How is the privatization of a communal apartment carried out?

Last modified: January 2021

Every citizen registered in municipal housing, once in his life, has the right to apply for free privatization of the object into private ownership. If in relation to apartments there were no problems with re-registration, then the privatization of a room in a communal apartment went through a stage of disputes and clarifications, due to the peculiarities of the implementation of property rights and the determination of the procedure for using common property in the apartment.

In order for the procedure to go smoothly and without consequences, you should study in more detail the nuances of the process of re-registration of a communal apartment. The law allows the privatization of the entire communal apartment and its individual parts, but a number of conditions must be taken into account that make it possible to re-register municipal property.

Concept

If certain requirements are met, tenants can become full owners of residential premises.

The procedure for free transfer of municipal (state) real estate into private ownership was defined as “privatization”.

The Law “On the Privatization of Housing Stock in the Russian Federation” (No. 1541-1 dated July 4, 1991, as amended on December 20, 2017) enshrines the principle of voluntariness.

If residents for some reason do not want to become owners, forced registration of property is impossible.

Who owns the common areas?

After the privatization of the rooms, the communal apartment essentially turns into a kind of mini-apartment building. That is, it contains premises in the sole ownership of citizens, as well as places that are in common ownership .

These include the kitchen, hallway, bathroom, and utility rooms. According to Article 41 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the area of ​​common property is distributed in equal parts among all owners, in proportion to the area of ​​the privatized room.

The allocation of specific square meters to each owner is not permissible by law.

All residents have equal rights to use these premises.

Read our article about the rights and responsibilities of the owner and residents of a privatized apartment.

Right to privatization

All citizens of the Russian Federation are given the opportunity to participate in privatization once (Article 11 of Law No. 1541-1).

The following requirements are imposed on applicants for free ownership of premises:

1. Residence under social rent conditions for at least one year.
2. Availability of permanent registration (registration) in the residential premises.
3. Documented citizenship.
4. Lack of information on the use of the right to privatization.

It is mandatory to involve minor members of the tenant's family in the re-registration of real estate. The exclusion of children from the parties to the transaction requires permission from the guardianship authorities.

Competent authorities

Privatization of residential premises is carried out by local authorities. In populated areas there are housing departments that form a queue of those in need of real estate, distribute social housing facilities and accept applications for the privatization procedure.

In addition to the Department for Housing Issues, applicants can contact:

1. Multifunctional centers at the location of the living space. The procedure for submitting documentation there is identical, and the MFC itself acts as a transfer link without making any decisions. MFCs are more popular because they have convenient opening hours and less workload.
2. Unified privatization center. Inconvenience of handling may be due to the lack of a department in a particular locality. Otherwise, they work more quickly, although you will have to pay extra for some of their services.

The choice of submission method is a personal decision for everyone; usually citizens focus on either convenience or the speed of receiving a response.

Privatization objects

Law No. 1541-1 (Article 4) defines the categories of residential premises that cannot be the subject of privatization.

The following objects are not permitted to be transferred into ownership:

• living space transferred for the duration of work duties;
• premises in houses officially recognized as unsafe (read more about which houses are considered unsafe);
• dorm rooms;
• housing located on the territory of closed military settlements;
• objects located in environmental zones.

In some cases, the transfer of official housing is allowed (for example, to employees with extensive work experience).

Read: how to privatize a service apartment?

It is possible to privatize premises in dilapidated buildings if the building has not received the official status of “emergency”.

conclusions

If you consult with experienced lawyers about whether it is worth privatizing a room in a communal apartment, the specialist will answer a clear “no”.

Still, this process has a lot of disadvantages. But this is only in theory; in practice, situations can change radically.

Every potential owner of square meters should know that the most important thing in such a process is obtaining approval from the local municipality, competent collection of documents and the correct implementation of the entire procedure.

Features of privatization in communal apartments

The legislation does not provide a precise definition of a “communal apartment”. A communal apartment is a room in which several unrelated people live.

The difference between communal housing and a regular apartment is the presence of several isolated rooms and common areas.

The tenant of each premises must have a social tenancy order or agreement.

The following features of the privatization of communal services are highlighted:

1. The fact of allocation of living space is confirmed by a technical passport (issued by the BTI).
2. The social rental agreement defines the room as a room with a separate entrance.
3. Common areas are transferred to all residents as shared ownership.
4. The size of the share in the common property is determined by the area of ​​the premises.

The procedure for using the kitchen, bathroom, and toilet does not change. The Housing Code of the Russian Federation (Article 42) prohibits owners from allocating and alienating their part of common areas.

Signing the contract

It does not matter how the documents and application were submitted, after its approval, an agreement on the transfer of ownership rights is signed with the local government, since they were the owner of the communal room.

A contract is a legal document that allows you to prove that the transfer of rights was completed legally. This form should be kept, since in any transaction - sale, donation, exchange - you cannot do without it.

The privatization agreement states:

1. Information about the parties to the agreement. On the one hand, this is the municipality, and on the other, all the residents participating in the procedure.
2. Information about the premises transferred into ownership.
3. Grounds for re-registration of living space with references to legislative acts.
4. Distribution of shares between participants.
5. Responsibilities of new owners.

The agreement is drawn up in several copies according to the number of parties involved. After signing it, the owner can only register his rights with Rosreestr.

Step-by-step instruction

Before starting the registration procedure, you should determine the category of living space.

Privatization of a room in a communal apartment is carried out in the same manner as is used when registering an entire residential premises.

Read: how to privatize an apartment?

The sequence of actions includes the following steps:

1. Obtaining consent for the privatization of all persons registered in the rooms.
2. Collection of necessary documents.
3. Submitting an application to the administration of the territorial entity.
4. Obtaining a municipal decision.
5. Signing of the privatization agreement.
6. Registration of rights in Rosreestr.

If the apartment is officially recognized as communal, the tenant can register ownership of the room regardless of the consent (disagreement) of the neighbors.

List of documents

Municipal authorities make a decision on the transfer of housing based on the documentation submitted by the citizen.

First of all, future owners need to write an application for privatization. Application form is available.

The legislation does not establish a strict form of application. You can draw up the document yourself, or use a sample developed taking into account regional regulations.

The form will be issued at the housing structures of the municipality or at the MFC.

The application contains the required information:

• name of the local government body;
• personal data of the applicant (employer) and his family members;
• the address where the residential premises are located;
• technical characteristics (floor, total area of ​​the apartment, room area);
• the size of shares of all participants;
• list of applications.

Errors and corrections are not allowed in the text of the application.

The set of main documents attached to the application includes:

• copies of passports (birth certificates) of all room occupants;
• social rental agreement;
• a certificate of the number of persons registered in the premises;
• consent to privatization or notarized refusal of the procedure by family members of the employer;
• technical passport of the living space;
• extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate;
• papers confirming that there is no debt to pay for utilities.

In each specific case, additional documents may be required (for example, a power of attorney for a representative or a marriage certificate).

The body responsible for privatization: where to submit documents

The transfer of premises into the ownership of citizens is carried out by the housing departments of local municipalities.

There are two ways to submit an application for privatization:

• to the administration of the territorial entity;
• through the public services center (MFC).

In some regions, a mechanism for submitting documents online has been implemented.

The decision is positive or refusal. Acceptance deadlines

Officials are carefully studying the documents for the privatization of a separate room in a communal apartment. Law No. 1541-1 (the article provides a period of two months) for consideration of the application .

If the decision is positive, a privatization agreement for the premises is drawn up. Each participant in the transaction is given a copy of the agreement, which is necessary to secure the rights of the owner.

The applicant is notified of the decision made by letter to the address specified when submitting documents.

Reasons for refusal

The Law “On the Privatization of Housing Stock in the Russian Federation” provides the grounds on which municipal authorities refuse to re-register living space.

These include:

• an attempt to use the right a second time (if at the time of privatization the citizen was 18 years old);
• the premises belong to objects the transfer of which to private ownership is prohibited.

Additional obstacles during registration may include:

• unauthorized redevelopment of a room (find out how the redevelopment of an apartment is approved);
• availability of other housing;
• long break in permanent registration;
• debts to pay utility bills;
• non-compliance of the premises with sanitary standards;
• submission of false or deliberately false information.

Specific reasons for refusal to transfer living space are indicated in the written notice.

Appealing a refusal in court

A negative decision by officials is challenged in court. The basis for filing a claim is a notice of refusal.

The statement of claim contains:

1. Court details.
2. Applicant details (last name, first name, patronymic, residential address, contact telephone number).
3. Information about the defendant (name of the municipal body).
4. Reasons for using the room.
5. Reasons for refusal to transfer living space.
6. Links to regulations.
7. Request for recognition of the refusal decision as unlawful.

The response of the officials and papers confirming the applicant’s right are attached to the claim.

Before applying for judicial protection, you must pay a fee in the amount of 300 rubles (Article 333.19, Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Registration of owner's rights

The procedure is completed by drawing up a privatization agreement. The agreement is signed by the parties to the transaction and certified by the seal of the municipal administration.

The transfer of rights to the property is certified by the territorial division of Rosreestr.

Required documents

The following must be submitted to the registration service:

• application (drawn up according to a certain sample);
• privatization agreement;
• copy of the owner's passport;
• receipt of paid state duty.

Papers can be submitted in person to Rosreestr or to the MFC. In addition, the official portal of the registration service provides the opportunity to submit documents online.

State duty: amount, payment procedure

To enter data on the owner's rights into the unified state register, you will need to pay a fee.

The contribution for citizens is 2,000 rubles.

Minor participants in the transaction (under 14 years of age) are exempt from the costs of privatization registration.

Payment is made in the most convenient way for the owner:

1. At the office of any bank.
2. Through the State Services website.
3. Using a payment terminal.
4. At the Russian Post Office.
5. Online banking (for example, through Sberbank online).

Payment details can be found at the Rosreestr branch or on the official portal of the department.

Document evidencing ownership

The possibility of free ownership and disposal of the room is confirmed by an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate (USRN).

The help contains the following information:

• owner details;
• technical and cadastral characteristics;
• floor plan;
• cost at the time of registration.

The information is considered current at the time of receipt of the document.

Registration process and possible costs

To live in a privatized room, you will need to go through a lot of authorities, collecting the necessary documents. It is necessary to clarify that some papers have a certain validity period. Therefore, you should not delay the procedure, otherwise you will have to start all over again.

Here is a list of government institutions that you will have to visit:

1. Local municipality. Here you can get a warrant for the room. If you already have the document in your hands, you can skip this step.
2. BTI. This body is contacted for technical documentation for the room. Attention! Make sure that the cadastral and technical passport correspond to the actual layout of the premises. If illegal redevelopment has been carried out, you will not be able to live in a privatized room. Guaranteed to get rejected! The period for receiving the required papers can vary from 14 to 30 days.
3. EIRC. Here you can get a statement about the absence of debts for the room.
4. Child protection. You will have to contact us if the interests of minors are affected.
5. Rosreestr. This institution is contacted to obtain a certificate of ownership.

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, the transfer of housing into ownership within the framework of privatization is a free procedure. It is worth clarifying that when preparing and collecting a package of documents, you will have to incur some expenses. Each city in the country has its own tariffs for issuing certificates, drawing up a room technical plan and other similar procedures.

Judicial practice on refusals to privatize

To go to court you need serious reasons. When considering a case, the judge examines all the circumstances of the dispute.

M. demanded that the room be transferred to her ownership. The house in which the communal apartment is located belonged to a departmental fund.

After the bankruptcy of the enterprise, the house was transferred to the balance of the municipality. The city administration refused to formalize the privatization agreement on the grounds that there was no social rental agreement concluded with M. The plaintiff has been using the room for more than 10 years and pays utilities on time. The court ordered officials to carry out privatization.

In another example, one of the residents of a 3-room apartment appealed to the court. The local government refused to transfer the room to the plaintiff. The premises in the apartment were not allocated, the housing was not given the status of “communal”. Legislation allows the privatization of indivisible objects only as a whole. The applicant did not provide the consent (refusal) of the remaining residents to privatization. Under these circumstances, the judge sided with the municipality.

In most cases, the court satisfies the citizens' demands. However, each case has individual characteristics, so it is impossible to predict the court's decision.

How to proceed?

First of all, you need to decide:

1. Where to contact?
2. What documents should I prepare?
3. How much does the procedure cost (fees and other expenses)?
4. Deadlines.

The most reliable option, in our opinion, is to contact the office in person.

You can, of course, express your desire to own a room at the MFC or entrust the procedure to an organization that specializes in this.

You just need to take into account that both the MFC and any other organization other than the bureau are intermediaries. Moreover, in the latter case, the cost will increase , since the intermediary organization will charge a fee for its services.

After we decide for ourselves with whom we will cooperate, we need to prepare a package of documents .

With debts for housing and communal services

A difficult financial situation leads to utility debts. If the family intends to privatize the room, it will inevitably encounter a problem.

As practice shows, housing authorities and the BTI do not like to issue certificates to debtors. Most likely the issue will be refused. Are such actions legal? The law does not in any way regulate the privatization of housing in the presence of debts for housing and communal services. But, at the same time, the law does not directly prohibit such privatization. It follows from this that it is possible.

Therefore, if you are denied a room due to debt on housing and communal services, try to come to an agreement. For example, offer debt restructuring . The payment period for utilities will be extended, but you will have the opportunity to pay the full amount.

The second option is to ask for a deferment . For example, if you are experiencing temporary financial difficulties, but commit to repaying the debt after some time.

The last option is to go to court and demand the issuance of the necessary certificates. True, if the amount of debt is too large, the housing department may file a counterclaim - then you will have to pay the entire amount + legal and enforcement costs. Lawyers do not recommend taking matters to extremes.

We have prepared an article specifically for this matter, “Privatization of an apartment with debts on utility bills.”