Is it possible to separate personal accounts in a municipal apartment?

Division of a personal account in a municipal apartment according to the law

Citizens living under a social contract in housing, the legal owner of which is the settlement administration, are subject to certain restrictions. Registered residents who are adults and have legal capacity may apply for a separate payment receipt. It will be necessary to terminate the existing social contract and enter into two separate agreements with the parties to the dispute. The latest edition of the RF Housing Code (2005) does not address this issue, referring it to the competence of the state owner.

Residents registered in a municipal apartment cannot resolve the situation on their own. In any case, coordination with the Housing Committee of the administration will be required. A typical situation: ex-spouses continue to live in a social facility after a divorce. People’s desire for independence is understandable, but the division of communal responsibilities does not always receive consent; the municipality is reluctant to split up responsibility and renegotiate rental agreements.

If it is not possible to conclude independent rental agreements, a standard application for the division of utility responsibilities is sent to the Housing Department of the Administration. According to Art. 69 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, all residents bear equal responsibility for utility bills. Often registered citizens do not live at the place of registration; the rest have to pay for their living space in full. The family may break up or families of two generations of relatives who want to pay separately may form.

The application shall contain the following information:

• the applicant’s role in paying utility bills;
• individual share payment amount;
• the amount of mandatory contributions for major repairs.

If payments are made directly to service provider companies, then new relationships with them will need to be agreed upon. Since permission from the administration is required, two opposite situations may arise as a result of the application:

• division is prohibited with the wording of inexpediency;
• the procedure is permitted, according to the former provisions of the RF Housing Code.

In case of an unmotivated refusal, the interested person has the right to go to court to resolve the conflict with the administration. The court may not accept the case if it concerns related disputes. Having become strangers, former spouses have a greater chance of having the claim accepted for consideration. The claim will be the renegotiation of independent contracts for social housing.

Separation of personal accounts according to the Housing Code article

Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation provides that payments for residential premises and utilities are paid on the basis of payment documents submitted no later than the first day of the month following the expiration of the month, unless a different period is established by the management agreement of the apartment building or by a decision of the general meeting of members of the homeowners association, housing cooperative or other specialized consumer cooperative.

Since there are several owners of housing, and they are in shared relationships, then, according to Article 249 of the Civil Code, they have the right to demand the conclusion of a special agreement with each shareholder. Moreover, this may not necessarily be a “personal” agreement. For example, four out of five participants in shared ownership may have one account, and the fifth may have their own account.

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Confusion of concepts

Before starting the procedure, you should understand the basic concepts of utility payments for a municipal apartment:

1. Changing the conditions and rules of residence leads to the re-conclusion of the current contract. You cannot make changes or draw up a protocol of new rules; you will need to terminate the current document early and sign a new agreement between the parties.
2. The role of the court is to make a ruling for the management company. The document must contain instructions on the re-conclusion of documents for the parties to the dispute.
3. The existing rent debt is divided equally, regardless of the arguments of the parties.
4. Utility payments are divided in accordance with the share in the transformation of the personal account. Additionally, the management company charges each tenant with contributions for capital and current repairs of the premises.
5. Judicial practice on disputes of this type is contradictory. The outcome of the consideration depends on the arguments provided by the parties and the position of the administration representative. It is not profitable for the municipality to issue new documents instead of the old one, so you should not count on an easy solution to the dispute.

The division of accounts is made not by the number of rooms, but by the total living space. Having a room or one-room property, you can separate payment responsibilities and receive two independent payment receipts. The services of a lawyer in housing disputes will significantly increase the chances of a positive outcome of the case. The specialist will study the situation and take competent measures to protect the interests of his client.

Personal account for an apartment - what is it?

By personal account, current Russian housing legislation means a separate account through which utility bills are paid for a specific apartment. Maintaining personal accounts, their registration, as well as ensuring the provision of extracts from them to citizens living in apartments falls within the competence of management organizations or other associations managing an individual residential building.

note

A personal account is a document that is tied to direct housing, and not to specific residents. In this case, the tenants are indicated in such a document, and if the responsible tenant changes, the personal account must be re-registered again.

Using a personal account, you can find out and pay utility debts, including online - payment of utility bills is one of the main purposes of such an account. In this case, for each apartment, a personal account is drawn up in a single copy and assigned to the responsible resident. A responsible tenant is a person who is responsible for timely payment of provided utilities and management of the apartment as a whole.

Important

Personal accounts are available for both privately owned apartments and municipal apartments.

How to split a personal account: step-by-step instructions

Those wishing to pay for a municipal apartment separately are advised to follow these steps:

• If possible, privatize living space. Having become shared owners, citizens will be able to open personal accounts according to their shares;
• If privatization is not possible, there is the possibility of contacting a management company or a unified settlement center (EIRC). Interested parties write an application requesting the division of payment documents. Partition is most often refused, which becomes the basis for judicial consideration of the dispute;
• a claim is filed in a civil court at the location of the object (registration of the defendant). If a dispute occurs with the management company, then the claim is filed at the location of the organization;
• the resulting decision becomes the basis for amending the current social tenancy agreement. The decision comes into force in a month, the document must be submitted to the housing department to terminate the previous agreement and conclude new agreements with different payment details;
• Each participant in the process receives the amount of regular payments assigned by the management company.

To obtain separate payment accounts, you must correctly justify your position. The success of the process depends on the substantiation of the claim. You should refer to the impossibility of joint payment and attach documentary evidence.

Who has the rights to split the account?

To split your personal utility bill, you must have the right to do so. Those who have rights to real estate - the owners of the premises - are eligible for this section. Dividing a personal account in an owned, that is, privatized apartment, will not be difficult and will not take much time.

Another category of people who are participants in contractual social hiring relationships can also apply for account sharing, but with conditions. If we turn to the current legislation, then the Housing Code states: a family living in the same living space, issued under a social tenancy agreement, cannot enter into personal contracts with each other. The rule does not cease to apply even in the event of divorce. Thus, a former spouse living in a shared apartment with his former family

still does not have the right to demand that the debt be divided and a separate account be created. However, there are workarounds.

The relationship between spouses cannot affect the right and obligation of the second to the state. Everyone has a separate right to independently fulfill obligations to employers. If you follow the logic that you cannot conclude your own contract, agree with the employer to conclude an individual agreement, clearly indicating the following points:

1. How does a citizen participate in the process of paying money for the provision of services?
2. A measured amount of payment for a housing loan, which is individual in nature, that is, per person.
3. The amount of payments on bills for services provided by housing and communal services.
4. Fixed fee for repair work.
5. Costs and debt for maintaining a home.

This way you can limit your costs and fix it in a legal way.

Statement of claim to court for division of personal account

An appeal to the court is written in any form, but the legal text must contain the necessary information. The claim may be returned for revision or left without progress if inconsistencies and errors are discovered. The application must contain the required details:

• name of the magistrate's court;
• personal data of the plaintiff: passport details, phone number;
• personal data of the defendant with whom the personal account should be shared;
• data of the organization involved in the dispute;
• the reason for the employer's request for division of payments;
• requirement: oblige the EIRC to divide payments determined by the court between the parties to the dispute.

The plaintiff must indicate that the pre-trial settlement of the conflict has failed and judicial intervention is required. The presence of written refusals from official authorities will allow you to substantiate the appeal and confirm the grounds for splitting payments. The application and package of documents are submitted to the court office, and a receipt for repayment of the state fee is submitted. The number of copies of the application must correspond to the participants in the process to whom notification of the acceptance of the claim is sent.

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The division of a personal account is carried out in a court of general jurisdiction by filing a statement of claim with demands for the division of a financial personal account and imposing the obligation on each owner to open a separate financial personal account for payment for the maintenance and repair of residential premises and fees for utilities. In this case, if the claim is satisfied, the decision may impose on the relevant organizations the obligation to divide the personal account, enter into separate agreements and issue separate payment documents for charging fees for the maintenance and repair of housing, etc.

Documents for the personal account section

To open a trial, you will need to provide the necessary documentation package:

• an extract from the residents' register taken from the housing and communal services department;
• the right to establish certificates of residence in a social facility;
• factual materials proving the fact: two different families pay a single receipt. This circumstance is contrary to the law, since it leads to disputes about payment for accommodation;
• extract from the technical passport of the BTI;
• payment confirmation of payment of the duty.

The responsible tenant has the right to file a claim and state the reason for entering into new agreements. A similar right is granted to other residents who are registered in the area. In addition to the required documents, the court may require additional justification for the position of the participants in the consideration. Having received a negative decision, the plaintiff has the right to appeal to a higher court.

When filing an appeal against the primary procedure, you are required to provide facts about the judge's inappropriate findings. Otherwise, the appeal will not be accepted for consideration. If we are talking about the interests of a minor, then it is possible to involve a representative of the guardianship authority in the process. Notification of interested parties (defendant and legal owner) must be made within the established time frame. If procedural requirements are violated, the defendant has the right to protest and appeal the claims before trial.

Let's sum it up

Whatever the situation in your personal relationships, try to reach a consensus and split the bill for the provision of services through peaceful means. The debt for an apartment can be divided in proportion to the square meters owned by everyone. This way, you will avoid lengthy litigation. Dividing the bill and debt yourself is not difficult if you approach it with a cool head. Try to come to an agreement first, and only if the result is negative, go to court, which will split the bill and payment for services at the legislative level.

Never throw away all receipts and bills for utility bills. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to prove that you are right. Dividing an account for a management company is a troublesome matter, so they are reluctant to take on this matter, so contact them only in extreme cases.

Other Features

Based on a claim from the municipality and the presence of significant debts, the tenants of a social facility may be evicted from their occupied living space. Paying off the debt and then applying for a division of utility bills in a municipal apartment will help you avoid a critical situation. The responsible tenant often initiates the division of payments in a municipal apartment. The debt will be fairly distributed, responsibility will become a requirement for all residents of a municipal apartment.

The division of utility obligations can be carried out in civil proceedings during the divorce of a married couple. The question does not arise about the division of joint property, since the home is a municipal apartment. The court may reject the request or resolve the problem in one process if the situation is submitted for consideration.

Drawing up a lawsuit

Download a sample statement of claim for going to court.

Both the direct owner and any other person living in this disputed living space have the right to file a claim for the division of utility bills between persons who live together in the same apartment

The application is submitted to the court office at the location of the residence. The cost of such a claim does not need to be determined because this trial does not relate to property. The plaintiff will only need to pay a state fee of 200 rubles.

Before filing a claim, the plaintiff will need to collect a certain package of documents , which must include:

• Extract from the house register;
• A copy of the account number for payment for housing and communal services;
• A copy of a document that confirms the fact that several people live together and do not have any family ties with each other, for example, a divorce certificate;
• Certificate obtained from the local BTI;
• A check for repayment of the court fee.

Section of a personal account in a municipal apartment in practice

The division of payment obligations is disadvantageous to the administration, since a conscientious employer pays for himself and the evader of obligations. After the division, the defaulter will continue to evade and the eviction problem will need to be resolved, but two social agreements have already been signed. There will be legal difficulties with a municipal apartment, possible eviction if there are significant debts. As long as payments come from a bona fide tenant paying for all tenants, the municipality will be against splitting the personal account. A housing law lawyer will help resolve the problem.

Separation of personal accounts

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Separation of a personal account from a legal point of view

Since the entry into force of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation on March 1, 2005, the issue of division of personal accounts is not regulated by law.

This is due to the state policy of gradually eliminating such a thing as a communal apartment.

Since a financial personal account is a document issued exclusively for residential premises (and not for owners) belonging to citizens on various grounds, its division means the formation of two or more newly created residential premises from one and, therefore, the creation of a communal apartment.

In practice, it is impossible to carry out such a division in most cases, due to the lack of norms in the legislation regulating such a procedure and the positions of judicial and other government bodies.

The generation of separate payment documents while maintaining one personal account is allowed, which is what happens in practice in most cases.

Based on certain legislative norms, it is possible to solve the problem of dividing fees for utilities and other contributions in the housing and communal services sector, because :

• Each owner is responsible for the timely payment of fees associated with the use of residential premises in proportion to the size of his share in the ownership of housing (Article 249 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• In municipal (state) housing, family members of the tenant have similar rights and obligations, and former family members bear responsibilities for maintaining housing independently (Article 69 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

Division of personal accounts is not allowed if:

1. The apartment belongs to the official (departmental) housing stock;
2. Interim measures have been imposed on real estate by the court or bailiffs;
3. The residential premises are individually owned.

What documents are attached to the claim?

When dividing a personal account in a communal apartment or privatized housing, it is important to prepare additional documentation for the court. This includes papers:

• a copy of the plaintiff's passport;
• title papers for real estate;
• an extract from the house register containing information about who exactly lives in the property;
• a copy of the technical plan requested from the BTI;
• account statement;
• receipt of payment of the duty;
• It is additionally advisable to take testimony from witnesses if the reason for the separation is the prolonged absence of other residents from the premises.

The court may also require other documents confirming certain facts stated in the application. Next, a meeting is scheduled within 10 days where all data relevant to the case is considered. Once a positive decision is made, defendants can appeal the decision. The decision is then sent to the Criminal Code, after which citizens receive separate receipts.