for example, bank transfers, electronic services or secure payment services. As well as warn about the risks of cash transactions and include appropriate wording in contracts and promotional materials.

According to the Union, more than 10-15% of transactions on the housing market in Russia are made with the participation of cash — this is the transfer of money "from hand to hand" and through bank cells. At the same time, 90% of fraudulent schemes use this particular payment method. At the same time, citizens lose not only money, but also the right to housing. The total damage is estimated at 10-20 billion rubles annually.

"Real estate transactions for cash are a high—risk area," Alexander Popov emphasized. — When the payment is made in cash, there is often not a single document left confirming the fulfillment of the terms of the contract. This makes the scheme convenient for scammers. The Union advocates that cash be deposited into a bank account or letter of credit during a transaction, so banks will become an additional link in verifying the transaction.

International practice, as indicated in the association, has long made non-cash payment the main method for real estate transactions. In most countries of Europe, the USA, Canada, China and other countries, registration takes place through bank transfers and with the participation of notaries or lawyers.

Is there a need for a ban on cash

When implementing this initiative, the question arises about the legality of restrictions on the turnover of a particular type of means of payment, Alexander Yakubovsky, a member of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services, told Izvestia.

— In my opinion, there really is a problem. But the method of solving it, like any prohibitive measure, does not seem to me to be the only correct one," he stressed. — In my opinion, it is necessary to go the other way. For example, require all cash transactions to be notarized. Then we will reduce the risk of fraud, and we will not deprive citizens of their rights.

Vladimir Koshelev, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services, agreed with him. According to him, one of the advantages of the initiative is security, but in 2024, fraudsters stole a record 27.5 billion rubles from Russian bank accounts, which is 74.4% higher than in 2023.

"Therefore, I see an increase in the tax base as the only indisputable reason, since when dealing for cash, the official price in the contract may be underestimated in order to pay less income tax later," the deputy suggested. — However, there is no accurate assessment of possible tax revenues after the introduction of such a rule. They may turn out to be quite small.

According to him, the circumstances are different and the parties to the transaction should be able to maintain the variability of calculations. Moreover, taking advantage of their exceptional position, banks can at any time introduce an increased commission for such transfers, increase the transaction time, and so on.

"Banks have long used a mixed approach to reduce risks,— Vladimir Koshelev reminded. — Most often, a condition is now being set according to which no more than 10% can be transferred in cash under the transaction. But by agreement of the parties, the percentage may be different — it depends on various objective factors. The rest is transmitted in other ways that can be confirmed and verified additionally. For real estate purchase and sale transactions, the following can be used: promissory notes, offset of counterclaims and a number of other financial instruments.

The Union's proposal to limit the use of cash when buying a home looks reasonable, said Valery Tumin, Director of the Russian and CIS Markets at fam Properties. According to him, cash is the most vulnerable form of payment: it is easiest to steal it, substitute it, without leaving legal traces.

"Non—cash forms still make it possible to better record the transfer of funds, provide protection through a bank or a secure payment service, and simplify the proof of payment in the event of a dispute," he added.

There are several typical fraudulent schemes, said Valery Tumin. The substitution of banknotes after recalculation is common: one of the parties can imperceptibly replace some of the money with counterfeit or less valuable ones, and it will be almost impossible to prove this. There are also situations when money is transferred, but the seller refuses to sign the final documents or simply disappears, Valery Tumin added. If the property has not been legally transferred, it is extremely difficult to return the cash.

— Another scheme is the participation of fake persons with forged documents, — said the expert. — The buyer transfers money to a person who is not the real owner, and loses both the apartment and the funds. There are cases when an apartment is being sold with an encumbrance or arrest, and the buyer finds out about it after the transfer of money. Finally, double sales are quite common when a fraudster takes cash from several customers at once.

How to secure money

Not so long ago, an incident occurred in Sochi: money disappeared from bank cells, recalled Marat Vorobyev, founder of Vorobev Realty Group. The owner of the deposit box rental center turned out to be a fraud and stole all customer funds, intending to escape. It is noteworthy that the company operated under a license and had all the necessary documents to carry out its activities. As a result, many people were injured.

"This is one of the serious risks when purchasing real estate for cash," he told Izvestia. — Even a safe deposit box cannot always guarantee you the security of a transaction. Therefore, the initiative on cashless payment in real estate transactions seems reasonable and able to protect both buyers and sellers.

The cell lease agreement assumes that the bank is not responsible for its contents, added Evgeny Krivtsun, a lawyer at the Moscow Bar Association "Gryphon" and a member of the expert council at the Federal Antimonopoly Service. That is, if a buyer deposited, say, a million rubles in five-thousand-dollar bills in a safe deposit box in the presence of the seller, the bank does not know about this, moreover, it does not guarantee that the bills are not counterfeit.

— In practice, there have been situations when the seller opened a safe deposit box after the transaction, and there turned out to be counterfeit money or money in a much smaller amount, — the expert explained.

This type of settlement is no longer possible for developers in the new building market: all transactions are carried out exclusively in non-cash form, said Anastasia Ordina-Shved, Sales Director at ASTERUS. In any transaction, the client opens a letter of credit or a nominal account, where funds are frozen until the purchase conditions are fulfilled. The transaction is not submitted for registration until the client has deposited money in such an account.

"This mechanism protects both sides," the expert emphasized. — He guarantees the security of funds to the client, as the money is frozen in the bank for 90-120 days before the official registration of the equity participation agreement. The developer, in turn, gets confidence in the calculation: after registering the transaction, the bank automatically transfers funds to the client's escrow account, eliminating any risks of non-payment.

This scheme eliminates the possibility of fraud: the bank verifies the origin of funds before opening a letter of credit or nominal account, and then freezes them until the transaction is completed, Anastasia Ordina-Shved added.

Ildar Khusainov, director of the federal company Etagi, called the initiative timely, but requiring additional study — another risk group remains when fraudsters force their victims to transfer funds to them after the transaction is completed.

— It is necessary to develop additional protection mechanisms here, — said the expert. — Over the past few years, we have kept the share of cash transactions in the purchase of real estate to a minimum. A year ago, the share of direct cash payments for transactions without mortgages was at the level of 20%, but over the year it decreased 1.5 times to 10-15%.

Non-cash payments also carry their own risks, but the number of frauds involving their use will be many times less, said Evgeny Krivtsun. To solve this problem, you can create a specialized account with a realtor or a company providing such services, where the realtor could become a kind of guarantor. However, there is a risk that the cost of intermediary services in the real estate market will increase dramatically, as such activities are likely to have to be insured.