How to split personal accounts

Cohabitation of citizens is often a forced measure and serves as fertile ground for the emergence of various kinds of conflicts.

The presence of such disputes does not relieve residents from the burden of bearing joint expenses for the maintenance of residential premises and does not give them the right to evade them. The problem of separate payment for housing and communal services can be solved using the section of the personal account of the residential premises. More details about the procedure and methods for dividing a personal account will be discussed in this article.

The concept of “Section of a personal account in a privatized apartment”

The term “separation of accounts” does not exist in the current legislation of Russia. However, this phrase has firmly entered into circulation to denote the process of allocating a share in payment for housing and communal services to each owner of a share of real estate.

To open a personal account, the following information is required:

The nuances of separating personal accounts in a privatized apartment

If the apartment is privatized, it is the property of the owner. The process of separating accounts will have a slightly different order, and involves 3 main stages :

Allocation of shares . If the house is divided, then everything is much simpler than with an apartment, since each owner of the share will be able to make a separate entrance for themselves in the future, etc. You can’t do this with an apartment, so only the living rooms are divided, while the toilet, bath, and kitchen remain in common ownership.
If the shareholders are ready for division and have already come to an agreement, it will be enough to contact a notary and establish these shares. Forcibly, such cases require a court decision.
When the parties to an agreement or court decision have received official shares, they apply to the Housing Office with these documents, and they will be assigned separate accounts.

How to divide bills in a privatized apartment?

There are two options for the accounts section:

Draw up an agreement with all owners of residential premises and submit an application to the management company (homeowners' association) for the allocation of accounts and execution of an agreement for the provision of housing and communal services and maintenance of the local area with each owner separately;
Filing a claim in court - in the absence of agreement between the owners or in the event of the management company refusing to divide the accounts.

Each of these methods has its own features and characteristics.

Where to contact?

The simplest option is to submit an application to the management company (homeowners' association) to which the residential premises belong.

A more complex and costly method would be to file a claim with the district (city) court at the location of the real estate. However, this option will remain the only one if there is a dispute between the owners, one of the co-owners evades participation in sharing the burden of maintenance costs, or if the management company refuses.

Applying to the management company - step-by-step instructions

If all property owners agree to determine their shares for utility bills, then they should submit an application to the management company.

Step 1 . The owners will have to enter into an agreement among themselves, in which they will indicate the share of reimbursement of expenses for payment of utilities and similar services. Such an agreement can be concluded in simple written form and does not require mandatory notarization. (clause 1 of article 160, subclause 2 of clause 1 of article 161 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, clause 12 of the Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 2, 2009 No. 14).

Step 2. With this agreement, the co-owners apply to the management company (the executive body of the homeowners’ association) and organizations that provide resources and sign an application for the allocation of an individual personal account to each.

The following documents must be submitted along with the application:

an extract from the unified register of rights to real estate with a deadline for issue no later than a month before the date of application (for real estate privatized after July 2020) or a certificate of ownership;
cadastral passport for residential premises;
civil passport of each owner of the property.

Legal basis: Art. 249 Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Part 5, 6.1, 7, 7.1 Art. 155 Housing Code of the Russian Federation, clause 2 of the Moscow Government Resolution No. 111-PP dated March 1, 2005, clause 27 of the Supreme Court of Russia Resolution No. 22 of June 27, 2017).

The application can be submitted by contacting the multifunctional center.

Step 3. If approved, an agreement for the provision of utility services is drawn up with each of the owners separately, after which payment is distributed to each owner in proportion to his share.

From this moment on, each share owner will receive a separate payment document and will be responsible for paying his part of the payments.

What to do if a peaceful solution to the issue is impossible?

Apartment owners do not always agree to such a step, explaining their decision by possible legal problems in the future. Let's consider a situation where a citizen who wants to split accounts will need to contact a judicial authority. The first difficulty in this case may be the lack of ownership rights of citizens to the premises. The situation is being disputed in court, and the plaintiff will have to pay a state fee taking into account the cost of the share he is claiming. It is impossible to determine a general list of documents, because each situation is considered individually.

This is important to know: Privatization of an apartment through the court

The second problem is the objections of any of the owners. In this case, it will be necessary to file a claim to determine the order of use of housing, including obtaining separate bills for utility bills. In addition to the application, you will need to prepare the plaintiff’s passport and a certificate of ownership. The state duty will be 300 rubles.

Otherwise, the procedure is standard, and after the decision is made, the plaintiff will only need to contact the management company with this document and register a section of the personal account. Unfortunately, in judicial practice there are also situations when the management company does not meet the applicant halfway and refuses to split the account. Unfortunately, in such a situation you will have to go to court again.

Step-by-step instructions when filing an application with the court

An application from the owners to the management company (HOA) is not an indisputable basis for dividing the personal account. For example, a refusal is possible if there is a large debt. In this situation, the issue will have to be resolved through the court.

Step 1 . The claim is filed on the basis of the norm of Article 69 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, which proclaims the principle of equal distribution of costs for maintaining premises among residents.

The defendants in the claim are: the management company (homeowners' association), resource-providing organizations.

As third parties, in accordance with Art. 43 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, other owners should be involved. The statement of claim itself is drawn up according to the rules specified in Articles 131-132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

The subject of the claim should be:

determine the procedure and amount of participation in payment for housing and utilities;
divide the personal utility bill between the owners;
oblige the issuance of separate payment documents.

The claim is classified as non-property, therefore the price of the claim is not determined. The state duty, according to the provisions of Article 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, is 300 rubles.

You can also draw up a statement of claim yourself by finding a suitable sample in the public domain on the Internet.

When considering the case, the court takes into account the following circumstances:

area of the property;
the size of the owner's share in the common property;
other important information.

Step 2 . At the end of the proceedings, the court issues a court ruling, which establishes the payment procedure and the share of expenses of each owner in the total amount of utility bills.

Step 3 . After the court decision enters into legal force, the management company (homeowners association, settlement center) calculates utilities and charges payments in accordance with individual accounts.

How to divide utility bills between apartment owners.

If several people own an apartment, then they pay for utilities together. And in order for the division of payments to be correct, it is better to do this through the company servicing the housing.

Personal bill for utilities Before deciding how to divide utility bills between apartment owners, you need to find out how charges occur. Residents are responsible for paying for housing and communal services, which are accounted for in one of the following ways:

By metering devices; based on standard indicators; by housing area (by heating). When an apartment is registered as a property, or a social tenancy agreement is concluded, a personal account is assigned to the property. Usually it is uniform, and all residents have the same payment responsibilities. So that each of them pays the bill separately, it can be divided. In this case, accruals between tenants are divided in proportion to each person’s share. Methods for dividing a personal account To divide the accruals, you can use one of the following methods: Conclude an agreement between the co-owners of the property. In this case, you don’t even need to contact the utility service. Payments will be divided in the manner determined by the owners. Conclude an agreement between the owners and submit it to the organization that issues the receipt for payment. Through the court. Let's look at each method in more detail. Conclusion of an agreement between the owners To split payments between the co-owners of the property, it is not necessary to contact the company that issues payment receipts. You can also reach an agreement among yourself. In this case, a single receipt is still issued, and all residents transfer the money to one owner, who makes the payment.

It is better to make an agreement between owners in writing. There is no need to have it certified by a notary. In the document, shares in accruals can be distributed in a way that is convenient for the co-owners. If such an agreement is concluded, and one of the tenants refuses to pay, then it can be recovered from him through the court

Division with submission of an application If all apartment owners have agreed on the division of utility bills, then they need to submit an application to the organization that issues bills to them. This could be: Management Company (management company); communal settlement center; HOA (homeowners' association). According to the statement, the organization will separate personal accounts, and the owners will henceforth separately pay for their energy resources and the costs of maintaining the apartment. However, utility services may refuse such a service. This may be due to the lack of technical capability for the section. For example, for energy resources or gas, if there is only 1 meter, and it is impossible to determine the share of each owner. Division through court When the owners of an apartment do not agree with the division of the utility bill, then those who want to pay only their expenses will have to go to court. In addition, an appeal to the court is possible even if the management company refuses to share the accruals. To do this, you must have the service organization’s written refusal with you as confirmation. The claim can be filed by 1 of the apartment owners or all owners jointly. To do this, in addition to the statement of claim, you will need to prepare the following documents: identity cards of each applicant (copies); documents confirming the ownership of a share in the apartment; agreement between the owners (if there is an agreement, but the defendant does not pay); an extract from the personal account (can be obtained from the Criminal Code); confirmation of an application to the management company for splitting the account (if an unlawful refusal was received); certificate of absence of debt on utility bills; receipt of payment of state duty. After submitting the application, each apartment owner will act as a participant in the process. Based on a positive court decision, the personal account is forcibly divided according to the shares defined in the document. After this, in the event of debt accruals, they will be collected from each apartment owner separately.

Is it possible to split bills in a municipal apartment?

From a legal point of view, the division of accounts is the conclusion of new rental agreements.

It is almost impossible to divide a personal account if people who belong to the same family live in the apartment.

If this is not the case, then the court may satisfy the claim requiring the conclusion of new lease agreements, relying on paragraph 4 of Article 69 of the Housing Code.

In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 69 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, family members of the tenant of a residential premises under a social tenancy agreement have equal rights and obligations with the tenant. Members of the family of the tenant of a residential premises under a social tenancy agreement who are capable and limited in their legal capacity by the court bear joint and several liability with the tenant for the obligations arising from the social tenancy agreement.

Joint and several liability does not provide for the division of costs for utilities on the basis of a concluded agreement.

If it is not possible to reach an agreement on the procedure for paying for residential premises and utilities between citizens living in residential premises under social tenancy agreements, then the share of payments of each citizen for residential premises and heating is determined in court (Part 4 of Article 73 of the Law of the City). Moscow dated January 27, 2010 No. 2 “Fundamentals of the housing policy of the city of Moscow”).

In accordance with paragraph 30 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 2, 2009 No. 14 “On some issues that arose in judicial practice when applying the Housing Code of the Russian Federation,” a former family member of the tenant has the right to demand that the landlord and the tenant conclude a separate agreement with him, determining the procedure and amount of his participation in the costs of paying fees for renting residential premises and utilities. Moreover, the proposal to conclude such an agreement may come from the employer.

Disputes arising in connection with the refusal of the lessor (tenant) to enter into such an agreement or in connection with the failure to reach an agreement between the parties on its contents are resolved by the court.

Courts, when considering such disputes, have the right, in relation to the provisions of parts 5 and 6 of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, Article 156 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and Article 249 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, to determine the procedure and amount of participation of a former family member of the tenant in the costs of paying for living quarters and utilities, based on his share of the total area of the residential premises, with the imposition on the landlord of the obligation to conclude an appropriate agreement with the former member of the tenant’s family and issue him a separate payment document for payment for the residential premises (Determination of the Moscow City Court dated March 2, 2012 in case No. 33-6868).

Available paths

Typically, an agreement with utility service providers, including for maintenance of the local area, is concluded with one of the owners. The rest assume equal responsibilities for making payments in accordance with Article 249 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. But if the issue of creating several payment documents has become quite acute, you should find out how to make a selection in various circumstances.

This is important to know: Is it possible not to register anyone in the apartment?

Through the management company

The easiest way to split accounts is to contact the organization servicing the apartment building. However, it is available only to residents who have peacefully resolved the issue of shares.

The order of allocation in 2020 is as follows:

Registration of shared ownership in Rosreestr. Only owners whose shares are clearly indicated in the certificate of ownership can apply for the division of accounts. The size of the owned parts is taken into account when calculating utility bills for each citizen specified in the title document.
The owners formulate applications for the division of accounts and send them to the management company. The document displays: the name of the company assigned to the apartment building
distribution of square meters of premises between owners
personal data of each owner

A certificate of ownership is attached to the paper.

Based on the application, the management company makes calculations and then begins to generate separate payment documents for each owner.

Judicially

You should contact the authorities in cases where it is impossible to solve the problem with the separation of accounts in any other way:

tenants were unable to peacefully agree on the need to create separate bills
the management company refused to make a spin-off
there is no clear division of housing into parts, but the apartment has the status of shared ownership

In the latter case, a claim is filed for the allocation of shares, in the first two - for the division of accounts.

List of documents

To start a trial, you must provide the authority with a certain package of papers:

document establishing the right to own the premises - a certificate of ownership
agreement with management companies or resource supply companies
technical plan of the premises
passport
personal account information in the form of an extract
certificate of absence of debts for housing and communal services
extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate

Separately, it is worth mentioning the need to pay state duty. If the subject of the claim is solely the division of personal accounts, the citizen contributes 300 rubles, as established by Article 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. If it is necessary to allocate shares, the contribution directly depends on the cost of the apartment and is calculated according to the rules outlined in paragraph 1 of Article 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Drawing up an application

After all the documents have been collected, the claim itself for division of personal accounts is formed. The correctness of the application directly determines what decision the judicial authority will make. When dividing accounts, the following information must be included in the application:

personal information about home owners
apartment details: total area
location
the size of the parts belonging to each of the owners

reason for separating separate accounts or generating different payment documents

please establish a procedure for paying for housing and communal services in proportion to the shares of the owners

Particular attention should be paid to the reason why the division of personal accounts is initiated. It needs to be described as specifically as possible. If, before submitting the application to the judicial authority, a request was made to the management company, the organization’s response with justification of the reasons for the refusal is attached to the list of documents.

You can use a standard application form. However, it is worth remembering that the paper will have to be adjusted depending on the specific situation. A qualified housing lawyer is best able to handle this task.

The claim is considered for 30 days. And if the court decides the issue in favor of the owners, then the management company is obliged to make a division in accordance with the Resolution of the authority.

How to privatize an apartment with separate personal accounts?

The procedure for privatization of housing in Russia is reflected in Law No. 1541-1 of July 4, 1991 “On the privatization of housing stock in the Russian Federation.”

Article 2 of this law establishes that citizens living in housing under a social tenancy agreement have the right to purchase housing as common property or as the property of one person, including a minor.

Every Russian citizen has the right to take part in free privatization once, provided he has permanent registration in a municipal apartment.

The decision to privatize must be unanimous. One or more persons have the right to refuse to participate in the transaction (but must give notarized consent to privatization) in favor of the future owners. Residents who refuse have the right to permanent residence in a privatized apartment.

The legislation does not provide for the registration of ownership of part of the housing, so the apartment is privatized:

only entirely in shared ownership;
or into the property of one of the registered persons, subject to the refusal of the remaining persons.

To acquire ownership rights to a part of an apartment, a mandatory condition is the allocation of this part in the form of a separate share in kind.

Since the law prohibits the privatization of a part of a common object, the possibility of acquiring ownership rights to a share appears when it becomes a separate object.

The transfer of ownership of rooms in a communal apartment in which residents have separate personal accounts is called partial privatization. When rooms in a communal apartment are privatized, the share of ownership will correspond to the size of the occupied room.

There is another, more complex option for privatizing part of an apartment - drawing up a separate social tenancy agreement for residential premises. If several families living in a communal apartment are on bad terms with each other, then moving away may be a way out of this situation.

If it is not possible to exchange an apartment, then residents can determine the procedure for using the residential premises voluntarily or in court. After which you should contact the owner of the real estate to conclude a separate social rental agreement and privatize the allocated room.