DTEK has placed a lien on the house owned by the deceased mother of a woman, as ruled by the court.

A woman approached a notary with a request to accept inheritance after her mother's passing. However, she discovered that a lien had been placed on the residential property and is demanding the cancellation of the restriction from DTEK. This is stated in the decision of the Yahotyn District Court of the Kyiv region, published on January 27, 2025.

The woman's mother has passed away. According to the certificate of ownership dated February 8, 2008, and the certificate of inheritance dated February 8, 2008, she was the owner of the residential house. According to Article 1261 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, the citizen in this case is the sole heir of the deceased's estate in the first order by law. Within the timeframe stipulated by law, she applied to a private notary with a request to accept the inheritance by law. Currently, while formalizing her inheritance rights to her deceased mother’s estate, from the information obtained from the State Register of Rights to Real Estate and the Register of Ownership Rights to Real Estate, the State Register of Mortgages, and the Unified Register of Prohibitions on the Alienation of Real Estate Objects dated January 29, 2024, she learned that a prohibition had been imposed on the residential house following a notification from Yahotyn RES. To resolve the dispute out of court, she contacted JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" with a corresponding request to lift the prohibition on the residential house.

In response to her request, JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" stated in its letter No. 04/440/619 dated February 16, 2024, that "the distribution of electricity at your address is carried out based on a consumer contract for the provision of electricity distribution services, concluded between the company and the citizen (her mother). There is no outstanding debt under the aforementioned contract. Considering the outlined circumstances in the context of actual relationships, the company sees no grounds for encumbrances on the specified property. At the same time, we inform you that the materials you provided do not allow us to identify the type of encumbrance (lien, tax pledge, prohibition on alienation) and the circumstances that led to its establishment." Thus, based on the received response, it can be reasonably concluded that no debt is accounted for at the address.

JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" believes that the company is not the proper defendant in this case, as the documents in the case materials do not contain information that JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" has somehow violated the rights of the woman, and therefore the company should not be held liable for the claim; the obligation to fulfill her demands lies with another party — the proper defendant.

What did the court decide?

The woman's claim was granted. The court decided to lift the prohibition on the house, which was imposed by the Yahotyn District State Notary Office based on notification No. b/n from Yahotyn RES.

"At the time of the application to the court, with an existing lien (encumbrances) imposed on the property, considering the fact that JSC 'DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks' has not confirmed the existence of debt under this contract, it should be noted that the plaintiff's right to inherit is being violated, as a result of which she is deprived of the ability to fully utilize and dispose of the inherited property. The court sees no grounds for extending the encumbrance on the property, and therefore the plaintiff's rights are subject to judicial protection as claimed by her through the lifting of the lien on the property," the court emphasized.