They require a passport as a deposit. It is legal?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

In any case, it is better not to give the document to anyone.

An internal passport is the main document of a citizen of Russia and the only one that fully and in all cases certifies the identity on the territory of the country. Obviously, the passport should be protected. If this is not done, then they can be fined.

However, sometimes this document is asked as collateral. For example, you rent a bicycle or skates and pay a certain amount for the rent according to the tax. But the owner of the inventory needs to make sure you return the item. Therefore, at the rental point they demand to give a passport for a while as a guarantee.

And the document can also be held hostage until the person compensates for the damage if it inflicted it. The passport is important, so the scheme looks efficient. However, there are questions about its legality.

Can a passport be a collateral

Let's turn to the Civil Code, which says what can be a pledge. If we translate the necessary articles from the official language into the human language, it turns out that, firstly, only property can be used as collateral. Secondly, the pledgee has the right to sell this property in any way if the other party violates obligations. And with the money received, close the debt or compensate for the damage. For example, with a mortgage, the bank receives real estate as collateral. If the borrower stops repaying the debt, then the institution can sell the apartment and get its money back.

A passport is not a property. According to any criterion, it does not fit the definition of collateral and cannot be it.

The requirement to temporarily surrender the document as a guarantee of something is illegal. Accepting a passport as collateral is an administrative offense. True, the fine is small - only 100 rubles, but it is there.

Moreover, in principle, no one has the right to take your passport from you for no reason. There are exceptions, but they imply interaction with government agencies and are separately spelled out in the laws.

For example, the passport is confiscated from suspects in a crime, taken into custody, and from those sentenced to a real term. The document will be attached to the case and returned when the person is released.

The passport can be temporarily taken away and for entering new information into it. Let's say if you are registering at the place of residence. But the document will be returned no later than three days later. And this is no longer called an exemption - so, a working moment.

Why it is better to keep your passport with you

Let's be realistic: there are many illegal things that people continue to do anyway. If only because it is convenient. An alternative to a passport for a deposit when renting is money. Moreover, we are usually talking about a significant amount so that the client has an incentive to return. It is scary to give money away: they will suddenly not be returned or replaced with fakes. (This is a correct concern. Demand a document on the transfer of funds and carefully check the bills.) And you may not always have a large amount of cash with you. And it seems, you leave your passport as a pledge, and then you take it away - what could happen?

However, you should be careful when transferring the document itself and even the data from it. And that's why.

Documents can be signed on your behalf

There are contracts that are concluded in the presence of a notary or are verified in some other way. But, say, an IOU does not require this. It simply indicates the passport data, and a signature is put under the text. However, such a paper can become the basis for recovering a debt from you, for example, through a court. You may be able to prove that the signature is not yours. But the process will shake your nerves pretty much.

A loan will be issued for you

Decent banks don't do that. At least, if there is no fraudster among their employees who bypasses internal instructions. But some dubious microfinance organization can issue a loan from a copy or from a photograph with a passport from a person, which is easy to make in an editor if the attacker has access to the document.

You will be registered as a one-day company

And it is to you that they will then come for an answer if the swindlers collect loans or do not pay taxes.

You will be issued a SIM card

Fraudsters need new phone numbers all the time in order to call gullible citizens and lure them out of their card details. In the worst case, attackers will generally reissue your SIM card and gain access to all the codes that come to you via SMS.

An electronic wallet will be registered for you

Criminals usually need transit wallets to cover their tracks when money is stolen. Passport data helps to verify the account and transfer larger amounts.

You will be sent a fake receipt

For example, malefactors will falsify receipts for payment of utility services or notifications from the tax office. If you transfer money to the specified details, then the funds will go to the scammers. And the debt to the Criminal Code or the state will remain, and then they will begin to charge penalties.

This is not an exhaustive list because criminals are improving their schemes. But even the dangers mentioned make it clear: it is better to keep your passport with you.