A citizen or a legal entity who does not own property but who in good faith openly and continuously owns real estate as their own for seven years acquires ownership of this property (statute of limitations).

Previously, until August 16, 2011 (before the enactment of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Housing Relations" dated July 22, 2011), the statute of limitations was fifteen years. It follows from the meaning of this provision of the law that the right of ownership, by virtue of the statute of limitations, may be acquired for property owned by another person if it is based on good faith, openness and continuity. Good faith of ownership means that the person became the owner of the land lawfully, i.e. it appeared to him as a result of events and actions that are directly recognized by law, other legal acts, or does not contradict them, but have not received legal registration. Openness of ownership means that a person does not take any measures aimed at concealing the fact of home ownership, bears the burden of maintaining the home, pays for utilities, etc. Continuity of ownership means that the dwelling has been in the possession of this person for seven (previously fifteen) years, without transferring ownership to third parties. Based on paragraph 7 of the Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 27, 1994 "On the enactment of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (General Part)", the time of actual ownership of housing before the enactment of this Code is counted in the statute of limitations. In accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 240 of the Civil Code, a citizen or a legal entity who refers to the limitation period of ownership may attach to his possession all the time during which the person whose legal successor he is owned this dwelling.

A citizen or a legal entity who does not own property but who in good faith openly and continuously owns real estate as their own for seven years acquires ownership of this property (statute of limitations).

To acquire ownership rights based on the statute of limitations, a person (citizen or legal entity) must first of all own property in good faith, that is, he does not know and should not know about his lack of ownership rights (for example, there are no title documents, the will is invalid, but this is not known at the time of ownership, the thing was acquired from a person who is not authorized to alienate it, that is, when the thing was stolen from the owner or lost by him, etc.). For example, And. she filed a lawsuit with the State Institution "Department of Housing and Communal Services, Passenger Transport and Highways of the city of Pavlodar" for recognition of ownership of immovable property, an apartment building and a land plot by virtue of the statute of limitations, arguing that on October 23, 1999, the plaintiff and her spouse acquired joint ownership of this apartment building from F. and a plot of land, having paid 280,000 tenge, which is confirmed by a receipt and the transfer of all title documents.  Currently, F. She moved to Israel for permanent residence, and therefore it was not possible to arrange a purchase and sale transaction. The decision of the Pavlodar City Court denied the claim. By the decision of the appellate judicial board of the Pavlodar Regional Court, this decision was canceled with the adoption of a new decision on the satisfaction of claims. The plaintiff was recognized as having the right of ownership under the statute of limitations for housing construction and a land plot of 221 square meters.m. The reasons for the cancellation of the decision of the court of first instance were the incorrect definition and clarification of the range of circumstances relevant to the case, the inconsistency of the court's conclusions with the circumstances of the case and the norms of law applicable to the legal relations that have arisen, and the incorrect application of the substantive law. It can be seen from the case file that on October 23, 1999, the plaintiff and his spouse purchased a house building with a land plot for 280,000 tenge. They lived in this house from 2001 to 2005, until they built a house on an adjacent plot of land. They continued to use the disputed housing as a storage room, and the disputed land plot was used as a vegetable garden. In rejecting the claim, the court of first instance justified the short period of residence in the disputed house, that is, from 2001 to 2005, which is less than the seven-year period prescribed by law.

Recognizing this decision as illegal, the court of appeal pointed to the fact that the plaintiff had faithfully, openly and continuously owned the immovable property as his own for a period of more than seven years, starting on October 23, 1999, and acquired ownership rights to it. Within the meaning of the law, a break in ownership may be manifested by the owner himself committing actions indicating his refusal to own or recognize ownership of this immovable property, or by an authorized person (including the owner) suing the owner for the return of the property. However, no such grounds have been established, despite not living in the disputed house, the plaintiff continues to own it as his own, openly, in good faith and continuously, using the land plot to service the apartment building located on this site. The courts should keep in mind that the limitation period cannot begin earlier than the expiration of the limitation period for the relevant claims, since before its expiration the property may be forcibly claimed by its rightful owner. 

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