In Kirov, more than ten families with family mortgages have been left without homes — the contractor took the money and "disappeared."

      A scandal is erupting in Kirov around individual entrepreneur Laptev — an accredited contractor whom local families trusted to build private homes under the family mortgage program. People expected to move into new housing within a year, but most received only foundations or walls without roofs. Now families are forced to pay two mortgages at once and face fines from banks, while the contractor has filed for bankruptcy and owes more than 23 million rubles.

      Thus, on November 27, representatives of five affected families came to the regional branch of the A Just Russia party. The reception was led by branch head Ekaterina Kolotova and a lawyer from the Center for the Protection of Citizens' Rights.

      All the victims signed contracts with the contractor before a law that was due to come into effect on March 1, 2025, which would have protected clients through the use of escrow accounts. At that time banks provided lists of accredited contractors — and many chose individual entrepreneur Laptev.

      Under the contract the houses were to be completed within a year. However, the contractor received up to 90% of the payment after only the foundation had been built and disappeared. Workers left the sites one by one, and the quality of the work raised questions. At first the contracting organization replied with promises, then stopped answering calls altogether.

      One family said they signed the contract with the bank and the contractor at the end of 2023, but construction stopped at the stage of erecting exterior walls and internal partitions. The family was promised they would receive a finished house in November last year, but no later than two years after the contract was signed. All deadlines have passed, and the Kirov residents still have not received the house. Now the family, with two minor children, has to pay two mortgages — for the house they cannot move into and for the apartment where they currently live.

      Another family with a child with a disability received only a foundation. Among the affected is also a participant in the special military operation. People have formed a group and are trying to seek justice, but time is running out: banks have already warned that the absence of completed housing as collateral could lead to fines of 160–460 thousand rubles per month.

      The families have appealed to the Ministry of Construction of the Kirov Region, the police, the banks and deputies of the State Duma.

      State Duma deputy from A Just Russia Alexander Aksenenko said that urgent measures are needed primarily from the banks, which should take into account that the problem arose due to the accredited contractor’s fault.

      The head of the regional party branch, Ekaterina Kolotova, promised to send appeals to the prosecutor’s office, the Interior Ministry and the regional government to protect the rights of Kirov residents.