Documents confirming ownership of the car

Types of documents, the presence of which confirms a citizen’s property claims to a vehicle

The legislation of the Russian Federation establishes documents certifying a citizen’s ownership of a vehicle in his possession. First of all, correctly concluded agreements act in this capacity:

purchase and sale;
exchange;
donation;
rent;
other transactions carried out within the framework of the Civil Code.

Ownership of the vehicle is also confirmed by a paper issued by the social security authority on the provision of a means of transportation to a disabled person. In cases where the owner's property claims arise as a result of legal proceedings, the legal document will be a court decision or court order.

Inheritance can also be the basis for acquiring ownership of a vehicle. In this case, a certificate confirming the citizen’s acceptance of the inheritance certifies the person’s property claims.

Also, documents confirming the title can be a certificate-invoice and a decision of a local government body recognizing the owner of a vehicle recognized as a find.

The above documents confirming the ownership of the car are title deeds. According to the law, direct ownership of the vehicle occurs at the time of its transfer under the contract, except for cases specifically stated in the contract or law. However, it should be noted that a transaction with a vehicle must undergo the registration procedure with government agencies and only then the citizen purchasing the car becomes its legal owner.

The transfer of ownership is confirmed by a certificate of registration. To complete this procedure, no driving experience is required, since the owner of the vehicle may be a person who does not have a driver’s license. To obtain a certificate and register a vehicle, you must provide one of the above documents to the territorial traffic police department.

Most often, property claims to transport are established on the basis of a purchase and sale agreement, since vehicles are purchased by citizens privately or at car dealerships. The fact of ownership can also be confirmed by an act of acceptance and transfer of the vehicle. It should contain the following information:

Information about the buyer and seller (last name, first name, patronymic, registration address, place of registration of the legal entity);
Vehicle data (model, make, identification number, color, etc.);
All identified defects of the car (chips, scratches, incomplete equipment, etc.).

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The vehicle passport, certified by the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, contains a note about the owner, but is not legal and does not confirm the transfer of ownership of the vehicle. According to the law, it is only a registration paper.

These, as it turned out, important questions were answered by the Supreme Court in its review of judicial practice. These are, in fact, specific recommendations for all other courts on how to make decisions in similar situations.

Some insurance companies, as well as some judges, as it turned out, do not know from what moment ownership of movable property, that is, a car, begins. As a result, the former refuse to pay after an accident, and the latter support them in their delusions.

So, in April 2014, an accident occurred in Rostov-on-Don. Zaitseva's driver crashed into Chekhov's car. Experts estimated the damage at 105 thousand rubles. However, the insurance company responsible for the accident refused to pay. She referred to the fact that the car allegedly did not belong to Chekhov. According to the vehicle passport, as well as the registration certificate, the car is registered with the traffic police for another person.

In general, insurers are more than willing to make excuses to avoid paying bills. However, the court of first instance confirmed the validity of their claims. The appellate court also supported him. Like, they didn’t deregister the car, they didn’t put it on a new one, under Chekhov. And therefore it does not belong to Chekhov, despite the fact that he paid money for it and received ownership of it in accordance with the purchase and sale agreement and the transfer and acceptance certificate.

However, the Supreme Court did not agree with this decision. In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 218 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, ownership of property can be acquired by another person on the basis of a purchase and sale agreement, exchange, donation or other transaction for the alienation of this property. According to the general rule, enshrined in paragraph 1 of Article 223 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the moment of emergence of the ownership right of the acquirer of a thing under an agreement is the moment of its transfer, unless otherwise provided by law or agreement.

Other is real estate. Ownership in this case is subject to state registration. And only after this procedure, having received the appropriate document, the owner becomes the full owner. But real estate includes land plots, subsoil plots and everything that is firmly connected to the land, that is, objects whose movement without disproportionate damage to their purpose is impossible, including buildings, structures, and unfinished construction projects.

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By the way, immovable property also includes aircraft and sea vessels, as well as inland navigation vessels. They are also subject to state registration.

However, cars, motorcycles, etc. are classified as movable property. State registration of rights does not apply to them. Registration of vehicles is of an accounting nature and does not serve as a basis for the emergence of ownership rights to them. That is, without registration, a car cannot drive on public roads.

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation and other federal laws do not contain rules limiting the powers of the owner to dispose of a vehicle in cases where this vehicle has not been deregistered by him. There are no provisions in the legislation that state that a new purchaser of a vehicle under a contract does not have ownership rights to it if the previous owner has not deregistered it.

And who the car is registered in the traffic police should not bother anyone except the previous owner. The courts did not take all this into account. Therefore, the Supreme Court returned the case for a new trial to the appellate court so that the decision could be made with new inputs.

It must be said that the owner of the car is obliged to register the car with the traffic police within 10 days. Owning a car comes with certain responsibilities. At least for paying vehicle tax. It doesn’t matter whether it is used or not.

At the same time, the tax office, as well as the traffic police, consider the purchase and sale agreement and the acceptance certificate as documents that confirm the transfer of ownership. But for some reason the insurers don’t.

Data about the owner of the car is contained in documents such as PTS, STS, insurance policy, as well as a purchase and sale agreement (donation or exchange) and other documents.

Which of the following documents confirms ownership of the car, and which of them confirm the fact of ownership?

Document confirming the right to own a vehicle

It should contain the following information:

Information about the buyer and seller (last name, first name, patronymic, registration address, place of registration of the legal entity);
Vehicle data (model, make, identification number, color, etc.);
All identified defects of the car (chips, scratches, incomplete equipment, etc.).

When an individual acts as a buyer, the seller can limit itself to only issuing a bill of lading. You should know that although an invoice can confirm the fact of transfer of ownership to a person, it is better to use the transfer and acceptance act as a document confirming title. Therefore, it is necessary to request the execution of the act from the seller. The vehicle passport, certified by the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, contains a note about the owner, but is not legal and does not confirm the transfer of ownership of the vehicle.

Transfer of ownership of a car

The transfer of ownership of a car occurs at the moment of concluding a sales contract and the seller receives funds, the amount of which is specified in the contract. It is best to conclude an agreement with a notary - this method is the easiest and fastest. After this, the new owner of the car must deregister it himself and carry out all the necessary manipulations related to registration in his name.

Advice from Sravni.ru: when purchasing a car, you receive a package of ownership documents. If the purchase is made from a private person, conclude the purchase and sale transaction with a notary - this will protect you from fraud.

Documents confirming and certifying ownership

To understand this issue in detail, it is necessary to separate the concepts:

document confirming ownership;
document certifying ownership.

Documents issued by traffic police departments, customs, and insurance organizations refer to documents confirming ownership:

PTS (vehicle passport) is a document containing information about the main technical characteristics of the car, information about the owner, registration and deregistration.
STS (vehicle certificate) is a document confirming that a vehicle has been registered and registered.
OSAGO (compulsory motor third party liability insurance policy) – insurance of property interests associated with the risk of civil liability of the vehicle owner for obligations arising from harm to the life, health or property of victims when using the vehicle.

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All of the above documents contain information about the owner of the vehicle. And all these documents confirm the fact of ownership of the car, i.e. are documents confirming ownership. However, the emergence of ownership occurs even before the data is entered into the specified documents.

From what moment does it arise?

When does ownership arise and the car becomes owned? The moment of ownership of a car arises:

Its transfer from the seller to the buyer upon the transfer of the goods (Article 223 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
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After drawing up the relevant agreement (sale, donation or other procedure for the alienation of property) - Art. 218 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
If the purchase and sale agreement states that only after full payment for the car the buyer will become its owner, then he will first have to pay for the purchase and only after that can he consider himself the full owner.

The parties to the transaction, by agreement, choose the most convenient option for themselves.

Registration of a vehicle is not the basis for the emergence of ownership rights, since it can only arise on the basis of a purchase and sale agreement, gift, exchange or other transaction for the alienation of property (Article 218 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Supporting documents

As already briefly noted above, the right to property is legally enshrined and confirmed by certain title documentation. Most often you will encounter a situation in which this right will be confirmed by a purchase and sale agreement, because citizens often purchase a vehicle on the primary or secondary market.

In addition, the only document that can confirm the fact of transfer of the car is the acceptance certificate of the vehicle.

This act is concluded between the buyer and the seller. You should know that the act must indicate the following information:

Full name of the buyer, his passport details, registration address, details of the seller, place of registration of the legal entity (if there is one);
model and make of the car, year of manufacture, identification number (VIN), color. It is the presence of the VIN number that is fundamental, since without it it will be difficult to prove the fact of transfer of ownership rights;
an indication of all defects discovered by the buyer (damage to the paintwork, lack of completeness, etc.).

Sometimes, if the buyer is an individual, then instead of an acceptance certificate they may be presented with a TORG-12 consignment note. This invoice acts as a primary accounting document. But here it should be remembered that the invoice can confirm the fact of transfer of property, but according to the law this is generally incorrect. Therefore, in any case, require the execution of a transfer and acceptance certificate.

Although a passport issued for a specific vehicle contains an indication of the owner, it is not a document of title. Also, it cannot act as confirmation of the fact of transfer of property. According to current legislation, a passport issued for a specific vehicle acts only as a registration document.

It should be remembered that when signing a purchase and sale agreement for a car, the buyer, in addition to the agreement itself (one copy), must have the following package of documents:

certificate of acceptance and transfer of the car;
any document that acts as confirmation of payment for the cost of the vehicle.

After reading the above information, you can see that such a simple procedure as buying a car can turn out to be quite labor-intensive.

If you do not know certain nuances regarding title documentation, you can then find yourself in an unpleasant situation in which, in addition to you, at least one person will claim to be the owner of the car. Therefore, you need to first familiarize yourself with existing laws, consult with a lawyer, and only then begin the procedure for registering ownership of the purchased vehicle.