Court: what to do with an unfinished only housing of debtor

The case was referred to the Arbitration Court of the Ural District at the request of a financial manager.  He asked the court to include the only housing of the debtor - a land plot and an unfinished house located on it, in the bankruptcy estate.

The courts of the first and appeal instances took the side of the manager, considering that the debtor deliberately changed the place of registration to the house on the eve of initiation of his own bankruptcy case. In addition, the judges took into account that the construction of the facility has not been completed, which meant that the possibility of living there had not been proven.

As for the board of the district court, it expressed disagreement with this position.

The three judges noted that the fact that the house was not completed was not a reason for depriving the debtor of the right to executive immunity.

There was no evidence that the disputed object remained the only housing due to the actions of the debtor to alienate other real estate. Before registering in the disputed house, the man was registered in the apartment of his mother. Thus, only a change of registration for a disputed object could not indicate an abuse of the right, the court concluded.

As for the expenses that the debtor incurred during the construction of the facility in a situation of debt to creditors, this was also not a reason for depriving him of his only housing. In this case, the law provides for another tool - refusal to apply the rule on exemption from the performance of obligations.

The result of the consideration of the dispute was the cancellation of two court decisions with the direction of the case for reconsideration (decision No. F09-220 / 22 dated February 21, 2022 in case № A71-18169 / 2019).