The problem of communal organizations has led to the fact that more and more houses are becoming cooperative and are leaving for self-service. Whether it is good or bad, it is only up to the residents of each house to decide, but it has become much easier to track where the rent goes and the money donated for repairs. This article will be devoted to the so-called non-profit organization HOA. This is an association of owners of apartments and non-residential premises in multi-storey buildings, which throw all their energy and finances into the improvement of the building in which their property is located. So, below will be discussed in more detail the responsibilities of the HOA, what it is and how to organize such an association.
Legality of HOA
If earlier the legislation somewhat limited the possibilities of various housing associations, then thanks to the changes introduced in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the scope of the HOA with respect to solving current housing problems has expanded significantly. And most importantly, according Art. 135 LCD joint management of owners within the scope of disposition of common property has become legal. Now you do not need to rely on utilities and wait like manna of heavenly repairs at the entrance. Residents can take care of all the problems of maintaining the house and independently plan repair work, costs and other organizational issues.
In accordance with article 136 LCD RF owners of residential and non-residential premises located in the same house can create only one partnership of homeowners. Such an organization may combine several adjacent multi-apartment buildings, which are located on adjacent land plots with common engineering networks and other infrastructure. Homeowners Association is a management company that is engaged in beautification, and the law does not prohibit combining several partnerships for joint management.
How to create a HOA?
First of all, it is necessary to determine the concept of HOA, what it is, and how to organize this community. The abbreviation itself stands for "partnership of homeowners." In principle, it is already clear from the full name that this is the governing body that took upon itself all the problems associated with maintaining the building in good condition. But how to create such a partnership to completely refuse the services of a zheka? It must be said right away that this is a laborious process, but quite justified. Creation must occur strictly in accordance with the law. At the same time, you need to understand that the HOA is a legal entity, and therefore it is necessary to draw up a charter, determine the chairman and members of the board, and only after that register.
Initiative group
It is clear that in order for the owners to decide to unite in a partnership, an initiator is needed. According to the law of activists, there must be at least 5 people. And so that they can correctly establish a partnership, they must either have experience in such a business, or have a legal or accounting education. As a rule, it is these activists who make up the HOA board. These are the people who will manage all the pressing problems and their elimination. The initiative group must notify all residents of their intentions and hold a meeting of apartment owners.
Meeting Notification Rules
First of all, activists should notify all owners of residential and non-residential premises that a meeting will be held.In this case, the notification should be delivered 10 days before the appointed date and delivered directly to the hands not registered in the apartment, namely to the owners against receipt. If there are several owners in the apartment, then an invitation should be handed to everyone, except for children under 18 years old.
The notification must indicate the reason for the fees. It must be noted that all owners must appear with passports and certificates of ownership.
When mailing notifications, it is imperative to keep receipts of postal services so that if necessary it can be proved that the meeting was held in the manner prescribed by law. If for any reason one of the homeowners is not able to attend the meeting, he can handwritten a letter of attorney for one of his neighbors (owners) -minded.
Meeting Rules
It is very important that the meeting discussed only those issues that were indicated in the invitation, namely: the relevance of the existence of the HOA and the reasons for its creation. The assembly procedure is clearly described in the LC RF article 146.
A vote must be taken so that everyone can express their will regarding the partnership being created. The voting rules are as follows:
- All owners need to give out ballots in which to indicate only two points "for" and "against" HOA. This is done in order to make it easier to count votes and pin all these documents to the protocol. If there are other issues in the ballots, then confusion may arise.
- After the majority of the owners voted “for”, it will immediately be necessary to elect a chairman and a board, as required by article 147 of the LC RF. They are elected for a specific term specified in the Charter of the organization. The board and chairman of the HOA is the governing body of the partnership. They should be elected from among the owners of the apartments of the house, which goes for self-service.
Related Issues
Here, at the meeting, it is imperative that all those gathered must agree on the Charter of the partnership and notarize it. In order to avoid any suspicions and questions afterwards, it is better to invite a notary directly to the meeting in order to legalize this document on the spot immediately after its acceptance by the public.
The final stage of the meeting is to draw up a protocol where all the issues discussed, present and voting results regarding the problems of HOA are introduced. This action must be carried out every time a general meeting is convened. The protocol must be notarized.
Counting rules and voting nuances
Voting can be considered valid if more than half of those present participated in it. It is very important to note here that the owner who votes for the creation of the partnership does not undertake to enter into it. A HOA member is a person who owns an apartment or non-residential premises, who, with his own hand, wrote an application for joining a partnership. Those owners who voted “against” (with the vote taken) are hereinafter obliged to comply with the generally accepted rules of the partnership, since the majority decided to create a HOA. This means that all those who disagree will have to live by the rules of the partnership.
Registration of HOA
HOA is a legal entity, which means it must be registered accordingly, have its own current account and have all the necessary documents. In order to legitimize the partnership, the chairman must apply to the tax office, taking with him a passport, a notarized minutes of the meeting, a charter, and write there statements according to the model. You will also need to pay a state fee for the organization’s services in the amount of 4000 rubles.
It’s good if there is a person on the board who has experience as an accountant, since after registering a partnership in a tax it will be necessary to open an HOA account in the bank and transfer the house to his balance sheet. The transfer must be carried out in the presence of the commission of the city administration. The creation of the account must be notified by the City Administration.
HOA rights
On the shoulders of the board are assigned certain duties and rights, which are described in article 137 LCD RF.
Based on this article, the HOA has the right:
- conclude agreements with contractors on the provision of services and works related to repairs and home improvement;
- to determine cost estimate for a year for the maintenance of the general property of the partnership, the costs of major repairs, necessary reconstruction and other purposes;
- set the size of payments and one-time contributions based on the estimates made in accordance with the share of the common property of each owner individually;
- use credit funds of banks for improvement in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation;
- sell or lease the partnership’s common property;
- transfer funds to persons performing services related to landscaping and repairs.
If this does not contradict the law, then the board may provide the property of the HOA for use. What does it mean? For example, it may be land given for development for housing or household construction. This also includes superstructures and restructures of part of the common property.
HOA Responsibilities
The obligation of the HOA is that the partnership must ensure the proper sanitary and technical condition of housing construction. At the same time, all owners are obliged to make established contributions and pay for all work related to repairs and maintenance. The HOA is obliged in any transactions with third parties to act exclusively in the interests of the owners of the premises included in the partnership.
Membership in HOA
Is it worth joining a partnership? The question, of course, is interesting and does not have a clear answer. But here you need to understand what gives membership in the HOA. One way or another, but with a positive decision in favor of creating an HOA, all owners will end up in the same boat, and even opponents will have to play according to generally accepted rules. This is where the fun begins. If you join the HOA, the owner will have the right to vote, which means that his opinion will be taken into account when deciding various issues regarding the maintenance of the house in which the apartment is located. So, for example, if a significant land plot adjoins the house, then at the general meeting the question of its use may arise and then everyone will be able to speak out exactly what he sees near the house: a playground, for example, or a parking lot for cars. So, if you think logically, then since the HOA has taken place, then membership in the partnership will not be superfluous.
HOA or ZHEK
As practice shows, few of the residents remained dissatisfied after the creation of a partnership, which itself manages money and solves pressing problems regarding the maintenance and improvement of the house. HOA is a non-profit organization that has no other income than the contributions and payments of owners. But it is here that people can be sure that the money that they pay will go to the improvement of the very house in which their apartment is located. With the zhek, the situation is somewhat different. But probably you should not talk about what everyone already knows about the country's communal system.
In addition to all the advantages provided by the HOA, the state opens up new opportunities for the partnership. According to Section 153 LCD RF partnership can initiate the construction of additional structures and premises for general use, including for generating income.For example, take permission and attach a cafe or shop to the house building.
What to do with defaulters?
What to do if one of the owners ignores the mandatory contributions and does not participate in the payment of repairs, motivating that he did not agree to serve the HOA? That this disagreement does not give any right not to pay is already clear, but here is what to do to the board in this situation? The only way out of the situation is through court enforcement. The matter, of course, is not very pleasant and will take time; the executive body, by decision of the court, will withhold the necessary amount from the negligent payer (naturally, as a percentage of the salary).
If the house, which switched to self-service, has non-privatized apartments, then it should be understood that their part of the contributions must be paid by the municipal authorities, since they are the owners. If no contributions for these apartments are received to the HOA, then they can also be claimed through the court.
