Housing cooperative, or housing construction cooperative, is an association of citizens to meet their housing needs when building a house or managing an apartment building.
The most important issues regarding the activities of the cooperative are resolved at a meeting of its participants, and the decisions made there are formalized in the form of official minutes. Dear readers! To solve your specific problem, call the hotline or visit the website. It's free.
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What is a general meeting of a housing cooperative and what are its purposes?
The general meeting of the housing construction community is a regular meeting of the community at which both planned and emergency tasks are resolved.
Its participants are co-owners of the housing cooperative. The established procedure involves holding such gatherings annually.
The basis for adjudication is a popular vote in which each co-owner has equal voting rights.
HELP: It is important to understand that everyone has only one vote. Occupying one or another leadership position will not play any role here.
Legal implementation of the election process of the chairman
The election of the head is carried out by holding a general meeting to discuss the nominated candidates and approve the decisions made by the main management body.
The initiator of the election of an official in the HOA can be citizens who are members of the HOA.
Reference. The existing method of holding elections involves drawing up a protocol of election, which becomes the main document for the term of stay and activities of a citizen in the position of leader established by legislative acts.
To resolve what issues and how often are meetings held?
It is important to understand that there are several types of such events. Now there is a distinction between extraordinary and annual meetings.
Annual
Extraordinary fees of co-owners have a number of their own characteristic features. For example, the timing is decided by voting. But this is done taking into account small restrictions. No more than six months should pass after the end of the financial year, and no more than two months should remain before the start of the next one.
The events address issues such as:
- control over accounting activities;
- board report on earlier tasks;
- drawing up an action plan for the next year and its approval.
The board sets the date for the meeting of members of the housing cooperative. If the deadlines were violated, certain officials will bear responsibility for this according to the charter.
Extraordinary
Like the annual event, the extraordinary event also has a number of its own characteristics. The very first of them is that it is prescribed in the following cases:
- a written request from an auditor or auditor.
- Initiative of the board of a housing construction cooperative.
- Collective appeal from residents of an apartment building.
In the latter case , an extraordinary collection is carried out only if at least one tenth of the co-owners participates in it.
Quite often, such gatherings are held in cases where the community suffers losses. Moreover, their volume must necessarily exceed 5% of the total mutual fund. It is in such situations that most often either the auditor or the board takes the initiative to convene.
IMPORTANT: An extraordinary meeting must take place no later than 30 days after such a requirement was made. The board is responsible for organizing the event, according to the charter.
When the demand for holding is put forward by the participants of the housing cooperative, and not by officials or management, it is necessary to submit an application. The document must necessarily indicate the surnames, first names and patronymics of these people, as well as personal signatures.
The application must be considered within 5 days from the date of its receipt by the board. This period is provided so that officials can analyze the need for a meeting and make a decision. As a result, the event may be carried out, or it may be rejected. In this case, the initiators are required to receive a notification.
Not only the initiators, but also the audit commission are notified of the decision made.
On the transfer to the State Housing Registration Authority
Clause 4 of the Procedure clarifies that copies of documents are considered transferred if the manager of the MKD has a document confirming the fact and date of their transfer to the State Housing Authority. The most obvious way is transfer by courier, with receipt of a receipt from the employees of the State Housing Registration Authority indicating the date of transfer of documents. Please note: the Order does not say that this is the only possible method. For managers in settlements located at a significant distance from the regional center, where the State Housing Authority is usually located, this option may be very inconvenient. Considering the equality of rights of all business entities, it seems fair that managers can send a package of documents to officials by registered mail with an inventory of the contents and a return receipt.
How is a housing cooperative meeting held?
The basis for holding events is equal voting, according to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, namely Article 44, Part 1. The final results can only be summed up if at least half of the co-owners are present at the meeting.
Part 3 of Article 45 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation thus describes the quorum condition under which voting is possible.
The collection is carried out according to the following scheme:
- initiation of a meeting of a housing construction cooperative;
- preparation stage;
- notification of co-owners;
- turnout of cooperative members;
- analysis of the agenda;
- recording the results in the protocol;
- notifying absent co-owners of housing cooperatives about decisions made.
The organization decides what type of meeting will be held - annual or extraordinary. This is followed by the preparatory stage, where a convenient time and place is determined and an agenda is formed. Next, persons responsible for compliance with the rules are appointed.
IMPORTANT! Owners must receive notice no later than ten days before the meeting. There are many ways to provide information, and the most commonly used are placing advertisements in a special place or sending registered letters. Complete information about the goals, place, officials, and so on is indicated here.
Housing cooperative participants who have received the notification must appear at the specified location. The meeting is usually held at one of the cooperative's houses or nearby. The appointee recounts the number of people present to determine whether a quorum is present.
The following discusses the issues that were included in the agenda. Article 46 part 2 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation does not allow touching on topics not listed on the agenda. This does not depend on whether members of the cooperative have an interest in these topics.
Based on the results of the event, a housing cooperative protocol is drawn up (sample below). Notifications are sent to absent members of the housing cooperative.
Grounds for electing the head of the partnership
The main basis for electing the chairman and persons leading the organization is the creation of the HOA as a legal organization, as provided for by law. Elections of the head and board of the partnership are carried out on the basis of the adopted charter of the HOA, which regulates the entire process of activity of the created structure.
The adopted charter determines the procedure for election, establishes the term for which the chairman is elected, and also indicates other grounds that may serve as a reason for holding elections. Such cases provided for in the document include:
- creation of an organization;
- the end of the term of office specified in the charter;
- refusal of a manager to resign from a position;
- initiative of homeowners who are members of the organization, etc.
Reference. The grounds for the extraordinary re-election of the HOA management may be different, but most often they are related to the unsatisfactory performance of the created structure and serious violations identified during the inspection.
We talk in detail about the order in which the chairman of the HOA is changed here.
Transformation of the cooperative based on the results of the general collection
Articles 122 and 123 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation states that a housing cooperative, by decision of the general meeting, can be transformed into a homeowners' association.
To do this, the majority of residents must vote “yes” during the general meeting. The main condition for this is the absence of any violations during the organization of the event.
The conditions for transformation into a homeowners' association are prescribed in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
How does voting work?
If quorum is met, votes are cast in the usual manner. In the absence of a quorum, such a form as absentee voting in housing cooperatives is possible. Residents are surveyed using questionnaires or using the Housing and Communal Services GIS.
Questionnaires are submitted to the specified address. The conditions are such that they must be submitted on time.
IMPORTANT! The decision to cast votes using the GIS Housing and Communal Services should also be made through voting during one of the general meetings.
What is the protocol?
The voting results are entered into the protocol. A sample minutes of a meeting of housing cooperative members contains the following data:
- date and place of the meeting.
- Information about the agenda.
- The number of voters for each issue.
- Presence or absence of quorum.
At the end of the event, the protocol is signed by the chairman and secretary, as well as members of the counting commission.
Sample minutes of a housing cooperative meeting.
results
The one who initiated the vote must convey to each member of the housing cooperative the contents of the protocol on the issues put on the agenda. He is given ten days to do this. The document must also be placed where all residents of the apartment building have access. This rule can be read in Article 46 of the Housing Code.
Legislative acts
The procedure for electing officials in the HOA is regulated by Article 145 and Article 147 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. Regulatory clauses define the general meeting, consisting of members of the organization, as the main governing body in the entire structure of the created partnership.
According to Article 145, the powers of the general meeting include all issues related to the activities of a non-profit structure, as well as making decisions on the election of the chairman of the HOA and the board.
Article 147 of the LC regulates the appointment of officials in the partnership and determines their powers in approving decisions made.
The adopted charter is the only legislative document that regulates the entire process of activity of the created structure. Changes to this document can only be made by decision of the residents at a general meeting.
Composition and required number of persons
Preparations for the election of the head of the HOA include notification of all members of the non-profit structure created by the owners to participate in the election process. The quantitative composition of the general meeting may vary , but the decision to elect the chairman is made by the number of votes provided for in the charter of the partnership, provided that such powers are defined by the charter and transferred to the public.
Article 147, paragraph 6 regulates the issue of holding meetings, as well as issues related to the adoption and approval of decisions by officials managing the organization.
According to the law, approval of a candidate for the position of chairman of the HOA, if such actions are confirmed by the charter, can be carried out provided that the majority of the board from among those present at the meeting votes for the citizen. The charter of the partnership can change the existing legislative norm by making changes to the internal document of the organization at the meeting.
What areas of activity does the homeowners association carry out?
The powers, according to the constituent documents, define the following areas of work:
- timely payment of payment documents (major repairs and other utility payments, sometimes for audit funds);
- contractual relationships with counterparties (other management companies, supply organizations); here not only the main points of the contracts are established, but also the interests and recommendations of both parties are agreed upon;
- dialogues with control and management bodies; Responsibility lies with the chairman of the board, but its members also have the right to monitor the fulfillment of the basic requirements of residents.
The rights and obligations of organizing HOAs and collective meetings are regulated by Article 148 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. Below we consider a list of general areas of activity:
- change of personnel of members of the form of owners;
- calculation and approval of the general estimate of the partnership for the reporting period;
- maintaining a register of all members of the partnership (here you must ensure that the data provided is up to date);
- creation of contractual relationships with third parties for operation and repair.
The HOA is also responsible for the paperwork process (reports for a certain period). This also includes an annual report on events, meetings and activities of the partnership. Thus, information about the activities for the year is provided. In any case, it is always in the public domain for every member - the owner of the house.
Along with this, the convening and holding of a general meeting is also considered an important area of the HOA’s work. If we talk about additional functions, then all applications and complaints from residents are also considered here.
Dependence of elections on the number of participants
The adoption of approved decisions requires the presence of a quorum. The quorum is calculated using a special formula, where the area owned by the HOA members who came to the meeting is multiplied by 100 and divided by the total area of all premises managed by the partnership.
Persons who come to the meeting mark their personal presence by signing on the registration sheet. The document reflects the full name of the owner, the area of the premises belonging to him and the number of available votes that the owner of the property has.
The board of the organization has the right to make a decision by a majority vote if the meeting is held in the presence of at least half of its members, unless otherwise provided by the charter.
Part of the organizational work in the partnership, in addition to the chairman of the board, is also performed by the manager. You can learn more about these positions in the following publications:
- What are the responsibilities of the chairman of the HOA, what are his rights and responsibilities to the residents of the apartment building?
- How is the chairman of the HOA paid?
- Is it necessary to conclude an employment contract between the chairman and the HOA?
- What are the differences between the job descriptions of the chairman and the manager of the HOA?
- How to correctly draw up an agreement between the HOA and the manager: structure and content of the document; sample.
Who is eligible to apply for the position?
The created partnership, guided by Article 147 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, elects members of the board from among the citizens who are members of the organization . The number of officials may include only those citizens who are the owners of premises in the established organization and are its full members.
The board of the HOA, based on legislative acts, elects from among its members the chairman of the partnership (the question of whether a non-owner of a home in an HOA can become a candidate for its chairman is discussed here). Such actions are provided for in the event that the right to elect a leader is not transferred by the organization’s charter to the competence of residents.
Advantages over the management company, TSN or SNT
- The “top” (chairman, board members) also lives in houses maintained by the HOA.
- Creating comfortable conditions for permanent residence.
- Compared to the management company, for the most part it has no debts to utility resource providers.
- The owner can find out the nuances of the organization’s financial condition at any time, since the information is freely available.
- Despite the fact that the company is considered a non-profit organization, it can carry out commercial activities without conflicting with the norms of the current legislation of the Russian Federation.
- In most cases, government agencies The authorities encourage the work of HOAs and take a number of stimulating actions for its development.
