- Статьи
- Society
- Artificial selection: a Muscovite lost his social housing after leaving on a business trip
Artificial selection: a Muscovite lost his social housing after leaving on a business trip
A Muscovite lost his apartment under a social rent agreement when he went on a long business trip. The decision was made at the suit of the capital's Department of City Property, and the proceedings took only a day, Izvestia found out. The man managed to challenge the court ruling, but he still can not get into the apartment. This situation is not an isolated one - over the last two years, more than 5 thousand Russians have lost their housing under a social lease agreement. On what grounds such a decision can be taken and what is the practice of returning apartments - in the material "Izvestia".
Illegal eviction
Muscovite Maxim Chichkin in 2021 lost the right to live in the apartment, which he rented to the municipality under a social lease agreement. Then the Department of municipal property (DGI) appealed to the Perovsky court with a claim that the man was not in the housing for a long time and did not pay utility bills.
In support of its claims, the department pointed out that the tenant had probably "chosen another place of residence, having lost the right to use the apartment".
- I became the only tenant in the apartment on Svobodny Avenue in the late 1990s. Initially, the apartment was allocated to my mother, who had a disability. After her death, I lived in the apartment on the basis of a propiska, - told "Izvestia" Maxim Chichkin.
About the fact that he no longer has the right to dispose of the apartment, Maxim Chichkin learned only a year later, when he re-issued documents at work. In 2023, the man filed an appeal.
- Maxim was absent, as he worked as a driver and regularly went on long business trips. The last one lasted six months. He had not changed his place of residence and had no plans to move out. Part of the evidence was based on the words of an employee of the DGI, and the decision was made in one process, - told "Izvestia" representative of the tenant Svetlana Gobozova.
The court was held without the participation of the man - at that moment he was on a business trip. In August 2024 Perovsky court canceled the decision, citing the fact that the defendant provided evidence of temporary absence, and arrears in payment of housing and utility services is not a basis for satisfaction of the claims of the DGI.
"Satisfying the plaintiff's claims, the court of first instance proceeded from the fact that there is no evidence of payment for utilities, as well as the lack of evidence of actual residence," - stated in the decision of the court of appeal.
In the complaint Maxim Chichkin noted that he was absent, as he was on a business trip. Now to get into the apartment the man can not, because the neighbors put an iron door, and DGI sealed the property.
"Temporary absence of the tenant of residential premises under the contract of social rent, any of the members of his family living together with him or all these citizens does not entail a change in their rights and obligations under the contract of social rent", - emphasized in court documents.
Nevertheless, the man still can't get into his apartment. The application to the Ministry of Internal Affairs didn't help either. Now Maxim Chichkin is forced to live on the territory of the monastery in the Leningrad region.
The DGI explained to Maxim Chichkin's representative that they restricted access to the apartment, because they have not yet received the judicial act to cancel the decision of the court of first instance. "Izvestia also sent an inquiry to the department to clarify the situation.
"Given the lack of information about the actual whereabouts of M.V. Chichkin and the presence of doubts about the authenticity of the evidence presented in court, the department sent a letter to law enforcement agencies, a check is being conducted," they indicated there. - Judicial acts are appealed in higher instances. The dwelling remains sealed until the completion of judicial proceedings and verification by law enforcement authorities of the fact of fraudulent actions", - commented in the department.
Why can be deprived of social housing
In 2022-2023 across Russia was considered about 7.5 thousand lawsuits on eviction of citizens from apartments provided under the contract of social rent, follows from the data of the site "Judicial statistics of the Russian Federation". The court satisfied almost 5.5 thousand of them.
According to the housing and communal services of the Russian Federation, a tenant may be deprived of his apartment if he does not pay for housing and communal services (however, the court may consider this an insufficient ground), uses the property for purposes other than intended, destroys property, systematically violates the rights of neighbors.
Such cases often arise in the presence of real violations of the terms of the social lease agreement, lawyers note. However, sometimes evictions occur without appropriate grounds.
-Municipal departments can use acts of inspection of residential premises, appeals of neighbors, results of inspections on complaints to identify violators and nominees ," lawyer Mikhail Reprintsev told Izvestia. - With the help of these measures it is not always possible to prove violations. Sometimes a person is absent for a long time for personal reasons, and neighbors' complaints are biased. In my practice, there have been many cases when law enforcement officers came to the apartment at the request of the court and saw a completely different picture than in the reports of the municipal authorities.
In 2023, the Lyublinsky Court of Moscow denied the DGI the right to evict a family from a municipal apartment. The tenants did not pay for housing and utility services, but instead of claiming debt collection, the department indicated that they had moved to other housing. The court did not consider the claims of the municipal department to be justified.
Evgeny Bobrov, head of the human rights organization Voskhod, also told Izvestia about cases of illegal eviction. According to him, for a year now, the Nagatinsk court has been considering a lawsuit filed by a family trying to regain the right to live in a communal apartment. In 2010, a man released from prison was moved there under a social rent agreement. The tenants appealed to various instances. As a result, the court recognized them as having lost their rights to the apartment.
According to the Housing Code, municipal authorities have the right to evict a person for reasons independent of him. For example, if the house where the residential premises are located is to be demolished or recognized as unfit for habitation. But in this case, he is obliged to provide a new place of residence.
Most often this rule works, but in such cases there are also difficulties.
Two years ago, a resident of the Volgograd region signed a social rent agreement for a two-room apartment. A few years later, the house was recognized as an emergency, and the woman and her family were forced to move out. The district administration sued and terminated the contract. The case reached the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which overturned the decision.
How to keep a social apartment
It can be difficult to prove violations on the part of municipal authorities, says lawyer Mikhail Reprintsev. The tenant can appeal to the prosecutor's office or the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get to the bottom of the situation, but the solution to his problem risks delay.
- Law enforcement agencies may send applications back to the municipal authorities to conduct their own checks. In such cases, the document may go "into the desk". It's a vicious circle," he said.
In turn, if there is a threat of eviction, it is important not to bring the situation to a critical point and stay in touch with the municipal authorities, added Mikhail Tatarenok, lawyer of Tatarenok & Partners.
- If a notice is received, it is necessary to respond to it within the established deadline, indicating the reasons why the demand can be considered unreasonable. At the eviction stage, you can apply to the judicial authorities to get time to correct the noted violations, " he says.
Also, tenants of municipal housing should keep documents confirming the right to reside in advance. Namely, a tenancy agreement, receipts for payment of housing fees and other evidence that the person is actually using the premises, he added.
