ABOUT THE SALE OF LAND WITHOUT A HOUSE: WHEN A BUILDING IS NOT JUST A FOUNDATION

ABOUT THE SALE OF LAND WITHOUT A HOUSE: WHEN A BUILDING IS NOT JUST A FOUNDATION

ABOUT THE SALE OF LAND WITHOUT A HOUSE: WHEN A BUILDING IS NOT JUST A FOUNDATION
The debtor applied to the court for invalidation of the auction for the sale of the right to lease a land plot (case no. A56-75348/23).

In rejecting the application, the courts of two instances proceeded from the absence of registered rights to buildings erected by the debtor, considering that the sale of this property, which is unauthorized buildings, does not give rise to ownership rights, as a result, the right to alienate it, and therefore the organizer of the auction had no legal grounds to indicate in the notice of the auction information about these buildings. 

The cassation sent the dispute for reconsideration and noted that in the case under consideration, having ascertained the debtor's explanations about the presence of a residential building, a bathhouse and a barn on the land, the courts recognized these objects as not subject to sale, giving them the status of unauthorized buildings. 

A simplified registration procedure applies to disputed buildings, and the courts had no grounds for recognizing them as unauthorized. It should be noted that from the expert opinion submitted by the debtor, drawn up, among other things, on the basis of an inspection of the valuation object, there are objects on the land plot that were not accounted for by the financial manager – an apartment building with an area of, a bathhouse, a barn with an area of. Referring to the unfair behavior of the debtor, who did not specify the disputed objects in the bankruptcy application, the courts did not establish the circumstances of the presence or absence of buildings (real estate). 

Also, according to the cassation, the establishment of these circumstances is essential for the consideration of the dispute, since, taking into account the principle of unity of fate of the land plot and the real estate objects located on it, provided for by land legislation, by acquiring the right to lease the land plot, the buyer actually received buildings erected on it free of charge, the market value of which was not determined by the courts. 

In addition, the debtor's claims, with reference to the expert's opinion on the market value of the disputed property (land with a residential building) and the possibility of fully paying off the debt included in the register of creditors' claims, did not receive a judicial assessment. Putting up a land plot for auction by a financial manager without prior permission of the fate of the buildings located on it (by registering ownership of unauthorized buildings for the debtor and taking other measures), as well as bidding with significant violations involving the disclosure of incomplete information about the land plot and the objects located on it, affect their result, the sale price the debtor's property, which may indicate the invalidity of such auctions. At the same time, the debtor's failure to take measures to challenge the regulations on the procedure for selling the right to a land plot without taking into account the buildings located on it does not prevent the recognition of the auction as invalid.

    

Photo: Freepik

19.01.2026