1. How can the property right over a dwelling which is currently in state property or in the property of other juridical persons be restored?
There are two situations:
a) If the building became the property of the state or of other juridical persons after the 6th of March 1945 "on a legal base", that is complying with the legal provisions in force at that time (for ex. Decree 92/1950, Decree 111/1951, Decree 142/1952, Decree 4/1973 and Decree 223/1974), the Romanian citizens, regardless of their country of residence, can regain their property right over the building only if, on the 22nd of December 1989, they were living as tenants in those buildings or if the buildings are free.
When we speak of dwellings we also take into consideration the apartments- as independent residence units. The former owner as well as its successors are entitled to the restitution of these dwellings..
The claim that demanded the restitution should have been filed within 6 month from the coming into force of the Law 112/1995 (that is up to July 28, 1996) to the Commission of the local Council in the jurisdiction of which the building is located. The solving of the claim is in the competence of the County Councils.
b) If the above-mentioned building became property of the Romanian state after the 6th of March 1945 without legal basis (see the explanation above), the owner can directly file a claim of restitution at the legal court in the jurisdiction of which the building is.
Ovidiu Cernãianu

2. What are the categories of real estate, which became state property without a valid title and which can be claimed back in a Court?
These categories of real estate are exceptions from the applying of the legal dispositions of the Law 112/1995 which regulated the situation of the restitution of the dwellings that became state property on the basis of expropriation normative acts. These exceptions are the following:
- the dwellings taken over without compliance with the laws in force at that time;
- the dwellings that became state property in the conditions of the inexistence of legal regulations that could be the juridical grounds for the constitution of the property right of the state.
(The norms for applying the Law 112/1995, modified by the H.G. 11/1997)
Monica Livescu

3. What does "real estate taken over without compliance with the laws in force at that time" mean?
The situations of this kind can be very diverse, according to the concrete conditions specified in each of the laws on the nationalization of the real estate. For an example:
the Decree 95/1950 exempts from nationalization the buildings that are the property of workers, functionaries, craftsmen, professional intellectuals, pensioners. Therefore, if a building belonging to one of the above-mentioned categories was, however, nationalized, it can be directly claimed back, as being "without title", after proving that the former owner belonged to one of the categories.
Monica Livescu

4. What is it understood by "real estate that became state property without any legal regulation being in force"?
- An owner other than the real one was specified in the Nationalization Law ;
- The normative act on the basis of which the real estate was taken over was not published in the Official Bulletin which strips it juridical effects, according to the constitutional principle, as stipulated in the article 73 of the Constitution.
Monica Livescu

5. What can the owner of a real estate found in one of the above-mentioned situations do if the dwelling was sold by the state to the tenant?
If, at the time a dwelling taken over by the state without title was being claimed back, it was established that it had been sold by the state to the tenant, an annulment of the purchasing contract can be requested. This annulment is expressly specified in the Articles 12 and 13 from the Norms of applying of the Law 112/1995 modified by the Decision of the Executive 11/1997. This regulation starts from the express obligation provided by the norms mandatory for all the specialized units which legally (under the Law 112/1995) sell real estate. They must take all the necessary measures in order to clarify the juridical situation of a dwelling which passed without a title into the property of the state. They must at once suspend the closing of a purchasing contract when they have any hint that the dwellings enters the category of buildings without title.
Monica Livescu

6. How is regulated the relation between the owner of real estate (building and surrounding land) which was retroceded and the schools, social and cultural establishments or public institutions using the building at the time of the retroceding request?
The ordinance of the Executive 40/1999 imposes the owner of the building to sign a lease, upon the request of the tenant, over a period of 3 years.
Monica Livescu

7. How is the relation between the owner of a retroceded building and the tenant who effectively occupies the dwelling on the basis of a lease with the former companies who administered the housing state fund, which were privatized after January 1st, 1990?
The Ordinance of the Executive 40/1999 imposes the owner to sign a lease, upon the request of the tenant, over a period of 5 years.
Monica Livescu

8. Which is the procedure in what concerns the signing of a lease between the owner of a dwelling and a tenant in one of the above-mentioned situations?
In term of 30 days from the fiscal enrolment, the owner will communicate through the judicial executer, the date and the place of the meeting for the signing of a new lease.
The tenant is obliged to communicate in writing, with delivery confirmation, the solicitation of a new lease.
No written answer or the unjustified refusal of the tenant to sign a new lease in term of 60 days from the notification gives the owner the right to demand in Court the unconditioned eviction of the tenants together with the payment of damages by means of a decision of a Presiding Judge.
Monica Livescu

9. Are there situations when an extension of the lease is not mandatory?
Extension of leases in the above-mentioned conditions does not apply in the following situations:
- in case of the leases for the dwellings which have as titularies of the lease or family members mentioned in the contract persons that own an appropriate dwelling in the same locality, after January 1st, 1990. Exception from this rule are the leases which have as titularies or mentioned family members persons who got back, in the quality of ex-owners or successors of the former owners, dwellings effectively occupied by tenants which are juridical persons or not.
- in case the tenant refuses to use a dwelling put at disposal by the former owner or by the local public authorities;
- in case of litigation between the owner and the tenant that have as object the mandatory exchange of dwellings;
- in case of tenants who sublet the dwelling without the written agreement of the owner;
- in case of the tenants who totally or partially changed the destination or the interior structure of the building without the written consent of the owner and without the necessary legal authorization;
- in case of tenants who brought serious damages to the housing space, to the building in which it is situated, to the installations or to the connected goods or who alienated without consent parts of it;
- in case of a tenant whose behavior makes cohabitation impossible or who impedes on the normal use of the dwelling.
Monica Livescu

10. What is the situation of the relations between the owner who got back his property right over the building and who obtained an annulment of the purchasing contract signed by the tenants (which breached the provisions of the law 112/1995)? Can the owner be obliged to sign a new lease with the former tenant?
The legal owner is obliged to sign a lease, with a former tenant who effectively occupies the housing space, upon the request of the latter, over a period of 3 years.
Excepted from this rule are the following situations in which the person who bought the dwelling in the conditions of the Law 112/1995 might find itself:
- if it alienated it in any way;
- if there is a mortgage on it or if he/she signed a leasing contract for a part of the/the entire dwelling;
- if he totally or partially let it.
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