What should a person do if he finds property that nobody needs? Can he appropriate him or is he obliged to transfer him to the state? What are the responsibilities of the one who left his property and no longer wants to answer for it? Can such citizens be held accountable or what needs to be done with orphaned property?
What is an orphan thing
An ownerless thing is a thing whose owner is known, but for some reason renounced his ownership of the thing. Or the owner of the thing is generally unknown and identifying his personality is unrealistic. If no one claims ownership of the thing, then the thing is ownerless and useless. Such a thing or property can be without a host for years, without maintenance and repair, until someone decides that it is time to get rid of it or take it into their property. An alien thing, namely orphaned property, for a long time, for example, on the street and occupying a decent area, can prevent other citizens from moving freely and violate their free rights. In this case, it is necessary to find the rightful owner of the property, and if this is not possible, then apply for recognition of the thing as a draw and demand that it be removed as garbage.
Types of property
Any property that a person is only capable of owning is divided into movable and immovable. Property may be owned and ownerless property. Each of these subspecies of property is divisible and indivisible.
Divisible property is property that can be divided into parts and not violate its original functionality (for example, a bag of potatoes).
Indivisible property cannot be divided into parts, retaining its original functions (for example, a car).
Land plots and apartment buildings are considered conditionally divisible, but also not divisible in the literal sense.
According to its purpose, property is divided into production and non-production, as well as current and inactive.
Production property can be represented by a plant, equipment, machine tool. Non-productive property is all property that is not involved in the production of any product.
Any property must have its value.
Real estate
Real estate is any kind of structure, architectural monuments, buildings or structures that have a strong connection with the land, as well as land and forests. Responsibility for real estate can be borne by an individual, organization or authorities (federal, municipal, territorial, state). Real estate can be bought, sold, inherited, given and borrowed or leased for a specified period.
According to the laws of the Russian Federation, air, comic and sea ships are also considered real estate.
Movable property
Ownerless property, which cannot be classified as real estate, which in turn has a strong relationship with its foundation (land), is movable property. Movable property can be easily transferred from hand to hand without destroying its integrity. It can be money, any vehicle, jewelry, paintings, stocks or securities. Movable property has no connection with the surface of the earth and can be moved. Movable property can be sold, bought and rented.
Ownerless property. Civil Code of the Russian Federation
According to article 225 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, property that no one claims to own is recognized as ownerless, or the owners abandoned their ownership. This can be real estate, a car or things that do not have a legal owner.
Ownerless thing. Find
The most common ownerless movable property is a find. The item may be lost or discarded. It can be a car or any material items, money, jewelry or any other thing that can be found by chance. The find is considered to be conditionally ownerless movable property until the moment when its owner is found.
Article 227 states that a person who has found someone else's thing must necessarily find the real owner and transfer the thing to him or his relatives.
If the item is found in the store or on the bus, the finder must transfer it to the owner or representative of the store or bus owner. And then the owners of the store or bus will have to look for the real owner of the thing found.
If the real owner cannot be found, then the find must be transferred to the police. The finder of the thing can also leave it for a while while the police are looking for the owner.
Obtaining ownership of the find
If suddenly a person who has found someone else’s property wants to keep it for himself, but understands that according to the law, the personal appropriation of someone else’s property is unacceptable, he should know that there are rules in this regard. For this it is necessary to bring the found thing to the police department and declare their desire to keep the thing at home, if the owner is still not found. From the moment of transferring the find to the police and the application in order to find the true owner of the thing, no more than six months must pass. If this period has expired, and the owner has not been found, then the thing can be considered the property of the one who found it. He has the right to ownerless property.
If this person refuses to take the found thing for himself, then it becomes the property of the state.
Find reward
If the owner of the lost thing is located, then the one who found his property has the legal right to receive compensation for losses incurred related to the storage or delivery of the thing in the form of a reward. If the owner of the ownerless property was never found, and the person who found it does not need it and transfers it to the state, then the state must cover the costs incurred.
The value of the reward for the find cannot be more than 20% of the value of the thing found. If the true owner highly values his thing, then he can reward the finder in excess of what is due at his discretion.
In the event that the finder of the item is not going to return it or search for the owner, he will not have the right to remuneration.
Ownerless mobility. Treasure
Another option for an orphan item is a treasure. As indicated in the Civil Code, an orphaned property - treasure can be considered any thing that has material value, buried in the ground. The owner of such a find, as a rule, cannot be found due to the indefinite time spent by the treasure in the ground. A treasure is recognized as the property of the one who found it, or the one on whose land it was found. If the land belongs to one person and another is found (for example, an employee), then the value of the treasure is divided between them in half (Article 233). If the treasure was discovered illegally without the permission of the owner of the land, then it passes into the possession of only the owner of the land (plot, building).
If the treasure contains not only material values, but also cultural or historically valuable, then they should be transferred to the state. In this case, the person who has found the treasure and the owner of the land have the right to receive remuneration for the treasure found in the amount of half its value. The amount of remuneration should be divided in equal shares between the participants in the treasure search.
If excavation is carried out without the permission of the owner of the possessions, then remuneration is paid only to the owner of the land.
But all these rules do not apply to those who earn by digging the earth in search of treasure.
Ownerless property
Ownerless real estate is considered abandoned buildings and structures, land with or without buildings. If the owners themselves have refused ownership of this property or there is no way to find them, then it can be recognized as a draw. And another person may be interested in this nobody’s property. But he has yet to prove that this property is ownerless.
Assignment of ownerless property
In order for the property to be officially recognized as ownerless, you must write an application to local authorities, which in turn must submit an application for recognition of ownerless property to the municipal authorities in whose jurisdiction this property is located.
The applicant must submit:
- Documents indicating that the object is not in the register of state, municipal or federal significance.
- Information about the lack of registration of ownership of this property by local authorities.
- If the owner is known, but refuses to further own the property, then it is necessary to obtain a statement from him regarding the waiver of ownership of the object.
The authorities should, on the basis of the attached documents, conduct an examination to establish the owner or his absence, and in the event of recognition of property as nothing, put it on the record of ownerless property.
Documents confirming that the property is considered ownerless should be sent to the authorities. All papers must be in duplicate (original and copy). After reading the documents, the original is signed and returned to the sender.
After registration of ownerless property, at least a year must pass for the possibility of acquisition by the new owner or return to the old one. Only after the end of the year, ownerless property (by court order) can become the property of the municipal authority.
One year after the registration of real estate, if the owner does not show up and show his rights to it, the municipal authority may demand through the court the recognition by the owner of this property.
After the object or thing will be recognized as nobody, the new owner can claim ownership of them.
At any moment in the process of recognizing property as ownerless and transferring it to a new owner, a situation may arise in which the whole process can either stop completely or stop for an indefinite period. A real owner may suddenly appear who wants to return his property. The heir of the real owner, who can no longer own the property himself, may appear.
Sometimes it happens that the real owner of the property is under arrest or is prohibited by law from conducting any transactions with real estate.
Ownerless property is not subject to re-registration if the legal owner submits documents proving ownership of the property and has the right to use it and to make various transactions.
Acquisitive prescription
Sometimes it happens that a person for many years owns property not on legal rights, but at the same time fulfills all the duties of the owner of the property: pays taxes and utility bills, keeps the property in proper condition and condition. If the question suddenly arises about owning this property, can such a person be considered the rightful owner and under what conditions?
Article 234 on orphaned property of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that a person or organization who does not have rights to property but who has fulfilled all the requirements as a direct owner for 15 years (in the case of real estate) or 5 years (with other things) is entitled to receive this property in personal ownership. For this property must be registered.If the property is inherited, then the prescription of ownership is counted from the term of use of this property of the person who transferred the inheritance. Until the acquisition of full ownership of the ownerless property, the future owner has the right to challenge the desire of other persons who are not legal owners to possess this property.
Property rights
Any property must be owned by someone: the state, municipality, private individual or organization.
Only the law can decide on the acquisition of property or on the termination of the right to own orphaned property, on the use and disposal of this property.
With the help of the law, types of property are determined that have the right to be either only in state or municipal ownership. But the rights of all property owners are protected equally.
Some property cannot be owned by citizens and legal entities, as it belongs only to state bodies.