The lawyer explained the impact of the ban on the "granny scheme" on challenging transactions

Lawyer Alexander Khaminsky on Friday, July 3, told how the explanations of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the "grandmother's scheme" will affect decisions on challenging real estate transactions.

In conversation with aif.ru The expert noted that when making decisions, judges evaluate not only their compliance with the law, but also take into account the prospect of further appeal. According to him, they understand that the case may reach the appellate, cassation instances or the Supreme Court, so they try to make decisions that will not be subsequently overturned, as this is reflected in judicial statistics.

The expert expressed the opinion that the explanations of the Supreme Court will make the consideration of real estate disputes more objective. The courts will comprehensively assess the actions of both the seller and the buyer, and then make a decision taking into account all the circumstances of the case, Khaminsky added.

From the courtroom to here: courts have begun to overturn decisions on the "Valley scheme"

But it's too early to talk about a complete change in the practice of cases involving "grandmother's" apartments, lawyers believe.

On July 1, the Supreme Court of Russia banned the so-called "grandmother's scheme." In its clarifications, the court pointed out that the transaction could not be declared invalid if the buyer did not know and could not have known that the seller was acting under the influence of fraudsters. When considering such disputes, the courts are required to establish not only the fact of fraudulent influence on the seller, but also whether the buyer could have known about these circumstances.

The court indicated that an apartment purchase and sale transaction may be declared invalid if the buyer knew or should have known that the seller was "under the influence of deception by third parties," writes NSN.

In addition, judges are required to provide both sides with an equal amount of protection, clarifies 360.ru . The Supreme Court also recalled that when a deal is declared invalid, the principle of bilateral restitution is applied in some cases, the Moscow City News Agency reports. This means that the apartment is returned to the seller, and the money is returned to the buyer, according to the website kp.ru .

In January 2026, the State Duma introduced a bill designed to protect home buyers from the "Valley effect." The document suggests that transactions should not be invalidated if the buyer did not know about the actions of fraudsters, IA Regnum reminds.