Attention!
New residents still continue to be exposed to risks associated with utility bills! Inattention at the stage of re-registration of documents can lead to quite unpleasant consequences that plunge even an inveterate optimist into despondency. Experts recommend that after registering property rights, you should continue your journey through the authorities without delay in order to re-issue agreements on utility payments as soon as possible.
We decided to figure out what could result from ignoring this important issue, and also offer the reader an optimal algorithm of action.
Buying a home is, of course, an important event, and many newly minted property owners, having completed the official registration process, go to celebrate the housewarming and explore the new space, putting aside the rest of the paperwork.
When can I change my personal account?
It will not be possible to deal with paperwork at the same time: first – registering property, then – registering a personal account. A payment document must be issued for each individual apartment. It is by the account number that information about payment for utility services is tracked down to each date and amount.
The document must indicate:
• exact address of the apartment;
• housing area;
• information about the account owner and the number of registered citizens;
• details related to landscaping.
As a rule, one invoice is issued for the entire apartment, although the owners, if desired and agreed, can split the invoices, which will be discussed below. The main owner is determined by agreement of the owners, for which it is necessary to write an application at the passport office, which will issue the necessary certificate.
It is important to remember that, regardless of any circumstances related to the apartment and its owner, utilities continue to make charges, and if the apartment has already been purchased, financial responsibility falls on the new owner. Therefore, it is important not to delay this issue and not create confusion in receipts.
Opening an account: where to go?
If the apartment was purchased in a new building
, you just need to open a personal account. To do this, you need to write a statement in any form and bring it to the management company. In order for a set of numbers to pay for utilities to be provided in the near future, a passport and a transfer deed are sufficient.
When an apartment was purchased on the secondary market
or received by new owners, for example, under a gift or exchange agreement
, in order to receive a financial account, you will have to apply to the HOA or management organization, also presenting a passport and a document that confirms ownership. When receiving housing under a social tenancy agreement, an appropriate agreement will be required.
If the property is shared
, it is required to collect statements from all owners. Many people find it convenient to re-issue a financial document through the Unified Settlement Center. It happens that a new account has already been opened, but receipts continue to come to the previous owner. In this case, it is necessary, without delay, to call or contact the suppliers in writing and resolve the issue related to updating the information.
Contents of the personal account of the house
The personal account of the house reflects the amount of fees accrued and presented for payment by consumers on a monthly basis. It does not coincide with revenue from the provision of services and performance of work for the same period. Owners do not always pay bills on time. In an ideal situation, such amounts should coincide at the end of the year, but this only happens if the MKD has 100% collection of payments.
The management organization can write off funds from the personal account of the apartment building only if the service provider has signed certificates of work performed. This is established by clause 4.11 of GOST R 56192-2014, clause 10.2 of GOST R 56195-2014, clause 5.12 of GOST R 56038-2014.
The personal account of the house should accumulate information about:
- common property of the apartment building;
- types of work and services for the maintenance of common property;
- amounts accrued to consumers of services in MKD;
- payments received from premises owners;
- subsidies;
- spending money.
The head of the management company approves the form of the organization's accounting register as an annex to the accounting policy.
Fines to management organizations for incorrect calculation of corporate capital
Updating your personal account: an effective algorithm
In order not to run in circles through authorities, you can use an effective algorithm
, allowing you to resolve the utility and financial issue as quickly as possible. You need to take your passport and documents for the apartment and go to the Unified Settlement Center, where you need to leave an application with a request to transfer the account to another owner. From the moment the document is received and processed, accruals should already be made to the new owner.
Next you need to go to the management company
, with which you need to conclude a new service agreement, or renew contracts with suppliers of electricity, gas, heat, water, if agreements were concluded directly. If this was not done at the stage of purchasing the apartment, you need to find out when the meters were last verified. If the three-year period has already expired, it is worth initiating this process. Many people save on metering devices, but, as experience shows, this ultimately results in additional expenses.
If necessary, leave a landline phone number
, refuse it or connect to the network, you must write a corresponding application to the Rostelecom division. At the same time, it’s worth understanding the Internet, choosing a provider that suits you and concluding an agreement with him. Since the exact list of all documents for registering an account changes periodically, it is important to clarify it before going through the authorities.
It is also worth knowing that it is better for a responsible tenant to be registered in the new apartment. Otherwise, it is possible that you will have to pay higher rates for most services. In any case, you will need an extract with information about everyone “registered” in the living space.
Owner's personal account and MKD personal account
There is no concept of “home balance” in current legislation. But if you receive a request to provide such data, do not rush to refuse the owner, so as not to provoke a conflict.
The owner’s request to provide a “house balance” may mean that he wants to receive a statement with the details of his personal account or the personal account of the house. We advise you to clarify what exactly the owner wants to receive after receiving the application, because the management organization is obliged to provide some information, but problems may arise with others.
Let's deal with the legislation. Clause 3.18 of GOST R 51929-2014 provides the concept of an MKD personal account. This is an accounting register that is designed to record transactions related to accruals, borrowings, receipts and expenditures of funds in accordance with contractual obligations for the operation, management and maintenance of apartment buildings.
Art. 10 of Federal Law No. 402-FZ dated December 6, 2011 defines the term accounting register. An accounting register is a document in which data contained in primary accounting documents is recorded and accumulated. Based on its data, the organization’s financial statements are compiled (Part 1, Article 13 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).
A home’s personal account is an accounting register that collects information about the receipt and expenditure of funds for each apartment building. Current legislation does not oblige management organizations to maintain accounting records for each house under management. It is possible to prepare financial statements for an organization without such information.
At the same time, Order No. 94n of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 31, 2000 obliges to maintain analytical records of settlements with consumers in the context of not only each consumer, but also each issued invoice.
Therefore, to maintain analytical accounting, management organizations use special programs or turn to settlement centers. For their own convenience, they group information about consumers by belonging to one MKD.
A personal account is opened for each consumer, which stores information about:
- accrued amounts;
- received payments;
- debt and overpayment.
The management organization is obliged to provide information on the correctness of calculation of the amount of payment for utility services, on the presence or absence of debt from the consumer at the request of the owner, in accordance with paragraphs. "b" paragraph 33 and paragraphs. “d” clause 31 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011 No. 354.
Why management organizations should maintain a register of owners
If your re-registration is refused
If all debts are repaid, management organizations rarely refuse to open a new personal account.
Most often, problems arise if the previous owner left behind exorbitant debts.
It is worth remembering that the new owner is not responsible for the financial obligations of the previous owner of the property. There is a possibility that utility companies will try to force the new owner to pay “in full” - both for debts for electricity and water, and for major repairs of the house, if the payments have not been paid in full.
To avoid any misunderstandings, it is better to make sure that there are no debts at the stage of purchasing a home. Their presence, by the way, may be a reason to talk about reducing the price. But if the account statement is not considered an important document to study, it must be remembered that no matter what the debts of the previous owners were, the utility company is obliged to issue a new account to the owners, and he will pay for it.
If it is not possible to reach an agreement with organizations on re-registration, their decision must be appealed. However, as practice shows, more often than not, simply warning about such an intention is enough to resolve the issue. If the utility workers insist that they are right, they must send a statement to the prosecutor, attaching their refusal and documents on ownership.
It happens that this does not help, then you will have to file a claim in court. It is recommended to indicate in the application that the new owner is not able to make utility payments, since he does not have a utility account, and he receives refusals to open one. In addition to the requirement to open an account, you must definitely express a desire to exclude the debts of the previous owners from the payment documentation.
The chances of winning such a case are very high, which is confirmed by domestic judicial practice. As a rule, claims of new property owners against utility companies or management organizations that refuse to provide a new account and demand payment of debts of previous owners are satisfied without problems.
There are certain nuances in cases where utility services have already applied some kind of sanctions. For example, if the electricity in an apartment is turned off for non-payment, the account may be reissued, but the light will be connected only after the previous owner pays off the debt.
List of documents
To re-register an account, you must provide the following documents to the ERCC:
- Russian passport;
- title document;
- an extract from the Unified State Register of Rights to the apartment;
- cadastral and technical passport;
- a copy of the act of acceptance and transfer of living space;
- a certificate from the passport office about the number of people registered in the apartment;
- documents certifying the verification of individual meters;
- certificate of absence of debts for housing and communal services (if any);
- statement.
The title document is a contract of purchase, donation, exchange of housing, a certificate of inheritance, etc. The acceptance certificate must contain meter readings at the time of actual acceptance of the living space by the buyer.
If an apartment is registered as the property of several persons, each of whom plans to independently pay for utilities, then all persons must apply to the ERKTs simultaneously with passports, extracts from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, cadastral and title documents for the occupied living space.
The application states a request to assign a new personal account number in connection with the emergence of ownership of housing ; the following information must also be indicated in the text:
- name of the paper feeder;
- Full name and passport details of all co-owners of the apartment;
- information about the residential premises;
- details of ownership documents;
- the date of origin of rights and the date of actual acceptance of the property;
- information about the replacement and last verification of meters;
- readings of individual devices from the housing acceptance certificate;
- list of attached documents;
- date and signatures and contact details of all applicants.
Sample document: application form for re-registration of a personal account can be downloaded here.
It is important to supplement the text with the consent of all applicants to the processing of their personal data.
Data on residential premises include the address, cadastral and inventory number of the apartment, as well as information on the number of square meters per each co-owner, and the number of persons registered on its territory. For example, when re-issuing an account by three owners of rooms in a communal apartment, the responsible owner, area and list of registered persons are indicated for each room.
Splitting the bill in an apartment: everyone pays for themselves
If the housing is registered to several owners, financial utility bills can be divided, if necessary, after which each of the owners will receive a personal receipt and, accordingly, will be able to pay for their part of the services. True, debts that arose before such a division will remain with the person who was previously identified as the responsible person. Of course, it is better to immediately separate bills after purchasing living space, if there is such a need.
However, it cannot be said that the division of accounts is possible in absolutely all cases. An important condition is the availability of isolated rooms that are exactly suitable for living. It is necessary that the area of such premises corresponds to the share of the owner initiating the division. In addition, it is worth remembering that only a legally capable person who has reached the age of majority can receive a separate account, and it must be registered in this living space.
How many accounts can be opened?
Most often, a utility consumer has one account number, which is provided to him by the management company. However, each locality has its own rules. Since services are provided by different organizations, each of them can open their own personal account. Of course, the consumer is responsible to each of these structures for timely payment for services. If new owners install meters in apartments, these devices must be registered with resource suppliers.
It happens that companies are reorganized, change structure and subordination, or even liquidate. In these cases, consumers receive new personal accounts along with appropriate notification. In these cases, the re-conclusion of the contract is initiated by the organization itself.
Debts “by agreement”
Often, the buyer and seller decide among themselves at the stage of agreeing on the transaction about how to deal with utility debts. In many cases, the future owner agrees to pay off the debts of his predecessor. According to the rules, the approval for the transfer of debts must be given by the creditors themselves, who must be notified about this, even if a clause on the procedure for paying overdue utility bills is included in the purchase and sale agreement. This is important for people who are selling an apartment with debts. They can be sure that the amounts will not be forcibly collected from them only if they have the written consent of the creditors that the debt will be paid by the new owner.
Transferring utility bills?
New owners need to know that when purchasing an apartment, they, along with the responsibility for paying utilities, also assume all debts remaining from the previous owner.
Even before the procedure for buying and selling a home, you need to obtain complete information about the absence of debt from the previous owner (certificate from the HOA, management company).
In addition, it is necessary to check the data of the metering devices, which are indicated in the transfer deed for the apartment. They must correspond to the information from the certificate of the HOA, the Criminal Code. And the certificate itself should be as late as possible.
If the new owner was not vigilant and became the owner of a receipt for a large debt for housing and communal services, then he will be obliged to pay it in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Otherwise, he will be subject to various penalties. Of course, this situation is unfair. The situation can only be corrected in court, after the debt has been repaid. A claim is being filed for a refund.
