Changes in housing legislation in 2021: part one

What is HOA

HOA stands for “homeowners’ association.” This is an association of owners of apartments and premises in a building who have decided to jointly manage it. An HOA as an organization is similar to a management company, but there is a significant difference - unlike a management company, a partnership is considered a form of non-profit association.

Any management company is a business aimed at making a profit. Even in an ideal management company, the interests of residents are, of course, taken into account, but the main criterion will still be earnings. The more money collected from apartment owners for the maintenance of housing is saved in the accounts, the better for the management of the management company.

An HOA is a non-profit association. The HOA is not trying to make money, its goal is to effectively manage the home. For a bona fide partnership, there is no point in keeping money in accounts. It's better to spend it on something useful for your home.

An HOA can manage one or more houses - the main thing is that the buildings are located on land plots with a common border and within their boundaries there are utility networks and other infrastructure.

If you decide to register an HOA, you need to realize that de jure this is the creation of a management organization - the owners take on all the functions of the management company. You will have to hire employees and be responsible for the maintenance of the house to all residents and regulatory authorities.

Membership in TSN

According to Part 1 of Article 143 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, membership in TSN arises from the owner of the premises in the house at the time and on the basis of an application to join the partnership. Therefore, it is necessary to fill out a corresponding application for all owners wishing to join the partnership.

Perhaps those owners who voted for the creation of TSN also need to complete and submit an application. This circumstance will avoid all kinds of disagreements regarding the legitimacy of the partnership and membership in it.

A sample application form looks like this:

To organize and conduct a legally competent general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building on the issue of creating a TSN in the house, you can use the “OSS 100%” service. Find out how it works.

Rights and obligations of the HOA

The HOA is responsible for managing the common property in the building. This is the roof, basement, entrances, land, equipment for water supply, heating and electricity.

The HOA has the right:

Conclude agreements on behalf of the partnership, including contract agreements for the maintenance and repair of the house, draw up and approve estimates for this work.
Determine an estimate of income and expenses for the year, including the cost of maintaining a home. In the budget for the year, the HOA must take into account the costs of major repairs and reconstruction, the creation and replenishment of the reserve fund, and other expenses.
Establish, by agreement of the owners, the amounts of payments and contributions for each premises.
Use loans.
Conduct a profitable activity - for example, install an advertising structure on the wall of a house and rent it out.
To collect through the court from the owners of the premises obligatory payments and contributions for the management of the house and the HOA.

HOAs also have responsibilities; in many ways they duplicate the work of management companies:

Conclude agreements for home maintenance and provision of utilities with operating organizations and suppliers of water, energy and gas, if the latter is connected.
Maintain the house yourself - for example, hire a person to clean the entrances, organize garbage removal.
Carry out routine repairs to the common property of the house in a timely manner.
Calculate housing maintenance fees and collect them from residents.

All responsibilities for maintaining a house with nuances are listed in full in the “Rules for maintaining common property.” There is liability for violating these rules - under Art. 7.22 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation - fine for officials 4-5 thousand rubles, fine for legal entities - 40-50 thousand rubles.

If you decide to organize an HOA, carefully study all legal requirements. If possible, consult with a lawyer who specializes in running partnerships - otherwise you will have to constantly pay fines and ultimately risk going bankrupt.

How to create an HOA

The decision to terminate the contract with the management company and create an HOA is made by the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building. If the partnership plans to manage only one house, then at least 50% of the owners must support this idea. If there will be control of several houses, then a two-thirds vote is needed. Any resident can initiate a meeting.

If you decide to hold a meeting of residents, in order to invite them to create an HOA, you need to prepare a package of documents for this: minutes of the general meeting, register of notifications, voting ballots. Detailed instructions here - “How to prepare for the general meeting of owners.”

To create an HOA, the meeting must approve the so-called “HOA Charter” - it must be prepared in advance. This is a document that is needed to register the partnership as a legal entity - it will regulate all the work of the association. It must indicate the place of activity of the organization, the procedure for its creation and termination, composition, decision-making procedure and a lot of other nuances specified in various laws. For example, the document must necessarily mention that the HOA is one of the forms of the TSN (real estate owners' partnership), otherwise registration of the partnership may be refused. To create a Charter, it is better to contact lawyers working in the housing and communal services sector; depending on the region, this will cost 3–10 thousand rubles. You can use a template as a basis.

There are several mandatory items on the meeting agenda. If this is not done, the decision may be invalidated by the court - for example, by the owner of the management company or disgruntled neighbors. Here's what you need to consider.

Choosing a home control method

- with the help of the created HOA.

Approval of the HOA Charter

. You can distribute the bylaws to residents before the meeting so that they can familiarize themselves with it in advance. Or read it out at a meeting.

Election of the HOA board.

These are proactive residents who will manage the work of the HOA and make decisions on managing the house. For example, the board can decide on hiring a contractor or decide what exactly to improve with the money allocated for this expense item. All rights and restrictions of the board are listed in Art. 147 Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

Election of the chairman of the HOA board.

This person carries out the decisions of the board and the general meeting of the partnership. For example, all residents decide to install a barrier. It is the chairman who will communicate with contractors, conclude an agreement and transfer money, and then control them and accept the work. The chairman is a director of the management company, he works on the staff of the HOA and receives a salary. Amount - as agreed. All employees of the HOA - cleaners, plumbers and others - report to the chairman.

Selection of the audit committee.

This is one or more people who must monitor the work of the HOA. The task of the auditors is to check whether the HOA is spending funds on the right needs. For example, study the financial statements and find out that the chairman spent the money collected from residents for improvements on paying contractors, and not on a new car. If the auditor reveals a violation, he informs the residents about it at a meeting or contacts the housing inspectorate and the prosecutor's office.

Selecting an authorized representative for HOA registration.

The meeting must decide who has the right to address the issue of creating a legal entity to the tax and other government agencies. Most often, the powers are vested in the chairman of the HOA.

Termination of the contract with the management company.

Residents must vote to refuse the services of the management company that is currently taking care of the house.

Read more: “How to competently hold a general meeting of home owners.”

OSS decision

According to Article 44.1 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, OSS can be carried out in the form of:

in-person voting;
absentee voting (using GIS Housing and Communal Services - Article 47.1 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);
in-person and absentee voting.

According to Parts 4, 4.1 and 5 of Article 48 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, homeowners can formalize their decisions on agenda items in writing only during absentee voting, when the meeting is held in absentia or in absentia.

When holding a general meeting of owners in the form of in-person voting, it is possible to formalize in writing the decisions of the general meeting of owners on the issues on the agenda.

Clause 15 of the Methodological Recommendations of the Ministry of Construction states that voting can be carried out through:

raising hands;
written decisions of home owners indicating their share in the right of common ownership of common property in the apartment building and the number of votes each owner has;
other ways.

The procedure and methods of voting on issues on the agenda of the general meeting can also be approved by the general meeting.

How to register an HOA

If the general meeting of residents decided to create an HOA and terminate the agreement with the management company, you need to register the partnership with the tax office in your area - according to the law, an HOA is one of the organizational and legal forms of non-profit organizations.

The authorized representative must collect documents for registration:

application in form No. P11001, certified by a notary;
minutes of the general meeting, with the residents’ decision to create an HOA, bound and numbered;
HOA charter, in two copies;
receipt for payment of state duty.

The fee can be paid online - 4 thousand rubles. Its cost is the same for all regions.

Documents can be brought in person to the tax office or sent through any multifunctional government services center. You can also send it online, but you need an enhanced electronic signature - on average, this costs about 4-5 thousand rubles. Registration of a legal entity lasts 5 days, then at the specified address you will receive a letter confirming the creation of an HOA - a tax registration certificate and an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.

When registering online, select “other legal entities”

After registration, you need to open a bank account, notifying the tax office, register with the Pension Fund and medical and social insurance funds, and purchase a stamp.

Report the creation of the HOA to officials

After registering a legal entity, you need to notify the management company of the termination of the contract. Request technical and other documentation about the house from her. It is better to do the acceptance with a lawyer and the HOA board so as not to miss anything.

Send a notice of a change of organization in the house to the housing inspectorate in your region. In the capital it is “Moszhilinspektsiya”.

You can ask the housing inspectorate for current samples and notification forms or view them on their website

The notification must be accompanied by a stamped copy of the minutes of the general meeting of owners on the creation of the HOA. Plus a copy of the state registration certificate.

After this, the company can begin to manage the apartment building.

Renew service contracts

The first thing the HOA chairman must do is conclude agreements with all resource supply organizations. As a rule, this is a regional water utility, an energy company, a major repair and waste collection operator. Plus services for the elevator and intercom.

Take from the management company all the technical documentation for the house, as well as the keys to the utility rooms - attic, basement, boiler room.

Preparing tax documents yourself

After creating a partnership, it must be registered with the tax authority as a legal entity (more information about the legal form of the HOA is described here).

To carry out registration, the elected chairman must prepare the following documents and information, in accordance with clause 5 of Art. 136 Housing Code of the Russian Federation:

minutes of the meeting;
adopted charter;
data on persons who voted;
data on square meters owned by the persons who voted;
receipt of payment of state duty (4000 rubles).

How much does it cost to maintain an HOA?

The main responsibilities of the HOA are listed in the “Rules for the maintenance of common property of apartment buildings.” In short, HOAs must ensure that the entrances of the house and the yard are clean and that the utility systems are functioning.

The association sends residents receipts for utility services, which contain the line “Housing maintenance” - this money is used to form the revenue side of the organization’s budget. The main costs will be:

you will have to set aside funds for a repair fund, where expenses for materials and payments for contractors will come from;
pay for the labor of a mechanic and electrician who will maintain the systems in good condition;
pay for emergency service - either do it yourself, or spend money on a contract with a contractor;
pay the janitor and entrance cleaner;
pay for the work of an accountant and lawyer;
enter into an agreement with the post office to send receipts to residents or hire your own courier.

An HOA can hire people as staff - they usually look for employees at the regional employment center, on websites with resumes, or by posting a paper advertisement on information boards near the entrances. Another option is to enter into contract agreements with specialists who work in other management companies. For example, this is a common practice with electricians and plumbers who service several homes at once.

Salary levels are different everywhere; even in neighboring houses, wages can differ by 2–3 times. To calculate, study the financial report for your home from the management company - it should be posted on the GIS Housing and Communal Services website once a year. Or go to the management office and ask for a copy.

The HOA has many responsibilities - you need to thoroughly study the “Rules for Housing Maintenance” and related regulations and SanPiN. Try seeking help from qualified lawyers or the local state housing inspectorate for advice. Or attend courses on managing apartment buildings, which are offered on the basis of regional ministries of housing and communal services.

It’s also worth finding the chairmen of the HOA who manage a similar building in your city and asking them for help - find out how much money they put into the repair fund and how much for salaries.

To understand how much money a house is currently collecting for maintenance, take data from the total area of all premises in the management company and multiply by the housing maintenance tariff.

Then compare the total amount to your estimated HOA costs and decide if it makes sense to form an partnership.

Example

In a small old five-story building with three entrances, the total living area is 2.5 thousand square meters. m. Tariff for housing maintenance - 20 rubles. In total, the house collects about 50 thousand rubles per month. This money is not enough even for full-time employees, so it is better to either abandon the HOA or try to merge with neighboring houses.

The total area of the large modern 25-story residential complex is about 50 thousand square meters. m. If we take the tariff for the maintenance of such housing in the amount of 23 rubles, we get 1.15 million rubles. This kind of money will cover the costs even for a large staff; it makes sense to create an HOA.

If the house collects little money, and the HOA will require more expenses, there is no point in creating it.

Briefly - how to create an HOA

To abandon the management company and independently manage the house, residents must create an HOA. This is only possible if half of the owners support this idea.
Hold a general meeting of residents. At it you need to vote for termination of the contract with the current management company and agree to organize a partnership.
Select the board, chairman and audit commission - these people will manage the HOA.
Register the HOA with the tax office and notify the housing inspector about the start of work.
Accept all documents from the management company, enter into agreements with resource supply organizations.