Obtaining Legal Documents

[ejt 0]

Hello, I have a friend who went through the entire process and married a Russian girl from Sochi. He asked me to help him find a way to get some legal documents from Russia. Specifically, his wife owned part of an apartment when they got married, and they are having difficulty obtaining the documents. She has no family in the Sochi area and no contacts.

If anyone might suggest a legal firm or even better, a web-based document search for real estate history, etc. it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Fedup 0]

Hello, I have a friend who went through the entire process and married a Russian girl from Sochi. He asked me to help him find a way to get some legal documents from Russia. Specifically, his wife owned part of an apartment when they got married, and they are having difficulty obtaining the documents. She has no family in the Sochi area and no contacts.

If anyone might suggest a legal firm or even better, a web-based document search for real estate history, etc. it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Not 100% sure what exactly they need. But if they need the real estate ownership documents, they can obtain it in a local federal registry office, same office where they would register ownership. If she never got this "certificate of ownership" she can still obtain it, they just search records.

But you wrote "his wife owned", does it mean she does not own in anymore? If so, she might still get some records of prior ownership, if she really needs it. She would not need a legal firm for that, she would need to do it in person or give power of attorney to someone.

It's relatively easy, takes about 30 days to get doc.

[akdiver 3]

Hello, I have a friend who went through the entire process and married a Russian girl from Sochi. He asked me to help him find a way to get some legal documents from Russia. Specifically, his wife owned part of an apartment when they got married, and they are having difficulty obtaining the documents. She has no family in the Sochi area and no contacts.

If anyone might suggest a legal firm or even better, a web-based document search for real estate history, etc. it would be much appreciated.

Your question assumes that there is a valid, functioning legal system in Russia in practice, as well as theory. Numerous sources will tell you that this is not the case. Your best bet is to give up on this and move on - concentrating on the future, rather than the past.

[slim 1,530]

It's going to take boots on the ground and lots of money to get it done. If you don't have either, see above.

[Bobalouie 0]

It's going to take boots on the ground and lots of money to get it done. If you don't have either, see above.

Slim is 100% correct on that one. My wife was one of the lawyers who worked in the office in Sochi that does the leagalization of real estate documents for the government, which is the office your friend needs to visit. Before she left, she was trying to tidy up some of the docs on some of her family members' flats. She couldnt get it all done because even with her inside contacts it was still going to be $15-20K to get all the work done.

[Fedup 0]

It's going to take boots on the ground and lots of money to get it done. If you don't have either, see above.

Slim is 100% correct on that one. My wife was one of the lawyers who worked in the office in Sochi that does the leagalization of real estate documents for the government, which is the office your friend needs to visit. Before she left, she was trying to tidy up some of the docs on some of her family members' flats. She couldnt get it all done because even with her inside contacts it was still going to be $15-20K to get all the work done.

Wow, I guess depends on the situation and the property.

We made 2 trips to the registry, first one with 1500 rub fee, second one 3 weeks later to pick up the docs. That's it. But there was no legal fight or division of ownership, it was simple straightforward property ownership documentation and certificate. I was surprised, because of hearing these horror stories.

But again, it was in St.Pete, and relatively recently. They did some major changes to the registration laws about 2 years ago, have no idea how it was before. Maybe depends on location too.

[slim 1,530]

Wow, I guess depends on the situation and the property.

We made 2 trips to the registry, first one with 1500 rub fee, second one 3 weeks later to pick up the docs. That's it.

That's what's known as "boots on the ground."

If you can actually go to these places in person there's a chance you may be able to get it done with relative ease. (But you're still taking the time to get there and then paying for the trip, any fees, etc.) Or, if you know someone there that can get it done for you, in person, it's possible it can be done with relative ease. The key here is having someone you know do it in person.

If you can't go or have someone you know do it, then it's going to either be very difficult and expensive or just not possible. It's highly unlikely that someone who works in the office is going to take your call or e-mail and make it happen for you for free.

But, anything is possible! Give it a shot and then follow it up with a trip over there.

[Fedup 0]

Wow, I guess depends on the situation and the property.

We made 2 trips to the registry, first one with 1500 rub fee, second one 3 weeks later to pick up the docs. That's it.

That's what's known as "boots on the ground."

If you can actually go to these places in person there's a chance you may be able to get it done with relative ease. (But you're still taking the time to get there and then paying for the trip, any fees, etc.) Or, if you know someone there that can get it done for you, in person, it's possible it can be done with relative ease. The key here is having someone you know do it in person.

If you can't go or have someone you know do it, then it's going to either be very difficult and expensive or just not possible. It's highly unlikely that someone who works in the office is going to take your call or e-mail and make it happen for you for free.

But, anything is possible! Give it a shot and then follow it up with a trip over there.

It is definitely impossible to do via mail or e-mail. It does require power of attorney, in Russian, notarized. This can be issued at the Russian consulate, then mailed there for someone to do it. It's not easy, but not impossible or extremely hard.

I would warn strongly though to be careful, some of the difficulties and prohibitive costs might be due to someone trying to take advantage of the situation, of a foreigner trying get things done in a hurry, I would avoid any "law firms" there at all, no matter what they tell you! They will scam you and rip you off.

[Bobalouie 0]

Wow, I guess depends on the situation and the property.

We made 2 trips to the registry, first one with 1500 rub fee, second one 3 weeks later to pick up the docs. That's it.

That's what's known as "boots on the ground."

If you can actually go to these places in person there's a chance you may be able to get it done with relative ease. (But you're still taking the time to get there and then paying for the trip, any fees, etc.) Or, if you know someone there that can get it done for you, in person, it's possible it can be done with relative ease. The key here is having someone you know do it in person.

If you can't go or have someone you know do it, then it's going to either be very difficult and expensive or just not possible. It's highly unlikely that someone who works in the office is going to take your call or e-mail and make it happen for you for free.

But, anything is possible! Give it a shot and then follow it up with a trip over there.

It is definitely impossible to do via mail or e-mail. It does require power of attorney, in Russian, notarized. This can be issued at the Russian consulate, then mailed there for someone to do it. It's not easy, but not impossible or extremely hard.

I would warn strongly though to be careful, some of the difficulties and prohibitive costs might be due to someone trying to take advantage of the situation, of a foreigner trying get things done in a hurry, I would avoid any "law firms" there at all, no matter what they tell you! They will scam you and rip you off.

Your right, law firms will be of no help, and the cost is only going up because real estate costs are skyrocketing now due to the Olympics and all the additional stuff they are putting in to Sochi, thus the cost of not having your "documents in order" is going up as well.

Everyone is trying to take advantage of the situation. The people who work in the legalization office make 200-400 bucks a month, and they just got new bosses from Krasnodar who are making all the people in the office work 12 hours a day 7 days a week to try and keep up with the workload. Those people are going to be raising the "can you help me" rates due to the work overload. The only people who can fix documents for very low cost are the girls who work in the office, but it will still cost $3000 minimum for them to fix the smallest of problems for themselves using their "network".

[ejt 0]

Wow, I am thoroughly impressed by the knowedge base here. I will certainly pass along the information gathered.

In all, it seems possible to get, just may be time consuming. They may need to weigh the cost against benefits of course. I appreciate the advice on law firms, and the reasoning behind it, especially with the Olympics headed that way.

Thanks again!