How to divide a personal account in a non-privatized apartment and what difficulties may arise in this case

Separating personal accounts has become a popular feature for many citizens. The need to split the bill mainly arises when one of the residents refuses to pay utility bills.

Separate accounts in this case help solve this problem. However, how to split the bill in a municipal apartment? Is it possible to divide personal accounts if the housing is owned by the local administration?

In 2004, information that was related to the division of a personal account was removed from the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, dividing the receipt into several parts became impossible. However, residents also have the right to receive separate payment documents.

Section of the account from the point of view of legislation

If the apartment is in municipal rental, then from the point of view of legislation there is only one way out - the conclusion of new contracts. It is worth noting that the division of a financial personal account in a municipal apartment can be requested by any citizen who has reached the age of majority and is recognized as legally capable, and is also registered in a specific living space.

The current Housing Code of the Russian Federation, which has been in force since 2005, does not allow or prohibit such actions. This is why utility providers may refuse to share.

Now there are two opinions regarding how to divide a personal account in a municipal apartment. The law accepts two points of view:

account splitting is not possible;
The division of the account can be done as before (under the old housing code of the Russian Federation).

It would seem that the Supreme Court will help to finally resolve this situation, but this is not entirely true. Judges have the right to refuse such claims, as this is provided for by law.

What do the lawyers say?

After the adoption of the new Housing Code of the Russian Federation, some experienced lawyers sided with citizens who are trying to split the bills for an apartment. Basically, they began to refer to the contradiction with certain articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, although practice proves that such arguments are ineffective in such proceedings.

So, is it possible to financially divide a personal account in municipal housing?

There really is no point in splitting the bill if relatives live in a municipal apartment. Such claims, as a rule, are not satisfied. But if two former spouses live in the same living space or one of the children starts his own family, then renewing the rental agreement makes sense.

Confusion of concepts

When ordinary citizens who do not have a legal education are faced with the question of how to divide personal accounts for an apartment, a confusion of existing concepts often arises:

In a municipal apartment, only re-conclusion of tenancy agreements is possible.
The court does not have the right to divide personal accounts. He can only oblige the management company or HOA to re-enter the agreement with the owners.
Splitting the bill does not cancel existing rent debts. Moreover, when renewing lease agreements, the debt will be divided equally.
If the court satisfied the requirement to renew the lease agreements and split the bills, then the communal apartment will automatically be divided, but many registered residents forget about other payments, for example, contributions for current and major repairs. Such lines in the receipt also need to be divided, but through the Criminal Code, attaching a court decision.
The court's decision depends on many factors, including the area in which the claim is being heard. Therefore, lawyers warn that it is almost impossible to predict the outcome of the case.

Legal assistance in dividing a municipal apartment

When you contact a law firm, you will be provided with comprehensive qualified support; a lawyer will help you go through all stages of the process in court:

At the first stage, the lawyer will provide detailed advice on all issues regarding the exchange of a municipal apartment, and will help evaluate and analyze the client’s documentation. The client will be required to make an advance payment. The lawyer will then tell you what documents need to be collected for the trial;
At the second stage, a statement of claim is drawn up and the process is conducted. It is necessary to prepare the documents required by the court in order to make a decision faster. The lawyer controls the delivery of documentation to the client. The court makes a decision. If necessary, it can be appealed;
at the third stage, an act of services is signed with the lawyer, and the court decision is delivered to the client.

There must be at least two options for exchange.
The statement of claim is often considered for no more than three months. How long the procedure will take depends on various factors. In order for the court to make a decision as quickly as possible, the application must be literate and indicate all exchange options. The options take into account the rights of citizens. After the court decision is in your hands, the rental agreement is terminated and a new one is concluded. The documentation is signed within 10 days. A lawyer knows about these nuances, so it is better to turn to him for help.

Is there a way out of the situation?

And yet, how to divide bills in a municipal apartment? There are ways. The easiest way to do this is when there are two families in the same room.

So, there are two options to solve the problem:

The easiest way is to privatize the provided living space, and only then split the bills. This will help you avoid lengthy proceedings and get ownership of the apartment.
If the previous option does not suit the residents, then one of them can contact the local Unified Settlement Center with a request to split the bills. It is advisable that he has in his hands notarized papers from all citizens registered in the apartment that they agree with this decision. If the employees of the settlement center refused, then it makes sense to go to court, although, as mentioned above, this option does not provide a complete guarantee that the accounts will be divided.

How to divide a municipal apartment between relatives

Since the municipal apartment belongs not to the residents, but to the state, it is not possible to divide it in the same way as your own real estate. Therefore, only two options remain: exchange for another municipal apartment or privatization.

Exchange

A practically unrealistic option, although in theory it is possible. If for some reason residents can no longer or do not want to live together in one municipal apartment, they can try to divide it into two smaller ones. To do this, you must first discuss this issue with each other so that no one has disagreements. If agreements are reached, the next step is to find suitable housing. In theory, you can exchange one two-room municipal apartment for two one-room apartments, but in practice, finding suitable housing is almost impossible. The queue for use is so long that any such property, as soon as it is vacated, is immediately transferred to new residents. Thus, if you are very lucky, you can make an exchange. But most often we have to move to plan B - privatization.

Example : There is a family with adult children who lives in a municipal apartment. Children do not want to live with their parents and ask to exchange their two-room home for two one-room ones. They can find two suitable apartments owned by the state and send an application to the municipality, after which some leases are terminated, while others are signed and come into force. Residents can move to new housing.

Privatization

If we consider the process of dividing a municipal apartment between relatives, then privatization is perhaps the only truly feasible option. The point is to privatize real estate by essentially buying it from the state for private use and then dividing it on a general basis. But the problem is that not all residents are always ready to go for privatization. It is logical that all interested parties should have a certain amount that will need to be given to the state, without which privatization will not happen. And it is also logical that if one of the parties nevertheless pays the full cost, then it will claim the entire property and is unlikely to want to share. And in such a situation, a trial or an agreement may be required.

Example : Residents of a municipal apartment agreed to privatize real estate. Each of them contributed an equal amount, which was used to register the apartment as shared ownership. Then, according to the same agreement, they sell the property and divide the proceeds among themselves. Alternatively, one party buys out their share from the other and becomes the full owner of the former municipal apartment.

Writing an application to the court

Before going to court with a request to divide a personal account in a municipal apartment, you need to familiarize yourself with the rules for writing a corresponding application.

So, any responsible tenant, as well as any other registered resident of this living space who, for some reason, has separated from the family, can submit such an application. An application must be submitted to the office. It is worth choosing the site that relates directly to the disputed apartment. You must also provide the office with a receipt confirming payment of the state fee.

To correctly write an application, you can refer to existing articles 131 and 132 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It details all the requirements for the document, as well as what needs to be indicated in the application.

After writing the application, you can proceed to collecting documents that will be needed during the hearing.

Division through court

The division of municipal housing in court makes sense only if the residents of the disputed apartment could not find common ground in deciding the feasibility of its privatization.

Procedure

In order to resolve the issue of division of residential real estate owned by municipal authorities, it is necessary to go through the following procedure in court.

No.	Algorithm of actions
1	Try to resolve the issue with the person who does not want to transfer the housing to privatized status, and also sign the corresponding refusal, in a contractual manner. In this case, the most preferable option for the court is for the court to present its position in writing.
2	Prepare a statement of claim demanding to force the defendant to agree to the privatization process or to sign an official refusal to carry out such a procedure.
3	Pay the state fee
4	File a claim with all necessary attachments to the judicial authorities
5	Take part in the process of consideration of the claim, upon completion of which receive an appropriate court decision
6	Implement all the requirements specified in the specified decision

Statement of claim

The specified document must be drawn up in accordance with all the rules established by Article 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. The fundamental arguments that must be contained in a statement of claim of this nature are the reasons for the privatization of the disputed apartment, as well as the circumstances that impede the implementation of this procedure (in this case, the actions of the defendant).

Any arguments in the claim must be supported both by documents and by the norms of current legislation.

Sample statement of claim

The claim must be drawn up taking into account the requirements of Art. 131-132 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. Depending on the circumstances of each case, its form will differ. But most often, the main method of dividing a municipal apartment between relatives is privatization, and therefore the parties need to file a claim for recognition of the right to privatization for further division of the municipal apartment.

The claim must also indicate:

Name of the judicial authority and its address.
Full names of the parties, their addresses.
Description of the circumstances of receiving an apartment from the municipality.
Circumstances of the dispute between relatives.
Arguments in your favor, an indication of the obstacles that impede the peaceful resolution of the dispute.
Evidence and practice.
Demand to the court, date, signature.

The sample below can be used to draw up a claim yourself. But remember that only an experienced lawyer can easily draw up the application you need.

Documentation

Along with the statement of claim, additional materials provided for in Art. 132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, namely:

copies of personal identification documents of all participants in the process;
confirmation of payment of state duty;
copies of the statement of claim for all parties to the case;
evidence confirming the intention to resolve the dispute pre-trial;
title documents for the disputed real estate;
technical documents for housing, information about redevelopment, area, composition of components;
other documents that are essential for a full and comprehensive consideration of the court case.

Price

According to paragraphs. 3 clause 1 article 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the person filing the claim is responsible for paying the state fee, which is 300 rubles. In addition, the plaintiff may incur additional costs for paying for the services of a representative, but this case is individual for each case under consideration.

Separately, the review of the RF Supreme Court on privatization disputes states that claims in this category of cases are not subject to assessment and the value of real estate. subject to privatization, evaluation is not required to file a claim.

Settlement agreement

If during the trial the parties came to an agreement regarding the subject of the dispute, then the latter may, in accordance with Article 173 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, enter into a settlement agreement.

Important! A ruling to terminate proceedings in connection with a settlement agreement, unlike an ordinary court decision, is practically impossible to appeal. In this regard, the petition for concluding a settlement agreement must contain all the conditions that meet the initial requirements of the plaintiff, otherwise the best option will be to consider the process in the general manner.

Collection of necessary documents

So, after the application has already been submitted to the employee of the court office, you can begin collecting documents that will be useful for separating personal accounts. The conditions and procedure are established by current legislation.

The following documents must be provided for the hearing:

Original extract from the house register. You can get it from the management company or from the chairman of the HOA.
Copied personal account.
Notarized copies of all documents that could prove that two separate families live on the disputed living space. This may be a divorce certificate of spouses, a marriage certificate for children and other documents. It is these papers that play a key role in making a decision.
Certificate from the BTI.
Receipt for payment of the fee and application (to be left in the office).

The list of documents is relatively small and it is not at all difficult to collect. As a result, residents can resolve a number of controversial issues.

Documents for the personal account section

To open a trial, you will need to provide the necessary documentation package:

an extract from the residents' register taken from the housing and communal services department;
the right to establish certificates of residence in a social facility;
factual materials proving the fact: two different families pay a single receipt. This circumstance is contrary to the law, since it leads to disputes about payment for accommodation;
extract from the technical passport of the BTI;
payment confirmation of payment of the duty.

The responsible tenant has the right to file a claim and state the reason for entering into new agreements. A similar right is granted to other residents who are registered in the area. In addition to the required documents, the court may require additional justification for the position of the participants in the consideration. Having received a negative decision, the plaintiff has the right to appeal to a higher court.

When filing an appeal against the primary procedure, you are required to provide facts about the judge's inappropriate findings. Otherwise, the appeal will not be accepted for consideration. If we are talking about the interests of a minor, then it is possible to involve a representative of the guardianship authority in the process. Notification of interested parties (defendant and legal owner) must be made within the established time frame. If procedural requirements are violated, the defendant has the right to protest and appeal the claims before trial.

Responsibility for non-payment of housing and communal services

It is worth noting that dividing a personal account in a municipal apartment is sometimes the only adequate solution. After all, when one tenant does not pay rent, a debt arises, which can cause all the citizens living in the apartment to suffer.

So, if receipts for utility services are issued regularly, and they are not paid for for more than three months, then the supplier can sue the residents.

There is one subtlety in this situation. If defaulters live in a municipal apartment, then the court, when considering a case of non-payment of the utility bill, may decide to evict citizens from rental housing. The only obstacle to making such a decision can be a difficult life situation. Conversely, the court treats tenants who do not pay their bills and lead an immoral lifestyle with particular severity.

Things are much simpler if the housing has already been privatized. No court has the right to evict owners. The only thing a judge can do is to make a decision to seize existing property and bank accounts, including those into which wages are received. This argument once again proves that property privatization is necessary and important for all citizens.

What does the court decide?

When considering such cases, it determines in what order and amount each party will compensate for the payment of utilities and maintenance of living quarters. As a rule, these indicators are calculated depending on what share of the property (living area, utility rooms, etc.) falls on each of the interested parties.

This is important to know: How to find out whether a service apartment or a municipal one

The adoption of such a court decision is possible taking into account all possible existing mutual agreements between persons living “in the same territory” on determining the procedure for using living space and the area of utility rooms.

After a court decision is made, the relevant settlement authority is obliged to conclude an agreement with each of the interested parties and issue separate payment documents.

Important: a former family member of a municipal housing tenant does not have the right to demand the conclusion of a separate social rental agreement from the landlord.

Other Features

Are there any subtleties when dividing a personal account in a municipal apartment? There are no special features. That is, it does not matter at all what area people will share.

For example, an ex-husband and wife decided to share a two-room apartment. Everything is clear here. Each person gets a room and the bill is half.

What if we are talking about a one-room apartment? The division is carried out in the same way as in the “kopeck piece”. That is, the division of bills occurs based on the area of the premises, and not on the number of rooms.

Division of a personal account in a municipal apartment according to the law

Citizens living under a social contract in housing, the legal owner of which is the settlement administration, are subject to certain restrictions. Registered residents who are adults and have legal capacity may apply for a separate payment receipt. It will be necessary to terminate the existing social contract and enter into two separate agreements with the parties to the dispute. The latest edition of the RF Housing Code (2005) does not address this issue, referring it to the competence of the state owner.

Residents registered in a municipal apartment cannot resolve the situation on their own. In any case, coordination with the Housing Committee of the administration will be required. A typical situation: ex-spouses continue to live in a social facility after a divorce. People’s desire for independence is understandable, but the division of communal responsibilities does not always receive consent; the municipality is reluctant to split up responsibility and renegotiate rental agreements.

If it is not possible to conclude independent rental agreements, a standard application for the division of utility responsibilities is sent to the Housing Department of the Administration. According to Art. 69 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, all residents bear equal responsibility for utility bills. Often registered citizens do not live at the place of registration; the rest have to pay for their living space in full. The family may break up or families of two generations of relatives who want to pay separately may form.

The application shall contain the following information:

the applicant’s role in paying utility bills;
individual share payment amount;
the amount of mandatory contributions for major repairs.

If payments are made directly to service provider companies, then new relationships with them will need to be agreed upon. Since permission from the administration is required, two opposite situations may arise as a result of the application:

division is prohibited with the wording of inexpediency;
the procedure is permitted, according to the former provisions of the RF Housing Code.

In case of an unmotivated refusal, the interested person has the right to go to court to resolve the conflict with the administration. The court may not accept the case if it concerns related disputes. Having become strangers, former spouses have a greater chance of having the claim accepted for consideration. The claim will be the renegotiation of independent contracts for social housing.

Dividing a personal account in practice

A situation in which it is necessary to separate a personal account in a municipal apartment can arise in every house. Some people waste a lot of water, while others waste a lot of light. Especially many disputes arise in the event of the loss of a job by one of the family members. In such a situation, all payments are borne by one tenant. And if the apartment is very large, then the receipts are not issued for a small amount.

The highest percentage of positive decisions when dividing accounts through the court is observed in large cities of the Russian Federation, for example, Moscow and St. Petersburg. There, judges almost always satisfy the requirements, but on the condition that the municipal apartments are actually inhabited by strangers.

However, in other, smaller cities, claims are almost always rejected. This is due to an increase in the total debt for municipal housing, which is disadvantageous for local administrations.

For example, a woman who is a bona fide tenant divorced her unemployed husband. She regularly paid the rent, but decided to split the bills. Most likely, her claim will be denied, because before going to court she regularly paid for the entire living space, and after the separation of accounts, the debt on her husband’s receipt will accumulate, since he is not able to pay for utilities.

In such situations, it is recommended to contact a lawyer who knows the weak sides of the issue and will help with the case.

The most common reasons for applications for the division of personal accounts in a municipal apartment

There can be many reasons for dividing personal accounts.

Let's list some:

Cohabitation of several families in an apartment.
Living in municipal housing for citizens who do not have family ties.
Divorce in which citizens continue to live together in an apartment.
Conflict between apartment residents.

Often, the division of personal accounts is necessary because one of the residents refuses to pay utility bills.

Let's give an example : a family lives in an apartment under a social tenancy agreement - father, mother and child. The father refuses to support his family, but uses housing and communal services and lives in an apartment.

The mother files for divorce, then divides the personal accounts so that the ex-husband is forced to pay for utilities in the same amount as she pays for them. In fact, after the division, she will also pay for utilities, but will not be responsible for the debts of her ex-spouse.

Also, the reason for the division may be profit . Sometimes they try to split the bills before relocating emergency houses in order to obtain several premises. If in a privatized apartment this procedure is carried out by issuing separate payment documents or accounting cards, then problems most often arise on municipal square meters. Citizens are forced to resort to this method.