How to sell real estate if the owner is abroad
After the full-scale invasion, many Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes and seek protection abroad.
Due to the circumstances, there is a need to sell the property, but it is not possible to do it personally.
What to do in this case
Ukrainians living abroad can sell real estate in Ukraine by power of attorney
General power of attorney issued by the owner to dispose of real estate:
the validity period is 2 months, if the power of attorney is issued at the Ukrainian consulate abroad;
the validity period is 1 month, if the power of attorney is drawn up by a foreign notary (translation and apostille are required).
It should be noted that there are now strict limitations on the use of such powers of attorney.
For citizens who have been abroad for a long time, the Ministry of Justice provided for the possibility of filing an application confirming the effect of general powers of attorney for the disposal of real estate:
the term of extending the power of attorney is 1 month, if such an application is made at the consulate of Ukraine;
the power of attorney extension period is 7 days, if the application is drawn up by a foreign notary (translation and apostille are required).
The Ministry of Justice established a list of countries from which a translation of certified documents is required, but without an apostille: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Mongolia, Vietnam and China.
To issue a power of attorney, it is necessary to provide the passport data, identification code of the owner and authorized person, as well as data on the real estate to the Consular office or notary.
What documents are required for this
Notaries may require:
A general power of attorney issued by the owner to dispose of real estate. Note that, if necessary, they may also require a statement from the owner who is abroad and confirms the previously issued power of attorney.
A copy of the passport and TIN of the owner or owners.
Notarized consent of the wife or husband, if the owner is married, or purchased housing while married. If the spouses are abroad, the consent can also be certified by a foreign notary, and the document must be translated and apostilled.
Certificate of real estate appraisal, made independently through the portal of the State Property Fund or ordered from an expert.
Certificate on the presence of registered persons from the National Center for Social Security. If there are registered children under the age of 14 in the apartment, then the child’s parents need to take care of their registration at the new place of permanent residence in advance.
A certificate of the technical condition of housing from BTI (notaries can especially request such a certificate if the owners purchased the property a long time ago or the purchase and sale agreement was concluded more than 10 years ago – before the creation of electronic registers of real estate).
