A woman from Odessa must repay the Pension Fund a housing subsidy of 14,690 hryvnias due to a garage issue, as ruled by the court.

The Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Odessa region demands the recovery of overpaid budget funds from a woman in the form of a housing subsidy to reimburse expenses for housing and communal services amounting to 14,690 hryvnias. However, she refuses to comply, arguing that the garage is not part of the residential premises. This was stated in the decision of the Kyiv District Court of Odessa, published on February 24, 2025.

As of October 1, 2023, the woman was granted a subsidy of 2,431 hryvnias. According to a document processing department report dated August 29, 2024, it was established that the overpaid subsidy amounting to 14,690 hryvnias accrued from October 1, 2023, to April 30, 2024, due to the fact that the total area of the apartment in the multi-apartment building exceeds 130 square meters. The subsidy was assigned based on her application dated September 26, 2023, in which she signed to certify that in the event of circumstances that could affect the receipt of the housing subsidy, she would notify the authorized body in writing within 30 calendar days.

The woman provided a response to the lawsuit, stating that she does not fully acknowledge the claims. She noted that when applying for the subsidy, she indicated in the declaration that the total area of the residential premises/house is 94.7 square meters. The subsidy was granted. According to the document processing department report dated August 29, 2024, it was established that the excessively paid subsidy amount of 14,690 hryvnias for the period from October 1, 2023, to April 30, 2023, arose because the total area of the apartment in the multi-apartment building exceeds 130 square meters, and the citizen did not inform about circumstances that could affect the receipt of the housing subsidy within 30 calendar days. She disagrees with this assertion, as she and her daughter, based on the certificate of ownership of the housing dated September 19, 1997, issued by the Chernomorsk Fish Production Rental Association "Antarctica," and a certificate of inheritance by law dated August 12, 2008, certified by the Third Odessa State Notary Office, own 488/2100 of the property, which consists of an apartment, two floors, with a living area of 55.9 square meters and a total area of 97.1 square meters, as well as a separately located garage (31.2 square meters) and kitchen (14.6 square meters). The garage is not heated, and there is no water supply. Referring to the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On the peculiarities of exercising property rights in a multi-apartment building," she believes that the garage is classified as a non-residential premises, which is a separate object of real estate.

"Through a systematic interpretation of the norms of legislation, the court concluded that the garage - 31.2 square meters is a non-residential premises, which is an independent object of real estate, the area of which should not be included in the total area of the apartment," the case materials state.

What did the court decide?

The court denied the Main Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Odessa region's request to satisfy the lawsuit. During the proceedings, there was no evidence proving the woman's bad faith (the recipient of the funds) or any intentional actions on her part to deliberately withhold information about the total area of the residential house and land plot.

"The plaintiff has not provided, and the court has not established any evidence to confirm the circumstances of abuse and bad faith on the part of the defendant, as well as the presence of a calculation error in the actions of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Odessa region, which led to the overpayment of the subsidy amounting to 14,690 hryvnias," the court emphasized.