Russian home buyers who discover hidden defects in their new property can claim compensation from the seller or even cancel the purchase agreement, a legal expert has advised.
Alexander Khaminsky, head of the Law Enforcement Center in Moscow and the Moscow region, told RT that buyers have up to two years from the day they receive their keys to make a claim about flaws they could not have seen during a standard viewing.
RT is a state controlled media network in Russia that broadcasts domestic and international news.
Hidden defects include problems like mould underneath wallpaper, water leaks, faulty electrical wiring or plumbing, cracks in the walls, and issues with waterproofing.
Khaminsky said these are defined as repair flaws that are impossible to spot during a routine inspection, or problems that appear after the sale but were caused by factors that existed before the deal was signed.
Steps to claim compensation
The lawyer stressed that new owners should not try to fix serious problems themselves, because doing so makes it much harder to prove the defect existed before they bought the property.
The first step a buyer must take when they find a hidden fault is to document the problem using photographs or video footage.
They then need to hire a specialist to examine the issue, determine its nature and cause, and write a formal report.
Once the buyer has this document, they must write to the seller to formally notify them of the problem and submit a written demand for compensation.
The Russian real estate market is heavily regulated to protect consumers, whether they are buying an older apartment on the secondary market or a brand new home straight from a construction company.
Civil Code protections
Articles 557 and 475 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation set out the options for compensating a buyer who has bought a defective property.
The Civil Code is the primary piece of legislation regulating private law and commercial disputes in Russia, covering property rights, contracts and consumer protection.
Under these rules, a seller can choose to reduce the sale price of the apartment, pay the buyer back for the cost of fixing the problem, or carry out the repairs themselves.
However, if the fault cannot be fixed, or if the repairs would cost a disproportionate amount of money, the buyer is entitled to tear up the purchase contract and demand their money back.
New build warranties
The rules apply slightly differently to new build apartments, which make up a large portion of the Russian property sector as developers construct high rise residential blocks in and around major cities like Moscow.
For a newly built property, buyers can still make a claim against the developer even if the official warranty period has already run out.
The handover process for a new Russian apartment often involves signing a formal acceptance certificate, sometimes after inspecting an unfinished concrete shell, which can make it hard to spot structural or technical flaws until much later.
To make a claim outside the warranty period, the owner must hire an independent construction and technical expert to establish exactly when the defect began.
The expert report must prove that the problem was caused by the developer's actions, and confirm that it would have been impossible for the buyer to notice the flaw when they officially accepted the apartment.
