Basic moments
A special financial account is issued for citizens' residential premises. Registration takes place for housing owned by right of ownership, as well as under a social tenancy agreement.
4 information that is indicated in the document:
- residential address,
- footage,
- number of rooms,
- information about amenities: gas pipeline, heating, sewerage, elevator, garbage chute, bathroom.
The number of registered citizens must be specified. After all, the size of payments for utility services depends on their number.
One invoice is issued for the entire apartment. If several owners own housing, then information about the owners and the size of their shares is specified.
By agreement of the owners, the main owner is determined. The application must be left at the passport office.
When adjustments are made, the basis must be indicated, as well as the employee’s signature and date.
Watch the video: How to connect a personal account in your personal account
The concept of a personal account
A personal account means a unique number assigned to the owner of a specific living space in the accounting department of the management organization.
The personal account contains the following information:
- area and parameters of living space;
- number of registered persons;
- availability of individual meters;
- Full name of the responsible payer;
- current accruals and arrears of payment.
Several personal accounts can be issued for one apartment, in which case each of them is tied to a specific living space and payer (for example, to a room in a communal apartment).
A citizen’s personal account is not transferred when moving to a new living space, therefore, when purchasing a new apartment, such an account must be reissued.
How to transfer a personal account
From the moment of purchasing a home, the responsibility to pay for housing and communal services passes to the new owner. This rule is established by Art. 153 Housing Code of the Russian Federation.
If utility payments come to the old owner, then you should contact the unit of the Unified Settlement Center.
4 documents to replace the owner:
- contract of sale,
- barter agreement,
- extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate,
- certificate of ownership.
When an apartment was purchased and the new owner paid utility bills for the previous owner, it is necessary to save these receipts.
What to do if they demand repayment of a debt?
The current legislation of the Russian Federation does not provide for the transfer of obligations to pay utility debts of the previous owner of the apartment to the new owner. If the agreement on the transfer of an apartment does not contain a clause on the payment of arrears on housing and utility bills by the new owner, then he is not obliged to pay the debts.
The obligation to pay the fee arises from the moment the ownership right arises . In this case, the demands of the management company or HOA to pay the debts of the previous owner are illegal.
When can utility payments be reissued to the new owner?
You can re-register after receiving an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate (formerly a certificate of ownership).
3 reasons for charging payments to the new owner:
- the date the parties signed the housing acceptance certificate,
- the date of drawing up the agreement confirming the sale of the apartment,
- date of registration of ownership, if there is no acceptance certificate and the date of preparation is not indicated in the contract.
Resolving the issue of utilities cannot be postponed after purchasing a home. Otherwise, service providers will quickly assess penalties.
Registration procedure
First, you should contact the ERCC and take an extract from the personal account about the debt to the old owner. Service providers don't stop charging. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with the issue immediately after receiving an extract from the Unified State Register.
Algorithm of actions:
- Contact the ERCC and leave an application to transfer the account to the new owner. From this moment on, all accruals will go to the new owner of the property.
- Request a personal account statement to be aware of your existing debt.
- Visit the management company and sign a service agreement.
- Renegotiate the agreement with the energy agency.
- Re-issue documents at the gas service.
- Specify the date of the last meter verification. If more than three years have passed since the date of the last verification, then you need to call a specialist. A check outside the plan will require a small expense, but the problem with the metering devices will be solved.
- If you want to leave a landline phone number, you should contact a division of OJSC Rostelecom. You can write a request to connect to the network if the telephone line is not connected.
- Connect the Internet. Before doing this, inquire about the conditions and choose a provider who suits you more than others.
After all these steps, re-registration will be made to the new owner.
Procedure for registering a personal account
The issue of housing is always particularly acute for everyone who wants to retain the maximum number of rights to the property in which they live. The same applies to your personal account. That is why it is issued for each person who lives in an apartment separately. In this case, any change in the situation on the real estate market will not be scary for any of the residents.
- You can find out how to re-register a personal account online, but the issue under consideration is being handled by the Department of Housing Policy and Housing Fund. To find out exactly where this organization is located in your region, you can collect data from the house management company.
- Go to the BTI to find out the living space plan, where the exact number of squares is indicated.
- Contact your bank to receive a copy of your personal account.
- Go to your employer to get a certificate from your place of work to clarify your permanent income. The unemployed category of the population is a clear loser here, because an unemployed person will most likely be denied a personal account.
- Having collected the papers, you must again go to the Office, where you can make a request and wait until it is processed in order to receive the corresponding document.
Required documents
To resolve the issue of how to properly redo bills for housing and communal services after purchasing an apartment, you need to collect documents.
6 main documents to complete:
- passport,
- documents on real estate rights,
- permissions from the owners,
- extracts from the house register,
- gift agreement,
- contract of sale.
Additional certificates include a BTI plan, cadastral documents, and a copy of the personal account. You can clarify the list of documents by contacting an authorized organization.
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.
How to split bills in an apartment
It happens that one apartment is owned by several owners. In such a situation, you can divide personal accounts. Thus, two accounts are opened for one property. Each owner receives separate receipts.
You can transfer accounts in person; you do not need to contact a representative for help. You can re-register documents in your name only if the housing is privatized.
3 consequences of the facial number section:
- separate accounts appear,
- completed certificates of ownership are issued,
- Utility bills are paid separately.
After division, the part of the housing for which he will pay is determined for each owner. It is convenient to divide the rent, then you can avoid disagreements about who should pay for what.
Everyone will pay only their own receipts. But the debt that arose before the division remains.
2 conditions for the section:
- there are isolated rooms,
- the footage of the premises corresponds to the share of the family member who wants to make a division.
There is a risk of being refused when one of the rooms is not suitable for permanent residence, here are the reasons for refusal:
- area less than two meters,
- doorway width is less than 70 cm,
- the windows “look” onto an enclosed small courtyard,
- less than 3 m is the distance from the windows to the wall of the building opposite.
The received refusal is appealed in court.
Is it possible to transfer utility debts?
It happens that the seller of real estate and the buyer agree that the buyer will pay all the debts of the previous owner. But in fact, debt transfer is allowed only with the approval of creditors.
The previous owner may not pay the bills if there is consent from the resource supplying institutions. When a home is managed by a homeowners association or management company, written approval must be obtained from the manager.
If the old owner is in debt, then service providers will not be enthusiastic about the change of ownership. After all, someone has to pay the bills. But these debts have nothing to do with the new owner. Therefore, it is necessary to contact the management institution with an application to renew the contracts.
It is necessary to indicate the date of purchase of the property and clarify that there is no debt from the date of purchase of the property. Certificates confirming the ownership of real estate are attached to the application.
If organizations continue to refuse re-registration, then all that remains is to appeal the illegal decision. Sometimes it is enough to warn about the intention to appeal. In some cases, it is necessary to send a statement to the prosecutor.
The complaint must be accompanied by documents on ownership, as well as the response received from the management company or HOA.
Evgeniy Belyaev, General Director of RADEX Management Company, answers:
To change the owner in the receipt for payment of housing and communal services, you need to notify about the change of owner either the management company, if accruals for payments for housing and communal services are made directly by the management company, or the cash settlement center, if accruals go through the EIRC. To do this, you need to come either to the Criminal Code or to the EIRTs with documents on the ownership of the apartment and notify that the owner of this apartment has changed. Here you must be given the necessary access to your personal account so that you can pay for services online. After notifying the employees of the management company or EIRTs, receipts should be sent to the name of the new owner.
Bottom line
When purchasing a home, you must re-issue a financial number. This operation is necessary so that you do not have to pay the debt for the previous owner. Management companies will not change anything on their own. Therefore, it is necessary to collect documents and apply.
If a refusal is received, you can appeal it through the court or the prosecutor's office.
Useful video: What to do if you bought an apartment with housing and communal services debts
The article was prepared by lawyer on family and civil issues Anton Nikolaevich Shcherbak
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Confusion about the rights and responsibilities of the previous and new management organizations
If the owners decide to change the management company, and the State Housing Authority delays making changes to the register, the previous management company formally still manages the house. And here difficulties arise for the residents of the house:
- Who should pay for housing and communal services?
- Who is responsible for cleaning the territory, repairs, and providing agreed services for the maintenance of common property?
- Where to go in case of an accident?
According to the law, until changes are made to the register of licenses, the previous management organization is responsible for all this, but in reality it may refuse to fulfill its obligations under the terminated management agreement. At the same time, the new MA essentially cannot do this, and if it does, it will do so at its own expense, because it has not yet acquired the right to issue bills for housing and communal services.
Hence, another problem that often arises in apartment buildings that are supposed to be transferred to the management of a new company, but the State Housing Property Authority has not yet formalized this - the appearance of double receipts for housing and communal services. Paying to the old or new management authority and how not to make a mistake, how not to lose money - these are questions that may arise for residents of apartment buildings during such a transition period.
