Situations where the original document confirming the ownership of real estate is lost, damaged or destroyed are quite common, especially in times of war. But there is a difference in the procedures for restoring a title document issued before January 1, 2013 and after that date. Lawyers of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union explain how to act in both cases.

If the title document was issued after January 1, 2013

State registration of property rights, according to the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Real Rights to Real Estate and Their Encumbrances”, from January 1, 2013, is carried out on the basis of documents confirming the emergence, transfer or termination of such a right, which results in the issuance of information from the State Register of Rights.

Thus, for example, the documents certifying the right of ownership may be

sale and purchase agreement,

gift agreement,

certificate of ownership,

certificate of inheritance, etc.

If information about a certain real right to real estate is entered in the State Register of Rights, and the title documents on the basis of which such registration was made are lost or damaged, no additional actions are required to “prolong the existence of the fact of state registration of the relevant real right”.

Please note that there is no need to renew certificates of ownership of real estate issued during 2013-2015.

Information about the document confirming the ownership should be stored in the State Register of Rights, and therefore there is no need to obtain duplicate certificates of ownership of real estate issued during 2013-2015.

If there is no information on real rights to real estate in the information systems, the general rule governing the procedure for restoring lost or damaged documents should be used (i.e., a duplicate of the lost document may be issued by the entity that issued such a document).

How to restore a title document issued before January 1, 2013

In case of loss or damage to a document of title to real estate issued before January 1, 2013, the actions are defined in the Procedure for State Registration of Real Property Rights and Encumbrances, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on December 25, 2015, No. 1127.

To restore the right to own (or use) a land plot or real estate, the state registrar uses information from the State Land Cadastre or the Register of Real Estate Ownership Rights (which is an archival part of the State Register of Rights), as well as paper documents: register books, registration files kept by specialists of the technical inventory bureau.

Therefore, if the applicant has copies of the lost, damaged or corrupted state act or certificate of ownership of real estate, they should also be submitted to the state registrar during the document recovery procedure.

In this case, state registration of rights is carried out only if the state registrar establishes the existence of registered rights in rem on the basis of such documents in the State Land Cadastre or the Register of Real Estate Ownership Rights, or on paper.

If such property is a completed construction object or an object under construction, the documents are also restored if there is information on its technical inventory received by the state registrar from the Unified State Electronic System in the field of construction. In this case, the State Register must contain information about the loss, damage or deterioration of the relevant document.

The state registration of property rights is carried out at the ASC at your place of residence. The timeframe for this action is 5 business days from the date of application. We remind you that IDPs receive administrative services at the place of their actual residence thanks to an IDP certificate.

In which case you will have to go to court

If it is not possible to obtain a duplicate of the lost, damaged or spoiled documents, you will have to go to court. Depending on the reason for the absence of title documents, the future algorithm of actions in court is determined. Applications to be submitted to the court may include

• applications for recognition of ownership of property,
• applications for the establishment of a legal fact,
• applications for removal of obstacles to the exercise of ownership by requesting title documents to the property, depending on the applicant’s circumstances.

Source: Legal Development Network