Apartment with debts. How to check out to another accommodation?

How to check out with rent arrears?

So, is it possible to check out of an apartment with debts? To begin with, it is worth noting that the accounting of apartment debts for housing and communal services is carried out not by the migration service, but by the housing organization. But the practice is that most citizens turn specifically to the housing organization, which is authorized by law to accept applications for registration and discharge from the relevant residents. However, housing organization employees do not discharge citizens.

Contacting the housing organization regarding this issue is not mandatory. Thus, any citizen can directly contact the relevant department of internal affairs with an application or request an extract through the state portal for providing services to the population.

The procedure for discharge through the passport office is as follows:

you need to go to the relevant department of internal affairs (OVD) with your passport;
you must fill out the application form in the prescribed form and submit it to the employee;
within three days, and usually immediately, an employee of the passport office will put a note on the extract in the passport and enter the relevant information into the registration data.

The procedure itself is simple, but there are certain difficulties associated with the work of the department itself. So, he accepts registration questions on certain days and it is not a fact that on this day it will be possible to get through the live queue. Usually passport offices are overly busy and sometimes submitting a simple application can be difficult.

For this reason, it is recommended to register online. This can be done through any government services terminal, which are usually located in bank branches.

If you do not want to stand in line, then it is enough to submit an electronic application for an extract through the Internet portal of public services. To do this, you will need a scanned copy of your passport and an authenticated account on the portal.

The procedure is as follows:

in the search column you need to enter the name of the corresponding service;
after the field for submitting an application opens, you only need to indicate the reason for the statement, because the rest of the information for identified users is filled in automatically;
it is necessary to indicate the code of the department that should consider the application;
upload a scan of your passport.

Such applications are reviewed within a day. After the answer arrives, you can go to the passport office with the original passport to get an extract stamp out of turn.

It is highly discouraged to contact a housing organization, as it is interested in ensuring that residents pay off their debts as quickly as possible. For this reason, they can withhold the application themselves without transferring it to the passport office, thereby preventing them from checking out of the apartment with a debt.

Even if you had to contact the housing office, if such difficulties arise, it is worth reminding the relevant employee that deliberately delaying the discharge will be considered as arbitrariness. After all, the law establishes a separate procedure for collecting debts for housing and communal services, which is not related to the presence or absence of registration.

Registration

Then all that remains is to register in the apartment at the new address. To do this, you must submit the following documents to the passport office:

passports of the apartment owner and the registered person;
birth certificate in order to register the child in the apartment;
title documents for housing;
certificate of departure from the previous apartment;
statement from the owner of the residential premises, in which he agrees to registration (for privatized apartments);
consent to registration from the Property Management Department (for municipal housing).

To the question of whether it is possible to register a person if there is a utility debt, there is only one answer. No debts for housing and communal services can prevent registration. The country has a passport regime, so if problems arise, you need to contact the prosecutor or the Federal Migration Service.

There are certain legislative nuances when the question of whether it is possible to register debts for utility expenses becomes unsolvable. There are quite few reasons for a negative decision, but they still exist. True, any of them is subject to appeal in the courts. Registration in a new home and rent arrears are contradictory concepts that can be coordinated with various services.

We invite you to read: How to sell a share in an apartment without the consent of the other owner 2019

You can register for housing with unpaid debts on the basis of Article 6 of the Federal Law “On the right of citizens of the Russian Federation to freedom of movement, choice of place of stay, and residence within the Russian Federation.” It clearly states that everyone can register wherever they wish.

What will happen to the debts

Housing and communal services debts will not disappear on their own after discharge. Only the debtor can disappear. Housing legislation quite precisely establishes the circle of persons who have an obligation to make payments for housing and communal services, which includes the former tenant.

Thus, these include the following subjects:

Persons living in the corresponding apartment under a social tenancy agreement. The obligation to pay arises at the moment of conclusion of such a contract and ends at the moment of termination.
When providing persons with housing from a special fund by agreement. Here the obligation is valid for the entire period of validity of such an agreement.
Tenants of housing in public funds or in private law relationships. Here, the existence of an obligation depends on the terms of the contract, but if nothing is specified in the contract on this matter, then the obligation is considered to arise from the moment of its conclusion.
A participant in a cooperative organization for the construction and maintenance of housing from the moment of its acceptance into the membership. In this case, the obligation arises directly from the date specified in the relevant order of the governing body or official. In exceptional cases, such an obligation may arise at the time of immediate move-in of persons into the relevant apartment.
The owner of the apartment from the moment when the corresponding agreement was concluded on the transfer of this housing into his ownership and other grounds for the emergence of ownership rights.
For persons receiving apartments from the developer, the obligation to pay housing and communal services arises after the official transfer of housing. This moment is recorded in the acceptance certificate, which is possible only after the issuance of permission from the authorized body to put the relevant building into operation.
If, upon completion of construction work, some apartments were not transferred to the residents or the corresponding acceptance certificate was not drawn up, then the obligation to pay housing and communal services is assigned to the developer himself. In most cases, the developer himself continues to perform the functions of a housing organization, so no problems arise.

Meanwhile, the law establishes the obligation to pay housing and communal services on time and in full. The payment time is established by the relevant agreement between residents and the housing organization. Typically, payments for housing and communal services must be paid no later than the 5th day of the month following the reporting month.

But what happens if the person is discharged, but the debts remain?

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Cases of eviction from an apartment for non-payment of utilities

The debt for an apartment is classified by law as indisputable. That is, a person cannot object to such a debt. The housing organization simply submits an application for an order to the relevant judicial authority, after which the debt will be collected through bailiffs.

When considering this issue in court, the participation of the debtor himself is not necessary. But if the debtor does not agree with the amount of the debt or with the accrual of certain payments for housing and communal services in general, then there is a way to challenge the order.

Litigation is always difficult. For this reason, the housing organization tries not to bring the case to court, but simply put pressure on the residents at the time of discharge by refusing, withholding the application, and so on.

However, the law recognizes such actions as arbitrariness, since the above-mentioned order for the collection of these debts is provided. Therefore, you can safely file a complaint with the police and other supervisory authorities regarding such actions of the housing organization.

Obligation to pay for housing

You can easily check out of an apartment if a person is not the owner of the property.
But when the owner has claims against him for debts for the utility bill, if the personal accounts are divided, then this is a problematic situation. It can be resolved in court by filing a claim for joint and several liability against the defaulter. In pre-trial settlement of the conflict that has arisen, a ban is imposed on the debtors, after which they will not be able to leave the apartment with a debt for utilities. Things are more complicated with municipal apartments; here the housing office can claim arrears using its own methods. When registering people who are not related to the tenants in a municipal apartment, you must take written consent from the Property Management Department. When there are debts, getting it is problematic. It is necessary to appeal a negative decision in the courts if the area of the living space allows one more person to register in the apartment.

The obligation to pay for housing and utilities is established by Article 153 of the Civil Code and appears from the moment a person acquires property rights.

In addition to the owner, it also appears to employers or tenants after they enter into an agreement. Finally, it also occurs among members of a housing cooperative after they are provided with premises.

Payments for housing and communal services are made in three main areas:

for the maintenance of the building - that is, the maintenance and ongoing repairs of common property, management of an apartment building, and so on;
for utilities - water supply and sanitation, heating, electricity and gas;
for major repairs.

Consumers may be given benefits - in these cases, the size of the payment will be reduced by the amount of the benefit, or compensation of expenses may be provided, a subsidy for the payment of such expenses - this applies primarily to single people or pensioners who are in families only of non-working citizens, who can be compensated from 50 up to 100% payment.

The amount of payment for house maintenance is set separately for each apartment building, based on the list of services and works approved by the owners of the housing in it. There is a minimum list (approved by government decree No. 290), from which one must proceed when creating a list for each house. It must contain all the minimum services and may provide additional ones.

The amount of payment for utilities is set by organizations providing these services, according to tariffs, when setting which it is necessary to focus on the laws of Russia.

The capital repair contribution also has a statutory minimum amount required to ensure sufficient repairs are carried out to meet safety requirements. Also, according to Article 156 of the Housing Code (LC), by decision of the owners, the amount of this contribution can be increased to carry out larger-scale repairs.

As paragraph 1 of Article 153 of the Housing Code indicates, citizens are obliged to pay rent on time and in full. The billing period for which it must be paid is one month, and its payment without violation is possible until the tenth day of the month following the billing month. That is, for example, payment for April must be paid before the tenth of May.

In reality, however, this norm is not always met: delays of a month or several have become commonplace, and it’s okay if it’s so much, because some citizens accumulate debts for years, after which they simply cannot pay them, because they find themselves owing too large an amount.

If payment was not made on time or not in full, the citizen will have to bear responsibility in accordance with Part 14 of Article 155 of the Housing Code, namely a penalty of 1/300 of the Central Bank refinancing rate for each day of delay. Penalties are paid to the organization whose payment was overdue, and to the housing fund in case of overdue contributions for major repairs.

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What is the impact of the statement and debts for housing and communal services?

Before you check out of your apartment, you need to think about the consequences. If the law does not tie the extract and registration at another address to housing and communal services debts, then the presence of debts may become an obstacle to other legal actions. For example, most social subsidies and tax benefits are provided in the absence of debts for housing and communal services. In addition, the consequences of such debts can be:

judicial liability of the debtor;
financial sanctions from the housing organization;
the emergence of relationships with bailiffs;
problems when obtaining a loan and so on.

The presence of debts on an apartment causes difficulties when selling. So, if the buyer does not agree to accept the apartment along with the debts, then they will need to be repaid. Of course, this will have a certain impact on the cost of the transaction if the buyer nevertheless agrees to the purchase.

After discharge, the person will no longer be able to live in the corresponding apartment. In addition, if the apartment is state-owned, then after discharge the person loses the right to participate in free privatization. This, of course, does not mean that such a person will not be able to privatize other public housing, but in relation to this apartment his powers will be terminated.

In addition to this circumstance, a person may encounter administrative problems. Thus, the law establishes that after discharge a person must register at a different address within a week. If this does not happen, then he is brought to administrative responsibility. Responsibility is imposed in the form of a monetary fine.

The amount of the fine for violating registration deadlines differs depending on the locality. So, if in Moscow and St. Petersburg the amount of such a fine can be 5–7 thousand, then in other cities it is 2–5 thousand rubles.

Is it possible to be evicted from an apartment for debts?

Difficulties with deregistration and refusals to deregister usually arise:

With minor children:
there is no consent of the second parent;
the child is discharged “to nowhere.”
With an extract by power of attorney - the “letter of the law” is interpreted differently when preparing documents.
With deregistration without consent, there are no legally established and documented grounds for deregistration.

If the housing is municipal, then if the debt is more than 6 months and there is no valid reason, forced relocation to housing of a smaller area is possible. From private housing, forced discharge for debts on utility bills is impossible.

We suggest you read: Federal judge experience

What to do if you have no money

Of course, if a person does not have money to pay for housing and communal services, then he can only count on mutual understanding from the housing organization or assistance from the state.
As for mutual understanding with the housing organization, it is expressed in debt restructuring, if one has not previously been carried out. So, in order to somehow ease the burden, you need to do the following:

contact the housing organization with an application for deferment or installment payment;
agree on a payment plan for several months or agree on an exact date for repaying debts;
if necessary, you must indicate your new residential address upon checkout so that a trusting relationship can be established with the housing organization.

Of course, it is best to pay off the debt immediately and forget about it forever. But if you don’t have cash, then you still shouldn’t take out loans because of utility debts.

The possibility of debt restructuring in this area is enshrined directly in housing legislation, so each tenant has the right to request that this rule be applied to him.

In addition, residents can count on assistance from the state. Thus, from the budget funds of the corresponding regions, low-income citizens can receive compensation for paying for housing and communal services. However, for this you need to have a residence permit in the appropriate housing and, if possible, not have debts.

If the residents are already recognized as low-income and the debt arose after this fact, then it is possible to pay off the debts using the allocated subsidies. The law provides for the targeted use of these funds to pay for utilities, so transfers at the expense of debts will not be considered a violation.

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Limitation period for housing and communal services payments

The worst course of action is to avoid meeting with representatives of the housing organization. As already mentioned, utility debts are classified as undisputed and the debtor’s participation in court proceedings is not at all necessary. So the trial can take place without the debtor’s knowledge, and the bailiffs will knock on his door.

It is worth noting that utility companies always meet debtors halfway. If you don’t have the funds to pay off your debts, then you don’t need to be afraid to go straight to the housing organization and say so directly. Utility companies are interested in the debtor paying off the debts sooner or later, so they can give a large amount of time as a deferment.

Mandatory debt collection

If, however, it was not possible to repay the debts within six months, then the utility companies go to court. Of course, this happens if the tenant does not cooperate. The courts usually decide to collect the debt, after which the case is sent to the bailiffs.

They can collect the debt in different ways. But the most common method, if a person does not pay, is withholding from the debtor’s salary.

In this case, collection is carried out according to the following rules:

the court decision and the writ of execution are sent to the employer;
the accounting department will withhold a certain amount towards the debt from the moment of the next salary payment;
the amount of such deductions from wages for each month cannot be more than 50%;
the employee has the right to demand a reduction or increase in the amount of deductions at his own discretion.

Having debts, not everyone decides to get an official job. In addition, bailiffs have the power to prohibit debtors from traveling outside the Russian Federation. For this reason, when planning a vacation or business trip abroad, it is necessary to check the status of debts with the bailiffs.

In addition, in some cases, management companies may turn to private collection services. These organizations do not always act within the law and do everything to make life as difficult as possible for debtors.

Although today their rights have been significantly reduced, the inconvenience they cause is still not worth the money that people owe for communal services.