How to properly divide rent between owners

Concept of splitting accounts

A personal account is an individual 8-10-digit number that the management company assigns to the owner of the living space for the purpose of calculating rent. The invoice allows you to identify the payer in the management company database; in addition, it contains the following information:

size of occupied living space;
number of registered;
availability of metering devices.

The process of dividing bills in one apartment assumes that the area of such an apartment will be divided between responsible persons, each of whom will independently pay his share of utilities in proportion to the size of the living space assigned to him and the number of persons registered in it.

Splitting accounts may be required in the following cases:

when spouses divorce but continue to live together;
when one of the co-owners registers new tenants in the apartment;
when neighbors in the apartment refuse to pay for consumed housing and communal services;
in case of long-term absence of one of the homeowners;
when registering an apartment as an inheritance by several persons.

According to Art. 31 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, persons registered in an apartment are required to bear joint responsibility with the owner for the maintenance of the residential premises , but in a number of cases such persons refuse to make payments, and the person in whose name the account is registered has to pay rent for all residents.

If divorced spouses or persons who inherited an apartment do not manage a common household, they also need to separate bills in order to avoid paying for housing and communal services for strangers.

Section of a personal account in a municipal apartment in practice

The division of payment obligations is disadvantageous to the administration, since a conscientious employer pays for himself and the evader of obligations. After the division, the defaulter will continue to evade and the eviction problem will need to be resolved, but two social agreements have already been signed. There will be legal difficulties with a municipal apartment, possible eviction if there are significant debts. As long as payments come from a bona fide tenant paying for all tenants, the municipality will be against splitting the personal account. A housing law lawyer will help resolve the problem.

Separation of personal accounts

Partition procedure

The separation of accounts is carried out by the accounting staff of the management organization (MC or HOA), as well as resource supply companies with which the payer has signed direct contracts.

If the apartment is privatized into the ownership of one of the residents, then the division of accounts between the owner and residents occurs in the following order:

The owner, together with the registered persons, contacts the accounting department of the management company and writes an application for the division of accounts.
In the Criminal Code, each of the registered persons is assigned an account number and assigned a living space.
In the next calendar month, individual account holders will receive individual receipts for payment for housing and communal services.

In the application for division of accounts, the owner of the privatized housing must indicate how many square meters are due to each of the prescribed ones, while it is important to comply with the minimum living space standards adopted in the region (12-15 sq. m per person).

The application must be accompanied by:

copy of passport;
an extract from the Unified State Register confirming the right to an apartment;
cadastral and technical passport for the apartment;
certificate of the number of registered persons.

If minors are registered in the apartment, a conclusion from the guardianship service may be required.

In an apartment for two owners, the division of accounts occurs at the request of either of them; the presence of the second is not required. It is important to take into account that each of the co-owners must be assigned a certain share of the living space, since in an apartment that is in joint undivided ownership (like spouses), it is impossible to divide personal accounts.

If the apartment is in shared ownership of several persons, then the division of accounts occurs in proportion to the shares occupied. If, at the same time, there are additionally registered persons in the apartment who do not have a share, the co-owners must determine in advance whose living space each of the registered persons will be assigned to, since their number will affect the amount of payment.

Is it possible to split a personal account?

The law provides this opportunity subject to a number of conditions:

shared ownership;
the age of majority of all owners (persons under the age of 18 are not required to pay utility bills on their own);
each tenant has a separate title document for his share in the common real estate;
the presence of more than one room in the home;
absence of legal encumbrances – arrest, pledge, etc.

If the apartment is privatized without allocating shares, residents who want to divide the property must first allocate their shares. To do this, you need to contact a notary, who will issue citizens with certificates of ownership, then register these documents with Rosreestr. Only after this can you begin to resolve the issue of a personal account.

Dividing a personal account in a privatized apartment

It is possible to divide a personal account in a privatized apartment, provided that each of the owners registered in it has a separate title document for his share. This may be a court decision on the allocation of a share, a purchase and sale agreement, a certificate of inheritance, etc. In other words, the personal account can be divided in an apartment that is in shared ownership. If the legal allocation of shares in privatized housing has not been made, it will be impossible to divide the personal account.

Section in a municipal apartment

Let us recall that since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the majority of Russians living in municipal housing have privatized their apartments. At the same time, about 10% of the state housing stock is still owned by regional municipalities. The legislation does not provide for any mechanisms allowing for the division of personal accounts in municipal housing. Since the regime of municipal property rights itself does not imply the allocation of separate shares to citizens living in such apartments.

According to Art. 249 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, all adult users of municipal housing are responsible for debts for housing and communal services in accordance with their share.

In a one-room apartment

to divide personal accounts in a one-room apartment, regardless of the ownership regime. However, the law gives residents of a one-room apartment the right to divide receipts in court. By its decision, the court will award each tenant a portion of the bills, which he will have to pay with his own funds.

In an apartment with shared ownership

As we have already said, the division of personal housing and communal services accounts of an apartment that is in shared ownership is allowed provided that each tenant has a title document for his part of the property. In this case, the division rules that apply to privatized apartments apply.

Possible difficulties

If any of the persons registered in a privatized apartment refuses to submit an application for division of accounts together with the owner of the premises, the latter can initiate division of accounts in court.

The lack of registration at the place of residence can also become an obstacle to the separation of accounts , since the accounting department of the management company may require the personal presence of the person to whom a separate account needs to be assigned.

In this case, you need to demand through the court to obtain the right to split the account due to the long-term absence of what is prescribed, citing the requirement as a violation of the legitimate interests of the responsible payer.

The court may decide:

divide the bills between the owner and those registered in his absence;
declare the registered person missing.

Declaring a registered tenant missing is necessary in the case where the owner cannot deregister such a tenant without his consent - for example, if the right of residence was obtained by testamentary refusal or refusal of privatization in favor of the current owner.

In a number of cases, management company employees refuse to split accounts because the applicant has debts for housing and communal services. This requirement is illegal, since the presence of debt obligations to the management company cannot be the basis for violating the legitimate interest of the debtor - getting rid of the obligation to pay for a defaulting neighbor.

If you have debts for housing and communal services, you should demand the separation of bills through the housing inspection or the court.

How to properly divide a personal account for housing and communal services?

Based on Article 249 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the division of the personal account occurs in proportion to the existing shares of property of the property owners.

IMPORTANT In a one-room apartment, splitting a personal account is impossible.

It is possible to divide the payment for housing and communal services in a privatized apartment as follows:

By mutual agreement of the owners without contacting utility services, in this case the amount of payments of each owner will be established on the basis of agreements, while the accounting of general housing and communal services expenses will be carried out on a single personal account. Thus, payment for utility services will actually be carried out by one owner, to whom all others will transfer funds for payment of their share of the use of utility resources. At the same time, the distribution of shares in the total amount of utility bills remains at the discretion of the owners. They may differ from those established by law, for example, they may be unequal to each other or disproportionate to the shares of ownership of real estate. This method does not require contacting a management company. An agreement on the division of shares in payment of utility bills can be drawn up in simple written form, without notarization. If one of the owners refuses to pay their share on the basis of this document, the amount of the debt can be recovered through the court. But this has no significance for the management company itself; if there is a debt, the statement of claim will be sent to all owners.
Concluding a written agreement between the owners of shares in the apartment and transferring it to the management company. The agreement is drawn up in a number of copies equal to the number of parties to the agreement, plus one more copy for the management company. In addition to the agreement itself, it is necessary to submit the following documents to the management company or housing and communal services company: one application with the signatures of all existing owners, or an application from each owner, copies of identification documents of all home owners, copies of documents for the apartment establishing ownership rights (certificate of ownership or extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate). Within one month, the management company is obliged to split the personal account, after which utility bills will be sent to each owner. An application for splitting a personal account for utility services can be found here.
By court decision , in the event of the management company refusing to split the personal account on the basis of the law. Since it is easier for the management company to maintain a single account for each apartment, most often the owners’ applications to split the account are rejected. In this case, owners can defend their rights in court. In addition, in court it is possible to force negligent owners who systematically evade this obligation to pay for housing and communal services. To file a claim for division of a personal account, you must have the refusal of the Criminal Code in hand. The absence of a response to a submitted application within 3 months is also acceptable as a basis.

You can submit a statement of claim to the judicial authorities either in the form of an individual claim from one of the owners, or in the form of a collective claim from all of them at once.

In addition to the claim, you must prepare the following documents:

– copies of general passports for all plaintiffs indicated in the statement of claim,
– documents establishing ownership rights to real estate,
– agreement between owners on the division of personal accounts,
– an extract from an existing personal account,
– documents confirming the existence of a pre-trial attempt to resolve the dispute (refusal of the management company to satisfy the request, notification of receipt of an application from the owners),
– an extract confirming the absence of debt,
– a document confirming payment of the state fee in the amount of 300 rubles.
– receipt for payment of state duty.

IMPORTANT: if there is already a debt, then it is impossible to arrange payment of only your own share of the debt. It will be possible to recover part of it from the debtor in court if the debt was paid in full by another owner.

The statement of claim for the division of a personal account can be found here.

The text of the statement of claim must necessarily include the following information:

Full name of the judicial authority to which the application is sent,
Personal data of the plaintiff and defendant, including the addresses of the parties at the place of registration,
The essence of the plaintiff’s demands, with an explanation of the moments of violation of their rights,
Links to attached documents,
Applicant's signature with transcript.

The lawsuit is filed in the district courts at the location of the management company. You can file a claim either in person at the court office or using the services of the Russian Post.

Splitting a personal account if the apartment is used under social rental conditions

In municipal housing, it is prohibited by law to split personal accounts. The only case in which it is possible to divide a personal account in social rental housing is the termination of family relationships between tenants. This can only be done in court. Any interested party can file a claim. A certified copy of the court decision will be sufficient grounds for the management company to split the personal account.

If it is not possible to execute a court decision voluntarily for one reason or another, then this can be done through the bailiff service. To separate the personal account in this case, a new agreement is concluded with each owner, to which a new personal account is attached. All meters installed on the premises remain for common use, and the owners retain equal responsibilities for their maintenance and replacement.

Questions about who and how will transmit meter readings to the management company, at whose expense repair work or replacement of meters and equipment will be carried out, remain at the discretion of home owners. From the moment the personal account is divided, receipts will be received separately for each shareholder. In case of arrears in payment of utility bills, collection will be carried out on one or another shareholder separately.

Going to court

A lawsuit demanding to oblige the landlord to split the payment document can be filed if the tenants have entered into an agreement with each other, but the landlord opposes this procedure.

A statement of claim can be filed by one of the co-owners, who is an interested party in this procedure.

When applying to the court with a request to determine the shares of each owner to pay for utilities, the court will make a decision to determine the shares of the plaintiff and the defendant.

Sample statement of claim

The statement of claim must include the following data (Article 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation):

name of the court;
Full name, plaintiff and defendant, residential address;
the essence of the requirements;
what is the violation of the plaintiff’s rights;
confirmation of requirements with evidence and legal norms;
list of attached documents;
plaintiff's signature.

Here you can file a claim for a section of your personal account.

Thus, dividing shares in a privatized apartment when paying for utilities is possible only between persons who live in the same apartment, and whether they are relatives or not is not important here.

In a municipal apartment, division of accounts is possible only if all residents are former family members.

When dividing a personal account, each of them will be independently responsible for all obligations based on payment for housing and communal services.

Here is presented judicial practice on the issue of division of personal accounts.

If the owners decide to divide the responsibilities for paying for utilities, they can enter into an agreement that will determine the shares of each of them when paying the bills.

If no agreement is reached, the issue is resolved in court.

How to divide utility bills between apartment owners