Senate refers Stankevič family’s apartment case to Constitutional Court

Latvia’s Supreme Court Senate has suspended proceedings in the Stankevič family’s six-year dispute over their apartment and referred the case to the Constitutional Court, LSM reported. The family expects to learn in a few weeks whether and how its fight to keep the home will continue.

The family bought the apartment in 2020 and learned soon afterwards that it had been seized because the seller had sold it without the owner’s permission. The seller had been authorised to sell the property, the report said. The family initially won its case, but higher courts later ruled that the apartment should be returned to its original owner.

“Over these years, I have felt so battered,” said Inga Stankeviča, who bought the apartment in good faith. “Every time you go to court, you have hope, hope, hope that justice will prevail. But each time there is another blow, because that is not what happens.”

Stankeviča and her husband continued their legal fight after Latvia’s parliament amended the law to allow courts to assess each case individually. Transitional provisions gave the Stankevičs and others in similar situations until July to apply to the Supreme Court.

After the latest hearing, the Supreme Court Senate halted the proceedings pending the Constitutional Court’s decision. Stankeviča said the family was now considering finding another home because living in the apartment no longer felt secure.

The apartment is the family’s only home, and they still owe 90,000 euros on the mortgage. They cannot take on another mortgage, she said. Stankeviča said the family had begun discussing where their children could grow up and where they could live as they got older.