Dolina effect

The Dolina effect (Russian: Эффе́кт До́линой) describes a crisis on the Russian real estate market that started in autumn 2025 due to increased distrust of buyers towards sellers. The term gained wide prominence in media in connection to Larisa Dolina's sale of an upscale apartment in the city centre of Moscow. Dolina, a Russian singer, fell for a scam and gave away the money she received from an innocent buyer. When the singer realised the mistake, she sued to recover her property from that buyer. She argued that because she was being pressured by scammers to sell her property, the transaction could not be legitimate. In fraud cases like this one, Russian courts often granted the recovery motion but would not order the money back. This is what the trial court ordered. Two appeals left the ruling intact, but the Supreme Court of Russia reversed the verdict. The lower courts' judicial practice was leaving buyers with neither property nor money even if buyers were honest. This outcome highlighted criminals' abuse of the Civil Code of Russia. Some pretended to have fallen victim of a scam to fraudulently dispossess property buyers with the sanction of Russian courts, which favour sellers. Consequently, Russian mass media coined the term "Dolina scheme" (Russian: схема Долиной). The notoriety of the case disrupted the secondary real estate market in the country as buyers started to become more suspicious of sellers. The scheme often employs pensioners (hence another nickname for the scam, "granny scheme", бабушкина схема), so trust in elderly sellers collapsed. Clients increasingly required additional steps to hedge against the scam, such as inviting additional witnesses, making extra background checks and modifying sale deeds. Dolina herself has suffered heavy damage to her reputation due to the association with the unjust enrichment scheme.