Notaries Receive Enforcement Power

At the end of 2011, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed a number of legislative amendments concerning notaries, including a law allowing extra-judicial enforcement of mortgage agreements.  Under the new law, if the borrower fails to pay under the mortgage agreement, the lender can obtain a writ of execution from the notary who notarized the agreement.  The lender can take the writ directly to the court bailiffs for seizure of the collateral, bypassing the courts.