- Written by Oleksandra Yermolayeva, IRC “Legal Space"
- Published in Success stories
- 0 comments
Photo from GoogleThe buyer gave the seller the advance payment for the apartment. However, the deal did not take place. The man delayed the execution of documents, and did not react to the demand to return the money. The lawyer of Ivano-Frankivsk Legal Development Network through mediation settled the dispute, and people did not have to meet in court.
In the beginning of July Olena Pasichna* turned to the Office at the NGO "Stanislavska Human Rights Protection Group". She told that she had found an announcement about the sale of the apartment in the local newspaper. The price of the apartment and the area indicated in the announcement were appropriate, so she agreed to meet with the seller. Olena paid the man the advance and received the relevant receipt. She had to pay the rest of her money when making an apartment purchase contract with a notary public.
However, the seller for unknown reasons repeatedly delayed the date of the contract.
Thus, Olena decided to contact the Ivano-Frankivsk Legal Development Network Office with a request to help her understand the situation.
The lawyer of the Office Andrii Maletyn checked the apartment in the State Register of Real Property Rights in respect of which the dispute arose. As it turned out, the ownership of the indicated housing is not registered with the seller who received the advance, but his relatives. In addition, the area of the apartment, according to information in the register, was significantly less than indicated in the announcement.
The lawyer concluded that the man had no right to sell the apartment, but wanted to take possession of money in a fraudulent way.
In order to protect the interests of Olena Pasichna, lawyers of the Stanislavska Human Rights Protection Group were invited to negotiate both sides of the conflict.
At the meeting, lawyers explained the seller that he should voluntarily return the money to the deceived woman. Otherwise, Olena will be forced to apply to the court for a refund. In addition, the woman will write a statement to the law enforcement agencies about a criminal offense.
The seller immediately agreed to settle the dispute peacefully without seeking a court and law enforcement agencies, apologized to Olena and returned the advance paid to her.
*The name is changed for ethical reasons.
The opinion of the International Renaissance Foundation cannot coincide with the point of view of authors of publication.
