Alarming reports about alleged “mass cancellation of property rights” and arrests of apartments for debts have been circulating on social networks recently. Users are being scared with predictions of a complete “reboot of registers” and the risk of losing their homes literally overnight. However, lawyers emphasize that there is no reason to panic, and the scenarios described do not comply with current legislation.
The right of ownership in Ukraine can be canceled only in cases specified by law, and each of them goes exclusively through the court. There are no automatic write-offs or “global purges of registers”. Most often, the reason for reviewing entries in the state register is technical errors: incorrect data on the area or address, incorrect information about co-owners or inaccuracies in the documents on the basis of which housing was registered. Such situations do not indicate the illegality of the transaction, but may require re-registration.
The greatest risk arises in cases of dubious transactions - when the purchase and sale agreement or donation was signed under pressure, without the consent of the co-owners, without a notary certificate, or with the participation of fictitious parties. If the court finds the document invalid, the ownership returns to the previous owner or becomes the subject of a dispute.
An actively discussed topic is the loss of housing due to debts. The law does indeed provide for the possibility of foreclosure in the case of a loan collateral or large court debts. However, these are individual court decisions, not mass evictions. Apartments are not taken away for utility debts or small debts.
A separate block of information concerns the requisition of property in wartime. Lawyers explain: seizure is possible only officially, with compensation, and the decision is made by the state, not local officials. There have been no mass cases of requisition of residential real estate so far.
Property rights can also be lost in the event of confiscation for criminal offenses or the seizure of land for public purposes — but such cases are very rare and depend entirely on the circumstances of the specific case.
Experts predict: there will be no mass evictions of Ukrainians in 2026. All decisions are made individually, in court, with verification of documents and compliance with the procedure. Panic posts on social networks are largely an exaggeration.
Lawyers advise property owners to regularly check the correctness of data in the state register, keep copies of documents, carefully study the history of the object when buying and eliminate risks associated with mortgage or credit obligations. With proper registration of ownership and the absence of questionable transactions, there is no reason to worry.
