Settlements when buying an apartment or house through a letter of credit – pluses and minuses, settlement scheme and cost at the bank

The content of the article

• What is a letter of credit when buying a property
• Types of Bank Letters of Credit
• Why do I need a letter of credit when buying an apartment
• Use of a letter of credit in real estate transactions
• How does a letter of credit when buying an apartment work
• Pros and cons of a letter of credit
• How to draw up a letter of credit agreement
• What documents are needed
• Sample contract
• Letter of credit price for individuals
• In Sberbank
• Letter of credit in VTB 24
• Letter of credit at Russian Agricultural Bank
• Letter of credit settlement scheme

Many people, when they are offered a bank letter of credit when buying an apartment, get scared, suspecting that they are trying to impose bad loans on them. However, a letter of credit when buying real estate is a means of settlement equally beneficial for the buyer and seller of real estate. It is used to control the correctness of settlements by a third party, that is, a bank.

What is a letter of credit when buying a property

A letter of credit for individuals is a guarantee of the bank that all the conditions of the transaction for the acquisition of property will pass as expected, in accordance with applicable law, and all participants will fulfill their obligations. This type of calculation can be used not only for buying a home, but also in all other cases when the buyer and the seller do not know each other, and the sale must go without unpleasant surprises, such as the refusal of one of the partners from their obligations.

The accreditation account acts as a bank cell, where the buyer pays money on certain conditions, only in this case, the bank organization opens a special non-cash account instead of the cell. The seller can receive money only after he confirms the fulfillment of his obligations to the buyer. Control over all actions of partners, program participants, rests with the bank that owns the letter of credit. Cheating a partner in such conditions becomes impossible.

Types of Bank Letters of Credit

There are many options for opening a letter of credit when buying real estate, and banking institutions provide customers with the opportunity to determine the most convenient and trouble-free way to carry out transactions on real estate using accreditation. Financial institutions apply the following types of settlements:

• Irrevocable. Such an account cannot be unilaterally closed by the bank or the transaction participant that opened it. The revocable option is practically not used by banks due to the absence of any guarantees for participants in the transaction.
• Letter of credit with a red reservation. In such an operation, the issuer requires from the banking structure (payment executor) a certain amount of the advance payment to the second party to the transaction without requiring from the last documents.
• Deposited, or coated. In this case, the entire contractual amount is accumulated in advance on the seller’s account, and waits for the latter to fulfill its obligations. Uncovered accreditation implies that the bank issuing it allows the banking structure (contractor) to withdraw money from its correspondent account when the seller fulfills the contract.
• Cumulative. It is used when the payment by the payer occurred, and the seller took only part of the received money. The funds remain in the current accredited account or transferred to a new accreditation. Non-cumulative involves sending money back to the bank that issued the accreditation.

Why do I need a letter of credit when buying an apartment

The real estate market is developing every year. However, along with an increase in demand, cases of fraudulent transactions have become more frequent, when the buyer transfers the money and the seller either does not transfer real estate to the property, or it is burdened with mortgage obligations that were not originally indicated, which makes the agreement doubtful. Many “black realtors” work on similar schemes..

In order to protect investments without any risks, accreditation comes to the aid of the buyer, the application of which guarantees that the seller will not get the money until he provides the bank with information confirming the cleanliness of transactions for the acquisition of real estate. These documents will be checked by bank specialists, not the buyer, which gives the latter a guarantee that he will not be deceived and not stolen by investments during mutual settlements.

Use of a letter of credit in real estate transactions

The advantages of buying an apartment through an accreditation form of transaction include:

• Convenient shape. No need to check packs of money, recount them, the whole amount is accumulated in non-cash form.
• The proper execution of transfers is monitored by a third party..
• If participants do not have confirmation of a partner’s reliable reputation, then letter-of-credit settlements make up for this shortcoming.
• The seller is guaranteed to receive money, and the buyer – real estate, if they comply with all clauses of the contract.

How does a letter of credit when buying an apartment work

In order to use a letter of credit when buying a property, you must take the following actions:

• The parties to the transaction conclude an agreement that they use a letter of credit when purchasing real estate to complete all settlements.
• After that, the buyer goes to the bank, where he already has an open debit or credit account, and leaves a request for accreditation service.
• The bank opens accreditation, transfers the documents to the registrar, if the receipt of money during the sale of real estate is provided for in the same financial structure, or orders the executing bank to issue money under the contract.
• In order to receive money, the party selling the property provides the bank with an agreement registered with the UFSGKK, as well as other documents that are required according to the conditions for opening a letter of credit when purchasing real estate.

Pros and cons of a letter of credit

The advantages of accreditation during the execution of real estate documents include a guarantee of fulfillment of contractual obligations by the parties. However, a letter of credit settlement has significant drawbacks. Banking structures charge a commission for settlements, in addition, you have to collect a lot of documents related to the acquisition of real estate and confirmation of their rights to cash by the seller.

How to draw up a letter of credit agreement

It is necessary to distinguish between the main contract between the buyer and the seller, where accreditation is mentioned as a form of settlement, and the conclusion of an agreement with the bank to open accreditation. To open a letter of credit in Sberbank for the purchase of real estate, you need to be an individual with Russian citizenship, to be a client of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

The statement requires you to specify all the essential conditions: the type of accreditation, the period for which it is planned to open, indicate the exact amount that must be used in the transaction, enter information about the buyer and seller and indicate all the documents that are needed to receive money.

What documents are needed

To carry out the procedure for opening accreditation when buying a home, it is mandatory to provide passport data of the parties to the contract for the purchase of an apartment, if these are individuals, account numbers from which funds will be transferred, a notarized agreement, which is the basis for this form of settlement, which clearly list of documents.

Sample contract

If an accreditation method of payment is provided, the contract for the sale of real estate should contain the following data:

• Surname, name, patronymic, all passport data, including the place and date of birth of the parties to the agreement.
• All data on the apartment, house, other housing, which is the reason for concluding the contract – address, total and living quadrature, number of rooms.
• Data according to which the apartment is in the legal ownership of the owner (registration certificate, registration number EGRPNiS).
• Prescribe and the amount in which the property is valued when buying.
• Type of accreditation, validity period, name of issuing and receiving money financial institution.
• Who pays for the costs of opening and closing accreditation.

Letter of credit price for individuals

The price of accreditation in different credit institutions may be different. For some financial institutions, this is a fixed amount, which has a certain ceiling, above which the cost of opening accreditation cannot be. Other credit organizations determine the price for accreditation services as a percentage of the indicated price of a house or apartment. The high cost of the service is due to the fact that financial institutions are responsible before the law for the cleanliness and correctness of the execution of an agreement on the sale of real estate.

In Sberbank

The cost of a letter of credit for individuals at Sberbank consists of the following values:

• service – 2 thousand rubles .;
• opening price, provided that the transaction takes place in the same branch – 0.2% of the contractual amount (1-5 thousand rubles);
• opening cost in the interaction of different branches – 0.3% (1.5-10 thousand rubles);
• extension of the agreement – 2 thousand rubles.

Letter of credit in VTB 24

If you decide to take accreditation to buy an apartment or house in VTB24, then you can count on the following conditions:

• the price for the opening of accreditation is 0.2% of the cost of the apartment (1.2-4.5 thousand rubles);
• prolongation of the agreement and (or) change in the total amount – 0.2% (0.9-4.5 thousand rubles);
• introduction of additional changes, including closing the account before its expiration – 1.2 thousand rubles;
• issue of money, including to a third party having a power of attorney to receive the amount – 0.2% of the amount issued (1.2-4.5 thousand rubles).

Letter of credit at Russian Agricultural Bank

This banking structure takes the following commission interest:

• opening accreditation and depositing money – 0.15% of the total amount (3-15 thousand rubles);
• any other cases – 0.1% (1–5 thousand rubles);
• cash withdrawal – 0.2% of the total amount (3 thousand rubles at least);
• amending the terms of the agreement on the purchase of real estate – 1.5 thousand rubles.

Letter of credit settlement scheme

The main stages of the execution of a letter of credit for the sale of real estate are as follows:

• The buyer gives the order of the credit organization for accreditation, receiving a bank notice on the activation of accreditation.
• The financial institution issuing accreditation sends money to the bank, which will fulfill the obligations of the agreement.
• After presenting the required documents, the contractor transfers the required amount to the account of the homeowner.
• The property is transferred to the buyer’s property.