Unlocking real estate transactions

The resolution provides for the resumption of such activities with some restrictions. They act for the period of the martial law and within one month from the date of its termination or abolition and are intended to protect the rights and interests of individuals in the conditions of its operation and from possible abuses and offenses. The following restrictions are currently in place:

1) Notarial and registration actions on real estate may be performed by a limited number of notaries. The Ministry of Justice will prepare a list of notaries who, in martial law, perform notarial actions in respect of the valuable property. The list of criteria based on which it will be formed is determined by the resolution. The initiative to pass the assessment of compliance with these criteria and further inclusion in the List belongs to the notaries themselves. Some of them will have restrictions on certain actions, which will be indicated in the List.

2) It is prohibited to perform notarial and registration actions by notaries operating within an administrative-territorial unit included in the list of administrative-territorial units approved by the Ministry of Justice, within which access to the unified and state registers held by the Ministry of Justice is restricted within martial law.

3) It is prohibited to transfer real estate to and from the authorized capital of legal entities.

4) Notarization of the agreement of sale of a mortgage subject belonging to an individual on a consumer loan is prohibited, except in cases where such sale is carried out with the consent of the mortgagor, as well as state registration of ownership of real estate on the basis of a mortgage agreement on a consumer loan, which contains a reservation to meet the requirements of the mortgagee by acquiring ownership of the mortgage.

5) The performance of notarial and registration actions is carried out by notaries within the region of the location of real estate. Additionally, the principle of extraterritoriality applies to the territories of the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region. Restrictions do not apply in the case of state registration of rights as a result of the registration of inheritance.

6) It is prohibited to perform notarial and registration actions in relation to agreements concluded on behalf of an individual alienator (mortgagor, etc.) on the basis of a power of attorney.

7) It is prohibited to perform notarial and registration actions within one month from the date of previous relevant actions on such property. Exceptions are inheritance and state registration of rights as a result of determining the size of shares in the right of joint ownership.

8) It is prohibited to make writs of execution on credit agreements that are not notarized.

The resolution also settled the issue of documents and applications that were under consideration by state registrars and notaries before the imposition of martial law. If such are not currently included in the relevant List of Notaries mentioned above, the documents and applications shall be submitted for consideration to another notary authorized for such consideration. The distribution is carried out by software, the transfer takes place by the territorial body of the Ministry of Justice. The initiators of the transfer may be the applicant, the notary from whom the documents are to be transferred, or the notary to whom the documents are to be transferred (in the case of the applicant’s request for such transfer).

GOLAW welcomes the introduction of appropriate legislative changes and hopes it will intensify activities in the real estate market. We, in turn, will be happy to provide you with comprehensive assistance on any issues, including:

• Execution and maintaining any real estate agreements;
• Provision of due diligence services for real estate;
• Organization of relevant notarial and registration actions.