Crimes in the Field of Shared-Equity Construction of Housing and Other Real Estate Objects: Problems of Legislation and Law Enforcement Practice

Abstract

The author draws attention to the high adaptability of crimes in the sphere of shared-equity construction of housing and other real estate to the modernizing legislation aimed at protecting the rights and lawful interests of bona fide participants of these legal relations. Having such features, typical of economic criminals, as overall and legal literacy, professional competence, good interpersonal skills, connections in state and municipal agencies, psychological adaptability, etc., the offenders in the sphere of shared-equity construction continue to use the modes and methods of criminal activities that can be generally described as attempts to find a formal way to bypass legal requirements, whether the adopted and enforced Federal Law «On Participation in Shared-equity Construction of Apartment Buildings and Other Real Estate and on Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation» of December 30, 2004 № 214-ФЗ or such considerable amendments to it (effective from July 1, 2019) as obligatory use of escrow accounts by the developer, which prevents the developer from using the monetary funds of the equity holder before fulfilling the obligation to complete the construction of the apartment building and to put it into use. Moreover, in spite of some effective measures undertaken by the state, the number of problematic objects and deceived equity holders continues to grow, and the official statistics do not fully reflect the actual situation and scope of the problem because a considerable share of contracts that are, in fact, shared-equity construction, is still concluded in the unofficially accepted form of an agreement of equity participation in construction, which is substituted by various surrogates of civil obligations (investment agreement, etc.). The objects of shared equity in apartment buildings under construction, the permit for which was obtained after July 1, 2019, are often sold through front persons or organizations controlled by the developer (and appearing as equity holders in sham agreements on equity participation in construction) through a claim reassignment agreement, which does not reflect the actual side of such legal relations. The author presents his recommendations for more thorough research of the subjective side of the actions under consideration, which will make it possible to prove the fake nature of such agreements and to identify the latent socially relevant connections between persons involved in such legal relations, right down to the corruption links with specially authorized officials in state and municipal bodies.