Changes of the boundaries of the premises and/or boundaries of parcels of land cannot be the grounds for the dismissal of a claim to demand Property from someone’s illegal possession (vindication claim).
Vindication claims are filed to reclaim property from the purchaser when the initial legitimate owner lost the possession of this property against the owner’s will.
Such claims can be filed regardless of whether or not the new owner has obtained a title to the property for consideration or such new owner did not know that the seller did not have a legitimate right to sell the property.
A recent case tried by the Superior Arbitration Court of Russia can change the practice when courts refused to satisfy vindication claims on the grounds that the property was modified as well as the cadastral and title documents to it (Decree no. 3413/11 of the Presidium of the Superior Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of September 13, 2011). A valid argument was that the initial property no longer existed.
Indeed, one of the conditions for the vindication of the property is that the property that is claimed back should be properly identified. In Russia real estate is identified under cadastral numbers that are assigned to the property in accordance with the law On Real Estate Cadastre.
Changes in the boundaries of the property, its total area, demolition of parts of walls etc. are recorded in the relevant cadastral registers, but the initial information is not deleted. Therefore based on the cadastral information it is possible to identify the initial boundaries and, potentially, restore the property.
Parcel of land as natural objects do not change. Changes of the boundaries of parcels of land only means that the description of land in the state cadastre changes. Therefore it is possible to restore the initial boundaries based on the cadastral information as well.
If a court rules to satisfy the claim to return the property, this verdict is also the ground for modifying the title and cadastral information on the property.
This post first appeared on Business Lawyer, St. Petersburg, Russia, please read the originial post: here
