1) Establishment of personal data of real estate owners (municipal housing management, neighbours, fake tenants/buyers, etc.) and receipt of a copy of a title document;

2) Search for suitable "candidates" for the role of fictitious buyer, usually of low social and property status or from a temporarily uncontrolled territory or without a permanent known place of residence;

3) Forgery of a notarized agreement drawn up in paper form, under which a real owner allegedly sold real estate to a fictitious buyer or fraudster;

4) A fraudster’s application to a technical inventory bureau on the ground of a forged agreement to obtain information about previous registration of real estate by a real owner in paper form;

5) Submission to the Centre for Rendering Administrative Services or notary of the above forged agreement for scanning and state registration of a raider’s ownership in the Register;

6) Conclusion of a forged loan agreement between members of real estate fraud, according to which a "buyer" allegedly does not return to another fraudster the amount of the loan over UAH 500,000;

7) Appeal of the "lender" to a private notary to obtain a writ of execution to recover from the "buyer", allegedly, the loan amount;

8) One of the today’s treacherous actions is notarizing a loan agreement between a fictitious lender in collusion with a fraudster and real owner of property (with a fake signature of the latter), under which a lender has the right to recover the debt under the writ of execution of the notary if a real owner does not return the "borrowed" amount;

9) Appeal of a fraudster to a private executor with an application on seizure of real estate and its sale at the electronic auction "SETAM" in enforcement proceedings under the writ of execution of the notary;

10) Placement of real estate on the electronic auction "SETAM" for sale at public auction for payment under the writ of execution.

Urgent protective measures against real estate fraud are as follows:

1) applying to the police in connection with real estate fraud according to Articles 190 and 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (real estate fraud or forgery of documents, it depends on the circumstances);

2) applying to the investigator for demanding proofs and interrogation of an owner as a victim;

3) applying to the investigator for immediate appeal to the investigating judge for seizure of real estate;

4) sending by a solicitor inquiries, in particular to a notary, state archives, state registration department, etc., concerning real estate fraud in Kyiv to collect proofs of raiding and registration of property under a forged agreement;

5) appealing to the court with vindication claim on real estate against its fraudulent possession, terminating ownership of the last acquirer, recognizing a real owner’s ownership;

6) filing a lawsuit to recognize a notarized agreement of alienation or loan invalid (as concluded by so called a black notary (a notary participating in illegal activities));

7) appealing to the court to seize property as security for a claim to avoid further real estate fraud and its alienation by a raider;

8) appealing to the court to suspend the sale of property at the auction of SE "SETAM" as security for a claim or as additional security (depending on circumstances);

9) appealing by a real estate fraud attorney to court with an action for handwriting examination, demanding proofs in the chain of operations of the fraud;

10) monitoring criminal proceedings, civil proceedings and appeals to the investigator and court for immediate resolution of an advocate’s motions on real estate fraud in the interests of a client.

Protection of clients' property in case of fraud is realized by attorney-at-law taking into account the following.

According to Article 388 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, an owner of property may claim his/her property from any person who is the last acquirer of this property and who acquired property illegally, regardless of how many times this property was alienated by previous acquirers, and without recognizing previous agreements on the disputed property invalid.

Pursuant to Articles 328 and 202 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, ownership shall be acquired on grounds that are not prohibited by law, in particular on grounds of transactions, i.e. concerted actions of the parties regarding their rights and obligations.

According to Article 334 of the Civil Procedure, an acquirer’s ownership of property under a notarised agreement shall arise from the time of its notarisation or court decision on validity of the agreement.

Thus, according to Articles 330 and 388 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, a buyer does not acquire ownership of property purchased from a third party who/which did not have the authority to act on behalf of the owner, as this property may be claimed back by the real owner. In such a case, ownership of a real owner shall be presumed and not end with alienation of property by a third party against the owner’s will.

Due to acquisition of real estate under a forged agreement, in fraud, without a valid notarization, in the absence of the owner’s will, the property is subject to recovery from another's illegal possession under the provisions of Article 387 of the Civil Code of Ukraine without recognizing the agreement invalid, and in case of subsequent re-sales – under Article 388 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.

When initial taking property from ownership of its real owner against his/her will through real estate fraud, such property is subject to seizure by court from the last buyer.

Due to illegal acquisition of real estate in fraud, there are no grounds for ownership of it by third parties, so state registration of the last buyer’s ownership of real estate is subject to cancellation by court.

Since the purpose of real estate fraud is to sell it to a real buyer and receive money or further dispose of an apartment to recover it in the interests of a fictitious person, it is advisable to prevent such opportunities for fraudsters. To this end, the code provides for measures to secure a lawsuit at the request of a solicitor for real estate fraud.

Depending on circumstances, it may be appropriate to seize property and suspend its sale at auction.

If there is no information on the SETAM website on the sale of real estate in case of fraud, then a seizure will be enough.

Seizure entails refusal to perform notarial acts with real estate (according to Article 55 of the Law on Notaries, while certifying agreements of alienation or pledge of real estate, the absence of any seizures is verified).

A court decision on seizure is subject to immediate execution from the date of signing by a judge, regardless of the opening of enforcement proceedings.

According to a court decision, enforcement proceedings are opened, according to which information about seizure is entered into the Register, which is open for access and check by any person.

Seizure also entails refusal to perform registration of any rights related to real estate (pursuant to paragraph 6 of Part 1, Parts 2 and 3 of Article 24 of the Law on State Registration of Real Property Rights to Real Estate and their Encumbrances, grounds for refusals to state registration of rights are available registered encumbrances; when seizing, a state registrar refuses state registration of rights upon any application).

For seizure, a plaintiff's solicitor has to file a factually and legally substantiated application and pay a court fee.

According to Article 321 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, no one may be unlawfully deprived of ownership or restricted in its exercise. Pursuant to Article 387 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, an owner has the right to demand real estate from a person who fraudulently possessed it.

In according to Article 26 of the Law on State Registration of Real Property Rights to Real Estate and Their Encumbrances, a state registrar performs state registration, change or termination of property rights in accordance with this Law if documents on the ground of which state registration of property rights was performed are recognized invalid or cancelled by a court order or if state registration of property rights was cancelled by a court order.

According to a court decision, property right of a scammer or the last owner of real estate is subject to termination with simultaneous recognition of a real owner’s ownership and removal of seizure imposed by the executor.

A notary is not a proper defendant in the lawsuit to cancel state registration of ownership (Decision of the Civil Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court No. 369 / 14294/17 07.07.2021).

In order to recover property from illegal possession, a plaintiff shall prove existence of his/her right of ownership of such property (Decision of the Supreme Court No. 910 / 11702/18 dated 13.04.2021).