How to check a car: procedure

What does it mean to seize a car?

For most inexperienced car owners, car seizure, ban or restriction of registration actions are identical concepts. However, from a legal point of view they are different.

The restriction prevents the implementation of ownership rights (or other rights) in relation to property. This measure can be used when dividing a car between spouses during a divorce, pledging a vehicle as collateral, etc.

A prohibition should be understood as a decision that prevents the owner of the property from performing a specific action or series of actions. For vehicles, a ban on registration actions is most often used. This measure can be used if there are debts on alimony, loans, fines and in other situations.

The concept of arrest is much broader than the previous ones. In accordance with Article 51 of the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings” (FZ-229 of October 2, 2007), this measure provides for an inventory of property and a ban on performing absolutely any actions with it.

Also read: All about traffic police restrictions on cars

Checking for work in a taxi service

The service makes it possible to check a car to see if it was used as a taxi. There is information about whether the vehicle was registered with official taxi services.

If a service check indicates that the car was used by this service, then you should refuse the purchase. Even if the car is relatively new, it exhausts its service life much faster with such intensive use. This means that when purchasing it you will have to constantly invest in expensive repairs.

Who has the right to seize a car and in what cases?

This procedure can be initiated by a decision:

• court when satisfying the claim of any organization or government agency (bank, social security department, etc.);
• customs authorities;
• bailiffs.

There are many reasons why a car is seized. The most common of them are unpaid utilities, overdue loans, debts for alimony or traffic police fines. Also, punitive sanctions can be initiated for non-payment of taxes or for violations of customs clearance of a car (for example, the owner, in order to avoid paying a fee to the state treasury, imports it from abroad for spare parts, etc.).

Repayment of debt under a writ of execution

The debt under the writ of execution can be paid in the following ways:

1. Using the “Pay” button on the official website of the FSSP. It is located next to the production information. A bank card is used for payment.
2. By bank card in the Gosuslugi mobile application. To do this, you will need to enter your card details and confirm the payment by entering the code from the SMS message.
3. In cash or by bank transfer at any bank branch. A payment notice with payment details should be obtained from the bailiff or generated using a special service on the FSSP website.
4. Using the “My Payments” service on the mos.ru website.
5. Through payment terminals.

Attention! Within 3 to 7 days from the date of payment, the record of the debt is deleted from the FSSP database or the amount of the debt is reduced if the obligations have been partially repaid.

Seizure procedure

The seizure of a car by bailiffs is carried out in the manner provided for in Articles 64 and 68 of the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”. FSSP employees are required to present the owner with the relevant resolution and draw up an inventory of the property.

An act of seizure must be drawn up and documents for the car must be confiscated: PTS and registration certificate (in this case, the presence of two witnesses is required). The act of seizure specifies the following parameters:

• car color;
• license plate;
• body and engine numbers (when it comes to trucks, the chassis number is additionally indicated).

In addition, the document must mention external and internal defects of the car.

Then the issue of transferring the vehicle for storage is decided. An outside person or organization with which the FSSP has concluded a corresponding agreement may be appointed responsible for the safety of the car. However, quite often the seizure procedure is not carried out. In this case, the owner of the car or one of his family members is appointed responsible for storage.

It should be remembered that using a seized car, in accordance with Art. 86 of the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”, it is impossible without the written consent of the bailiff. Otherwise, the matter may lead to criminal liability.

By the way, you most likely will not receive permission from the bailiff, since cars belong to the category of property that can suffer significant damage during operation (for example, in a traffic accident). Accordingly, the cost of the seized transport will decrease.

The lien on the car will be removed after the debt is paid off. Otherwise, it may be put up for auction.

In what cases can the seizure of a car by bailiffs be challenged?

According to current legislation, the arrest procedure cannot be carried out if the car belongs to:

• one of the debtor’s family members (for example, the husband’s car should not be seized for the wife’s debts or vice versa);
• a disabled person, and he needs it for movement;
• a debtor whose work is directly related to the use of a car he owns (taxi, freight transportation, etc.).

If the owner of the vehicle fits one of the above categories, but the arrest was still made, it’s time to go to court.

What is a ban on registration actions?

A ban on registration actions with a car means that the owner of the vehicle will not be able to contact the traffic police to carry out registration actions

A ban on registration actions with a car means that the owner of the vehicle will not be able to contact the traffic police to carry out registration actions. If a ban is imposed, then the car cannot:

• Register to another owner (sell, donate, etc.).
• Replace or restore vehicle documents (PTS, registration certificate).
• Make changes to the registration documents (for example, repaint the car or install LPG on it).

What are the risks of buying a seized car?

Some owners, after a car has already been seized, try to get rid of it. And there are buyers for such vehicles: they are attracted by the relatively low cost. If you make such a transaction knowingly, remember that you will not be able to legally complete the purchase. All seized vehicles are included in the traffic police database.

Often, the buyer simply does not know that the car sold to him is under arrest. Having contacted the traffic police, the newly-minted owner is denied registration of the vehicle. That is, you seem to have a car, but he cannot use it legally.

In this situation, there are several options:

• Try to get punitive sanctions lifted. True, this is only possible in a situation where the seizure occurred later than the conclusion of the purchase and sale agreement for the vehicle.
• Try to negotiate peacefully with the seller to terminate the transaction and return the money by sending him a corresponding claim in writing. The effectiveness of such actions is very doubtful, since the owner of the car perfectly understood the illegality of his act, which means that persuasion most likely will not work on him. Often the seller simply hides, turns off the phone and does not want to get in touch.
• If the second option does not work, you will have to file a claim to terminate the transaction and return the funds. The buyer has every right to do this in accordance with Article 460 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Here you need to remember the following: if the transaction amount is less than 50 thousand rubles. - you should contact the magistrates, if more - the district court.

Practice shows that in the vast majority of cases your claim will be satisfied, but be prepared for the fact that the legal proceedings will take about 2 months.

An important point when drawing up a purchase and sale agreement (SPA) is to indicate the actual cost of the car. Often, by mutual agreement, a much smaller amount is fixed on paper. At the same time, the buyer should understand that if, for example, he actually paid 500 thousand rubles for the purchase, and the contract indicates half that amount, it will be very difficult to return the money in full. After all, the court does not need words, but documented evidence.

A word from the experts

Yulia Kombarova, General Director of Legal Bureau No. 1:

“In all standard contracts for the purchase and sale of property, including cars, there is a clause that states: “The seller guarantees that the car is not pledged, that third parties have no claims to it, and the seller also guarantees that it has no signs of and bankruptcy cases filed.” This clause of the contract protects the buyer, and places full responsibility for the circumstances of the transaction on the seller. Therefore, in the event of detection of arrests imposed on the item of purchase, after concluding a sales contract and transferring money, the buyer has the right to invalidate the contract, receive the money back and return the car.

Proving the good faith of the acquirer is, of course, a time-consuming legal process. But for the services of a representative and other legal expenses can be recovered from an unscrupulous seller in court. It should be noted that if you win a lawsuit, you will not be able to get money right away. Most likely, you will have to contact the bailiff service, and if the debtor is in bankruptcy proceedings, then submit your claims to the register of creditors of the debtor in the bankruptcy case.”

Valerik Vardanovich Galstyan, senior partner of the law firm:

“In such a situation, things can develop in two ways:

• If the contract for the sale and purchase of a vehicle was executed before the seizure, then the new owner has the opportunity to try to lift the seizure in court by proving that he was a bona fide purchaser, and at the time of the seizure the vehicle was not owned by the seller.
• If the purchase and sale agreement was executed after the seizure, the car will be confiscated from the new owner, since the seizure is a restriction on taking actions to alienate property. Therefore, the seller did not have the right to sell the property under arrest.

In the second case, the new owner has every right to terminate the purchase and sale agreement concluded with the seller and demand the return of the funds paid by him.”

Checking for vehicle registration restrictions

To begin with, I would like to note that at the time of the last update of this article (August 11, 2021), the official website of the traffic police allows you to check, firstly, for theft (search), and secondly, the restrictions imposed by the courts, investigative authorities, customs authorities, social protection authorities and other government bodies.

However, the service does not provide information about cars that are pledged . Most likely, this omission will be corrected over time, but for now we must be content with what we have.