Is it possible to return an apartment after donation and how to do it

Can the counterparty to the agreement relinquish the housing in favor of the donor?

The person who received ownership of the property can return it. This can be done in two ways - donate it to the former owner (that is, draw up a new deed of gift) or draw up a written agreement to cancel the contract.

If the deed of gift was certified by a notary, then the cancellation agreement will also need to be certified. The same goes for government. registration of the contract, so its cancellation should also be registered.

How to return the apartment back after transfer of ownership?

How to return a donated apartment back to the donor? The first thing the recipient must do is to inform the former owner of the property about his decision. By law, a person can refuse to accept a gift only before all documents have been completed. After this, such issues are never resolved unilaterally.

Step-by-step algorithm of actions:

contact the notary who certified the deed of gift;
provide the necessary documents;
draw up an agreement to cancel the deed of gift (or draw up a new deed of gift);
register the document in Rosreestr.

Both the agreement and the deed of gift are drawn up only in the presence of both parties. Therefore, the donor and the recipient must come to the notary. Sometimes it is necessary to provide the consent of the persons living in the apartment.

The full list of documents required for the return of real estate includes:

application for registration of property rights;
consent of the recipient's spouse to the transaction;
personal documents of participants;
extract from the Unified State Register;
document confirming payment of the duty;
documents for the apartment;
agreement or deed of gift.

If the recipient wants to transfer the housing to the previous owner, then a standard gift agreement should be drawn up.

The agreement to terminate the deed of gift does not have a form established by law, so it can be drawn up in free form.

The document must contain the following information:

place and date of compilation;
Full names of the parties;
subject of decoration;
details of the gift agreement that the parties are going to cancel;
information about the apartment;
procedure for compensation of expenses associated with the transaction;
signatures of the parties.

The agreement may contain additional information. As for the application for registration of ownership, you usually do not need to draw it up yourself.

It is enough to obtain a document form from the registration authority and fill it out.

Rosreestr employees accept the papers and issue the applicant with a receipt confirming their receipt. They review the application and other documents within a week. The transfer of ownership will be registered only after all data has been verified. The new owner only needs to pick up the documents within the specified period.

Regulating the process

The concept of cancellation of a donation and the regulations for its implementation are contained in Article 578 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

It lists the grounds for the seizure of a donated property already owned.

This is important to know: What is the difference between a donation and a deed of gift for an apartment?

According to this article, under certain circumstances, it is possible to carry out the procedure for revoking (cancelling) a donation for significant or important reasons . It is necessary to prove the significance of the reasons through the court.

Articles of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which provide for the invalidation of concluded agreements, are applicable to the procedure for challenging a donation. According to these rules, the following types of transactions are canceled:

Compiled in violation of the requirements of the law. The donation is absolutely free and unconditional. The presence of conditions that the donee must fulfill in order to become the full owner deprives it of legal force. These include, for example, the transfer of rights after the death of the donor (Article 168 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
Imaginary. Transactions are recognized as such when, under the guise of a gift to reduce the state duty, a purchase, sale or exchange is carried out (Article 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In such conditions, the second party will have to return the money paid.
Read also: Donating money to buy an apartment - judicial practice
Prisoners with an incapacitated person. These contracts are terminated without fail if the legal representatives of the incapacitated person were not aware of them (Article 177 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
Committed under threats or through deception or misrepresentation. Such documents are often signed under the guise of other papers, and the person does not understand what he is doing. That is, the agreement does not reflect the real will of the owner (Article 179 of the Civil Code of Russia).

These rules apply to cases where the apartment is not transferred to the recipient of his own free will .

Independent refusal of the donated property by the recipient is carried out under Article 573 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. A concluded and already executed agreement is revoked by submitting an application to Rosreestr. Unlike a challenge, such a refusal is carried out without the participation of a court.

The recipient has the right to refuse it at any time before the gift is transferred to him. In this case, the gift agreement is considered terminated.
If the gift agreement is concluded in writing, the refusal of the gift must also be made in writing. If the gift agreement is registered (clause 3 of Article 574), refusal to accept the gift is also subject to state registration.
If the gift agreement was concluded in writing, the donor has the right to demand from the donee compensation for real damage caused by refusal to accept the gift.

Article 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation lists unacceptable cases of concluding agreements. Cancellation of the deed of gift is made if:

The property was registered as a gift by the legal representative or guardian of a minor under 14 years of age or an incapacitated person on his behalf.
The apartment was received by a municipal employee or a bank representative as an incentive for services rendered.
The property was accepted as a gift by employees of guardianship authorities, educational or medical institutions on behalf of pupils or patients .
The deal was concluded between employees of commercial institutions .
The transaction was made by a person who does not have legal rights to the property.

All these types of transactions are prohibited by law and are subject to mandatory cancellation .

Find out on our website whether the procedure for donating an apartment with an encumbrance, for example, with the right of lifelong residence or a mortgage, is legal, as well as other special cases.

The deed of gift can be challenged or canceled either by the donor himself or by a third party in the event of his death or recognition as incapacitated. According to Article 56 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the responsibility for collecting and presenting evidence of the grounds for challenging a transaction lies with the applicant in court.

If the transfer of the apartment to the new owner has not been registered and the transaction is still in the process of being finalized, it can be canceled by submitting an application to Rosreestr.

The process of transferring the apartment to another person is stopped and canceled automatically .

A document that is not registered with Rosreestr is also considered invalid.

The owner of real estate is considered to be a person who has a Certificate of Ownership ; in this case, a deed of gift does not give rights to the property.

How can a transaction agent refuse a gift and in what cases?

The person who donated the apartment may change his mind and want to return it back.

The former owner of the property has the right to file a refusal to return the property in the following cases:

his circumstances have changed (health, marital status, etc.), and the validity of the contract may lead to a worsening of the situation.
The recipient has committed actions that threaten the life and health of the donor, as well as his relatives.
The new owner died. In this case, the donated real estate can be returned only when such conditions are contained in the deed of gift.
The recipient's actions caused serious damage to the donated property.

These are legal grounds that allow the former owner of the apartment to return it.

Ways to return residential property back

The donor has only two ways to achieve his plan. The first thing he can do is come to an agreement with the recipient.

If the new owner agrees to return the property, then the parties draw up an agreement to terminate the deed of gift. This procedure is standard and includes a visit to a notary.

If it was not possible to obtain consent from the recipient, the donor may go to court. Naturally, it must have the reasons listed above.

After all, in court you will have to prove your rights to return your home. In practice, litigation is a labor-intensive process that requires the provision of evidence, payment of state fees, etc. In addition, the consideration of the case takes a lot of time.

When filing a claim, the amount of the state fee varies. Since this is a property claim, you usually have to pay about 0.5% of the market price of the property.

After considering the case, the court makes a decision on the basis of which the ownership rights to the real estate are returned to the previous owner.

Can a gift deed be revoked at the initiative of a third party?

The gift agreement can be challenged by the donor's relatives and government officials.

In the first case, close relatives file a claim:

after the death of the donor;
when the donor is declared incompetent;
in other cases provided for by law.

As for public authorities, a challenge can be initiated by investigative authorities or a representative of the guardianship authorities.

Third parties have the right to terminate the gift agreement only in court.

When drawing up a deed of gift, it is necessary to take into account all options for the development of the situation in the future. There are not many reasons for canceling a document, but it should be remembered that the donor has a priority right to the donated property. Therefore, it is better to specify additional conditions for terminating the deed of gift in the document itself.

Features and nuances

It is quite difficult to cancel a gift agreement, but it is still possible if you know the features of this type of agreement. Next, we will dwell on the important nuances and features required for the successful return of property.

Right to revoke a gift due to death

If the donor wants the apartment he donated to go to another person after the death of the new owner (say, the donee’s wife), then this clause can be included in the agreement. If the death of the donee occurs before the death of the donor, the donor will receive his apartment back. After all, upon termination of the contract, the object of the donation must be returned back. It is recommended to specify in the contract the future fate of the property in the event of the death of the new owner, in order to avoid possible conflicts in the future and the transfer of the object of donation into the wrong hands.

In the event of the death of a donor who, before his death, only promised to donate an apartment upon the occurrence of certain circumstances in the future (marriage, graduation from a university), the property may not pass to the donee under the gift agreement. In this case, the property will be transferred to the new owner by inheritance. The obligations of the donor will pass to the heir, unless otherwise stated in the agreement.

There may be a legal challenge to the obligation to transfer the apartment by the heir to the recipient. If the recipient of the gift is related to the donor, then he can, through the court, receive the apartment or part of it by right of inheritance.

Deadlines

The term is one of the most important aspects to consider when terminating a contract. After the expiration of the limitation period, the court has the right to refuse to consider the claim. For a gift agreement, a claim period is set at three years. During the limitation period, a gift agreement may be challenged in court by its parties. The limitation period begins on the day the contract comes into force (in fact, from the moment of its state registration).

Compensation for damage caused by donation

The donor must notify the recipient of all significant defects of the apartment known to him if they may harm the life and health of the new owner. So, if the recipient is injured as a result of the collapse of the dilapidated building in which he received an apartment, then he has the right to demand compensation for the damage caused to him.

The donated object must be returned to the donor in the same condition in which it was before the transfer to the new owner. Consequently, the donor may require the recipient to compensate for damages if the condition of the property has deteriorated. This opportunity is difficult to take advantage of in practice, because the fact of causing damage must be proven in court.

Correct assessment of the cost of an apartment

When appraising, the donor should not deliberately underestimate the cost of the apartment and should describe its condition as accurately as possible in order to qualify for compensation for costs incurred in the event of termination of the contract.

Often it is necessary to revoke agreements to pick up and return the transferred property. This also happens in legal relations of donation. It is necessary to understand in more detail the refusal of the contract and the refusal to execute it, as well as to understand the procedure for returning property both before and after state registration of the right.