The State Duma intends to prohibit the use of crowdfunding for real estate investment

The State Duma plans to introduce a ban on attracting real estate investments using crowdfunding (collective financing of projects). This norm is contained in the current version of the bill on crowdfunding platforms, which is prepared for the second reading in the State Duma.

As RBC clarifies, the bill, which has passed the first reading about a year ago, regulates the investment crowdfunding and does not apply to fundraising for social and charitable projects. The document says that individuals and legal entities can use investment platforms to lend money, invest it in securities, as well as exchange it for digital rights (tokens) issued to transfer things, the results of intellectual activity, for the performance of work and the provision of services.

At the same time, the bill prohibits the acquisition of digital rights to real estate or subsoil with minerals through investment platforms, since such transactions require state registration.

According to Dmitry Shepelev, the head of the Simplyfi platform, the rights of claims under loan agreements, securities, the right to demand the transfer of things, exclusive rights or the requirement of work or the provision of services will be able to act as digital law.

Partner of the Lawyer Bureau "Kachkin and partners" Dmitry Nekrestyanov believes that the prohibitions related to real estate had to be introduced due to the fact that the Craudfunding mechanism could be used in shared construction as one of the methods of bypassing the Law on interest holders: from July 1, new rules of shared construction will enter into force, which prohibit developers directly involve the funds of housing buyers for housing construction.

The new scheme provides that when buying an apartment in a new building and concluding a shared participation agreement, the shareholder transfer the money not to the developer, but to the bank, and the financial organization blocks these funds on the developer escrow account before the construction is completed. The developer can get this money only after delivery of the house. This innovation should protect buyers investing in the future house at the stage of the pit. Developers will receive funds for housing construction as part of project financing in the form of bank loans.