Court upholds apartment sale to family of military operation participant

The Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg dismissed a lawsuit from a local retiree who sought to invalidate the sale of her apartment to the family of a participant in the special military operation.

As reported by the combined press service of the Sverdlovsk Region courts, scammers misled the woman over three months under the pretext of replacing meters. First, they convinced her to transfer all her savings—more than 500,000 rubles (about $5,400 at current rates)—to so-called secure accounts. They then provided a forged extract from Rosreestr, allegedly showing the property had already been sold to unknown persons.

To «restore her rights» to the apartment, the criminals suggested the pensioner sell it urgently herself and also transfer the proceeds for «safekeeping.» The woman agreed and sold the one-room apartment, measuring 29.8 m² on Shaumyan Street, for 4.4 million rubles (about $47,500). The buyers were a married couple from Snezhinsk, where the husband is a participant in the special military operation.

Realizing what had happened only when the issue of moving out arose, the former owner went to court. «The plaintiff asked the court to invalidate the money transfer and purchase-sale transactions without applying the legal consequences of voiding the deals. The defendants were the banks and the apartment buyers,» the court press service said. «The plaintiff insisted that at the time she was under continuous psychological pressure, was deceived, and could not understand the consequences of her actions, which the criminals took advantage of.»

After reviewing the case materials, the court dismissed the claim. The buyers were deemed to be acting in good faith, and the purchase-sale contract remained in force.

«The court»s decision will take effect in one month if not appealed by the parties,« the court press service clarified. »Incidentally, the apartment sold by the retiree was not her only residence; she will not be left on the street.«

The serviceman«s family purchased the apartment using a housing certificate worth 3.2 million rubles (about $34,600) and adding the remaining sum from their own savings. When choosing a home, they considered several options and settled on the apartment on Shaumyan Street.