The issue of splitting an apartment bill, as a rule, arises when one of the residents refuses to pay for utilities. In this case, the division of accounts really helps to solve the problem. But how to do this if the apartment is owned by the local administration? Is it possible to split a personal account in a municipal apartment? How to do this and who better to address this problem?
Section of the account in terms of legislation
If the apartment is in a municipal lease, then from the point of view of legislation there is only one way out - the conclusion of new contracts. It is worth noting that separation of a financially personal account in a municipal apartment can be requested by any citizen who has reached the age of majority and is recognized as legally competent, and is also registered in a specific housing area.
The current LCD of the Russian Federation, which has been operating since 2005, does not permit or prohibit such actions. That is why utility providers may opt out of sharing.
Now there are two opinions on how to divide the personal account in a municipal apartment. The law accepts two points of view:
- account split is not possible;
- Account division can be done as before (with the old RF LCD).
It would seem that the Supreme Court will finally help to resolve this situation, but this is not entirely true. Judges have the right to refuse such claims, as this is prescribed by law.
What do lawyers say?
Some experienced lawyers, after the adoption of the new RF LC, took the side of citizens who are trying to split the bills for an apartment. Basically, they began to refer to the contradiction of some articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, although practice proves that such arguments are ineffective in such proceedings.
So, is it possible to divide a financially personal account into municipal housing?
It really does not make sense to divide the bill if relatives live in the municipal apartment. Such claims, as a rule, are not satisfied. But if two former spouses live on the same living space or one of the children creates his own family, then in this case, the renegotiation of lease agreements 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 into an apartment, often there is a confusion of existing concepts:
- In a municipal apartment, it is only possible to renew employment contracts.
- The court has no right to divide personal accounts. He can only oblige the management company or HOA to renegotiate with the owners of the contract.
- Splitting an account does not cancel existing debts for an apartment. Moreover, when renegotiating employment contracts, the debt will be divided equally.
- If the court upheld the requirement to renegotiate hiring agreements and split accounts, the communal apartment will be automatically divided, however, many registered residents forget about other payments, for example, on maintenance and overhaul fees. Such lines in the receipt must also be divided, but already through the Criminal Code, enclosing a court decision.
- A court decision depends on many factors, right down to where the lawsuit is being considered. Therefore, lawyers warn that it is almost impossible to predict the outcome of a case.
Is there a way out of the situation?
And yet, how to split bills in a municipal apartment? There are ways. The easiest way to do this is when two families are in the same room.
So, to solve the problem, there are two options:
- The easiest way is to privatize the provided living space, and after that to divide the accounts. This will help to avoid lengthy litigation and get an apartment in the property.
- If the previous option does not suit the tenants, then one of them may contact the local Unified Settlement Center with a request to split the accounts. It is advisable that he have notarized papers in his hands 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 give a full guarantee that the accounts will be divided.
Writing a statement to the court
Before applying to the court with a request to split a personal account in a municipal apartment, you must familiarize yourself with the rules for writing the corresponding application.
So, any responsible tenant, as well as any other registered resident of this housing, who for some reason has separated from the family, can submit such an application. It is necessary to submit an application to the office. The site is worth choosing one that relates directly to the disputed apartment. Also, the office must provide a check on the payment of state duties.
For the correct writing of the application, you can refer to the 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 statement, you can proceed to the collection of documents that will be needed during the hearing.
Collection of necessary documents
So, after the application has already been submitted to the employee of the office of the judicial department, you can proceed to the collection of documents that are useful for the separation of personal accounts. The conditions and procedure are established by applicable law.
For the hearing you must provide the following papers:
- Original extract from the house book. You can get it at the management company or from the chairman of the HOA.
- The copied personal account.
- Notarized copies of all documents that could prove that two separate families live on the disputed living space. This can be a certificate of divorce of spouses, a certificate of marriage of children and other documents. It is these papers that play a key role in making a decision.
- Help from the BTI.
- A receipt on payment of the fee and a statement (left in the office).
The list of documents is relatively small and it is not at all difficult to collect it. As a result, residents can solve a number of controversial issues.
Responsibility for non-payment of utilities
It is worth noting that the separation of the personal account in a municipal apartment is sometimes the only adequate way out. Indeed, when one tenant does not pay for the apartment, a debt is formed, because of which all citizens living in the apartment may suffer.
So, if utility bills are issued regularly, and you do not have to pay for them for more than three months, then the provider can sue the tenants.
In this situation, there is one subtlety. If non-payers live in a municipal apartment, then the court, when considering the case of non-payment of KU, may decide to evict citizens from hired housing. An obstacle to such a decision can only be a difficult life situation. And vice versa, the court applies with particular severity to tenants who do not pay bills on KU and lead an immoral lifestyle.
Things are much simpler if housing is already privatized. No court has the right to evict owners. The only thing a judge can do is make a decision on the seizure of existing property and bank accounts, including those that receive wages. This argument once again proves that the privatization of property is necessary and important for all citizens.
Other features
Are there any subtleties when splitting a personal account in a municipal apartment? There are no features. That is, it does not matter at all what area people will share.
For example, the ex-husband and wife decided to divide two-room housing. Everything is clear here. Each person in the room and the score is half.
And 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 separation of accounts is based on the area of the room, and not on the number of rooms.
Dividing a personal account in practice
A situation in which the separation of the personal account in the municipal apartment is necessary may occur in each house. Someone spends a lot of water, and someone - a light. Especially a lot of controversy arises in the event of loss of work by one of the family members. In such a situation, one tenant takes care of all payments. And if the apartment is very large, then receipts are not issued for a small amount.
The highest percentage of positive decisions when splitting accounts through the court is noted in large cities of the Russian Federation, for example, Moscow and St. Petersburg. There, judges almost always satisfy the requirements, but provided that really strangers live in the municipal apartments.
However, in other, smaller cities, claims are almost always rejected. This is due to an increase in the total debt on municipal housing, which is disadvantageous to local administrations.
For example, a woman who is a bona fide tenant divorced her unemployed husband. She regularly paid for the apartment, but decided to split the bills. Most likely, the lawsuit will be denied to her, because she regularly paid for the entire living space before going to court, and after the separation of accounts, the debt will accumulate according to her husband’s receipt, since he does not have the opportunity to pay for utility bills.
In such situations, it is recommended to contact a lawyer who knows the weaknesses of the issue and helps with the conduct of the case.