Joint liability for housing and communal services debts 2020

The legislation does not regulate the question of the extent to which all residents of an apartment bear debt obligations in the event of non-payment of housing and communal services. There are two types of liability that arise when there are several debtors - joint and several. As a rule, residents who have entered into a social tenancy agreement and members of their families are jointly and severally liable for debts for utility services. Therefore, the requirement to pay debt obligations can be presented to one person.

The concept and reasons for the emergence of joint and several liability

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Civil Code of the Russian Federation) defines the concept of joint and several obligation - joint liability of debtors when the subject of the dispute is indivisible. Any housing can be considered indivisible, therefore all residents are equally obliged to participate in the costs of its maintenance and preservation. And if a utility debt arises, residents bear equal responsibility.

Thus, joint recovery is possible in cases where:

the housing is in common joint ownership and one of the owners does not pay utility bills;
a social tenancy or rental agreement has been concluded, but one of the tenants has incurred debts for housing and communal services.

The management company (MC) has the right to demand payment in full both from all residents living together and from any of them separately. The debtor who receives a request to pay the full amount is obliged to do so. The remaining residents are exempt from obligations. However, the tenant who has repaid the debt can himself make a demand for payment to the remaining residents.

Opportunities and consequences of restructuring debts to housing and communal services

Loss, significant reduction in recurring income.
Loss of a job due to dismissal, reduction, or liquidation of the employer.
Death of one of the family members leading the common household.
Fulfillment of military duty.
Retirement age is approaching.
Loss of ability to work as a result of illness, injury, natural disaster, or disability.
General economic situation in the country of residence (price increases, unemployment, currency exchange rate fluctuations, etc.).
Increase in the number of dependents.
Other life circumstances of the consumer.

The standard form of agreement between the supplier and the consumer on the revision of the terms of fulfillment of obligations can be requested for review in the legal department of the service company, viewed on the official website, or drawn up independently using Internet resources. The number of contract or agreement forms to be signed is a multiple of the number of participants in the procedure.

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What is joint liability and how to avoid it?

Often, residents of the same apartment are not relatives, do not maintain a common household, and their budgets are different, but they receive the same utility bill. In most cases, the amount is paid by each of them in proportion to the occupied premises in the apartment by verbal agreement.

But there are also conflict situations when someone ignores the payment requirement. In this case, conscientious payers need to know how to defend their rights.

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes the following rights and obligations for citizens to whom joint liability applies:

exemption from payment of debt only if it is fully repaid by the other owner;
right of recourse to debt payment. The payer has the right to recover damages from the true defaulter;
participation in costs in proportion to the square meters occupied;
allocation of a share for each owner;
acquisition of the defaulter's share by other owners.

Consequences of non-payment of utilities

Even if late payment for housing and communal services occurs for valid reasons, the law provides for sanctions for late payments:

accrual of penalties in the amount of 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);
suspension or restriction of the provision of services (clause 117 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354);
eviction from municipal housing (Article 90 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

In cases where one of the tenants does not pay their share of payments, the management company may demand payment of the full amount from other tenants as joint and several liability. In case of failure to fulfill obligations, the debt is collected forcibly by a court decision, which names all the owners or tenants of the apartment.

How can you divide debts?

When one of the residents of an apartment systematically does not pay utilities, the rest have a question about whether it is possible to divide the rent debt between the residents. The solution to the problem will be:

division of personal accounts between tenants;
recovery of damages by the tenant who paid for the services from the defaulter.

The most convenient option is the personal accounts section. This does not affect ownership in any way, but involves a separate charge from the service provider for each resident.

A financial and personal account is issued for residential premises and contains information about:

home improvement;
technical characteristics of living space;
provided utilities;
all owners or tenants.

As a rule, personal accounts are separated if the housing has several rooms and the kitchen area is at least 6 m2.

If all residents agree with the division of payment, you must contact the management company:

for tenants under a social tenancy agreement, this will entail the termination of the agreement and the conclusion of a new one with each of the tenants;
for homeowners, in accordance with Art. 247 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation - concluding an agreement on payment for housing and communal services with each owner in proportion to the share in the apartment and a separate agreement for payment.

If it was not possible to reach an agreement on payment for utilities between residents, the dispute over separate payment is resolved in court.

HELP NEEDED!!!Not just a lawyer!! APARTMENT AVAILABLE FOR THE RIGHT PERSON IN 2021!

Hello! Please, I beg you to help! prevent the seizure and appropriation of our apartment in Minsk, in Serebryanka! tel.80447496838 What to do in the Republic of Belarus if they are planning to take over our apartment in Minsk through the court, in 2021 through my mother’s roommate? Where I made APPEAL requests to all authorities!!! Sent on 09.07.20 sent appeals to all authorities: THE OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTOR GENERAL, TO THE MINSK PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE, MINSK REGION, TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL, KGB, EVEN TO THE PRESIDENT SENT HER APPEAL TO HELP IN CONDUCTING THE PROCEEDINGS WITH THE MOTHER'S COHAMBER AND HIS ALL ACTIONS YAY!!! JUST IGNORE EVERYTHING AND INACTION!!! DECIDE FOR YOURSELF AS YOU WANT!!! To requests where no one from the management reacts in any way, after the publication of my appeal, they took for consideration my application at the Prosecutor General's Office about the appeal of citizens by Yuri Viktorovich Karpitsky, as well as at the Minsk City Prosecutor's Office, but only as long as the registration number is there, everything is under consideration, where they said the secretaries would respond by email within 5 days or after 5 days to my appeal through the website “about citizens’ appeals”. I called on 09/10/20 and asked if there would be a check, they said that they would write to the post office and contact the COURT!!! WHERE A CHECK IS NEEDED AND NO ONE WANTS TO HELP SOLVE THE ISSUES AT ALL!!! I really hoped that they would help me solve it!!! I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF THIS PROBLEM WILL BE TAKEN TO CONSIDER AND SOLUTION, BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT IT WILL NOT!!! THEY ANSWERED ME THAT THIS WILL BE THEIR SOLUTION!!! It’s just that NOT a single law works at all when I apply! I sent it through the official website and email to everyone I could from senior officials, even to Karl Marx, 38. A terrible situation with this roommate, where in fact he has now made himself UNWALKING AND RECEIVED A CONCLUSION THROUGH THE HOSPITAL, where over time through the court they will make him insolvent and incompetent, everything is completely blocked and this roommate, with such protection, is with his brother, a lawyer with great connections in Gomel and Minsk!!! TO TAKE AN APARTMENT FROM THE PROTECTIONLESS IN MINSK, WHERE THEY HAVE LIVED ALL THEIR LIFE AND HERE FOR THE NEEDED PERSON!!! OF COURSE, NO ONE WILL EVER SAY SUCH ACTIONS AND THINGS OPENLY, IT WOULD BE A CRIME! WHO JUST WANTED OURS! SO MANY APARTMENTS IN MINSK! ESPECIALLY, FOR SUCH PEOPLE EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR FREE OR A MINIMUM %!!! AND HERE WITH RESIDENTS WHO ARE PURPOSELY LEADING THROUGH THE BANK INTO DEBT THAT THEY ORGANIZED THEMSELVES! RUNNING OUR FAMILY AND DESTROYING OUR PRIVATE PROPERTY SINCE 1978!!! IT'S A SCARY SITUATION WITH SUCH ACTIONS BY SUCH PEOPLE WHO HELP HIM!!! NEVER SUCH A SCHEME WILL EXIST ALONE! ONLY THESE ARE ALL UNPROVABLE ACTIONS IN MY WORDS! Especially the fact that the mother’s partner, under someone’s leadership, has been processing apartments since 1996 with his bank documents, adding additional notarial powers without the knowledge of the one on whom everything is entrusted! The main thing is that she does everything according to the law, drawing up some of the documents and making another person responsible, now my mother. HOW TO STOP THIS ALL FOR OUR FAMILY AND OUR APARTMENT IN MINSK?! And after all, the woman with whom she previously lived as a partner did not just hang herself! The appeals that I am sending TO THE SUPERVISOR AND CONTROL AUTHORITY DIRECTLY SO THAT THEY ARE CONSIDERED AND STOPED! MAYBE THEY WILL JUST WRITE THAT EVERYTHING IS GOOD! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PREVENT ALL THESE ACTIONS BY THIS COMMUNITE? And if there is a check, then a military pensioner at 59 years old! WILL DEFINITELY BE COVERED, BECAUSE HE CAN’T DO EVERYTHING INDEPENDENTLY AND REGISTER PURPOSELY FOR CERTAIN ACTIONS, AND ESPECIALLY IN ADVANCE, RIGHT 2 YEARS BEFORE CERTAIN ACTIONS!!! FOR MORE THAN A MONTH, THEY HAVE BEEN GUARDING IN EXPENSIVE CARS IN THE YARD WITH MOGILEV AND GOMEL NUMBERS, WHICH WILL DIRECTLY TAKE PART IN ALL THESE ACTIONS! SHOWING THAT THEY WILL DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE, DEMONSTRATIVELY SHOWING THAT THIS APARTMENT IS NEEDED! IT MAY BE RELATED TO CONTRACTS, ETC. SO INCREDIBLE TO OUR APARTMENT!!! EVERYTHING IS JUST REALLY UNPROVENABLE! TELL US HOW TO REPORT THAT THE APARTMENT HAS BEEN occupied SINCE 1978 BY US SO THAT WE STOP DESTROYING AND RUINING IT?! HOW IS IT POSSIBLE IN THE COUNTRY TO STOP THE ARBITRARY CONTESTATION OF AN APARTMENT through the cohabitant mother and sister?! WHERE NO ONE CAN HELP WITH A WORD AT ALL!!! AND THIS IS FOR PRIVATE PROPERTY! THEY JUST WANT TO ORGANIZE A TRIAL THROUGH ME!!! WHERE WE DON'T NEED COURTS AT ALL!!! IT IS IN QUESTION WHETHER THE GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY WILL TAKE CONTROL AND STOP ALL THE DOCUMENTS OF THE CHAMBER WHICH IS EXECUTED FOR THE MOTHER! ESPECIALLY UNDER THE BANK POWER OF ATTORNEY, WHERE NOTARIAL ACTIONS AND POWERS WERE ADDITIONALLY ASSIGNED TO THE MOTHER! WHERE HE DIDN’T EVEN TELL THE MOTHER AND PURPOSELY MADE AN ADDITIONAL DOCUMENT FROM THE NOTARY ATTACHING IT TO THE BANK POWER OF ATTORNEY! SO THAT MOTHER WOULD RESPONSE WITH HER APARTMENT IN MINSK! SINCE THROUGH THE COURT HE WILL BE MADE UNSOLVENT AND INCOMPATIBLE! WHEN WILL YOUR DAUGHTER HAVE A GUARANTOR FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW HOUSING! THIS IS A FRAUDULENT ACTION OF A COMMUNITY PARTY! HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE, WHEN I APPLY ELECTRONICALLY, TO SOLVE SUCH ISSUES WITH DOCUMENTS AND STOP IF IT DOESN'T WORK AND THEY'LL JUST SIGN UP??!!! I AM WORRIED THAT THE SUPERVISOR AUTHORITY WILL NOT RESPOND IN ANY WAY TO MY APPLICATION TO TERMINATE ACTIONS WITH DOCUMENTS FOR THE MOTHER OF THE EXECUTED!!! I LEAVE INFORMATION EVERYWHERE AND ON ANY SOURCE ABOUT THE HELP THAT I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE WITH THIS COHAMBER! WHERE, THROUGH LAWYERS AND THROUGH THE COURT, EVERYTHING WILL BE WORKED OUT VERY BEAUTIFULLY, BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO, IF THERE IS ALSO THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE FOR THE COMMON PARTY AND DOESN’T STOP ANY OF THE ABOVE, THEN THERE WILL BE COMPLETE INSECURENCY IN EVERYTHING M! HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO PROTECT YOUR APARTMENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS FROM PEOPLE SUCH AS YOUR MOTHER'S COMMANDER, WHO HAS BEEN ENGAGED IN THE SAME METHODS SINCE 1996, BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS!? AFTER IT HAS BEEN VERY POPULAR TO EVICTUATE AND SETTLE OUTSIDE MINSK THOSE WHO ALWAYS LIVED NEAR THEIR SOURCES, BUT WHO AFTER THEM ARE WANTED TO APPROACH AND SUBJECT EVERYTHING TO THEM!!! EVEN ALL CRIMINAL AND FRAUDULENT SCHEMES ARE DISCOVERED, JUST NEED TO BE CHECKED AND PROVED DIRECTLY BY COMPARING ALL ACTIONS, FACTS, DOCUMENTS, ETC. ALSO THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT HE IS NOT SITTING! FOR SO MANY YEARS! THESE ARE SIMPLY UNPROVEN ACTIONS! TO APPROACH OUR APARTMENT, WHICH WE HAVE ALREADY LIVED SINCE 1978, USING METHODS WHERE YOU KNOCK IN ADVANCE AND WARN MORE THAN HALF A YEAR!!! The main thing is that our roommate is consciously processing the apartment with a building savings agreement! I can’t even apply to have it checked properly! Nothing works and they can’t protect themselves and our apartment and do something!? It’s not ordinary people who are covering for him through his mother’s cohabitant, it seems to me for sure! I would really like the prosecutor’s office to really help and stop the actions! I'm very worried that I don't know what to do!!! How can you stop all the actions of a roommate at 59 years old, who will work through his sister on a new apartment under construction, where he will be a guarantor!? THERE IS EVEN A CONCLUSION FROM THE HOSPITAL THAT DOES NOT GO! THEY WILL MAKE THEMSELVES INCAPABLE AND INCAPTIVE!!! Really, how can you stop all this barbaric chaos!!!?? They do everything with their own people! Tell me, in this state does anything work for my requests and what am I doing wrong, where I’m just asking for assistance in terminating the building savings agreement and that everything will be blamed on my mother!? Squeeze and appropriate our apartment in Minsk, in Serebryanka!!! How to stop arbitrariness, where in reality NO LAW WORKS AT ALL!!! BUT ONLY ONE PROMOTION FOR SOMETHING! ASK FOR HELP FROM ALIENS!? COMPLETE INACTION OF EVERYTHING!!! WHERE THEY DON'T EVEN WANT TO PREVENT THESE ACTIONS!!! TO WHOM CAN I RETURN OUR APARTMENT AND FAMILY FROM DEBT AND RUIN IN EVERY SENSE OF THIS WORD?! After all, THEY DO ALL THIS CONSCIOUSLY, APPROACHING SOMEONE else'S PROPERTY FOR SOMEONE!!! MY GOD, HOW! HOW! HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THIS ACTION TO BE STOPED!? THEY CAN CREATE AN APPEARANCE AS THE SECRETARY FROM ONE DEPARTMENT, WHEN HE GAVE A “BOOK OF COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS” to a personal reception with the prosecutor, a supervisory and control body! Where did they give the appropriate answer? In such a solution to the issue, there is complete helplessness for such actions! BARBARIAN AND INHUMAN CAPTURE OF OUR PROPERTY FOR SOMEONE THAT THE COBHAMBER WORKS WITH SUCH METHODS! THE MAIN THING IS THAT YOU WILL BE CLEAN BEFORE THE LAW!!! CONSCIOUS ACTIONS AGAINST PRIVATE PROPERTY IN THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS, WHERE WE HAVE LIVED SINCE 1978 AND ESTABLISHED A NEW CONSTRUCTION FOR THE PURPOSE OF SETTLEMENT AND APPROPRIATION OF OUR APARTMENT??!!! At the state level, the squeeze out of the apartment where, according to the documents, he made himself clean, relieving himself of all responsibility!!! What should I do?! How to protect something that is very expensive and those who are supposed to protect want to squeeze it out?! I can’t wrap my head around flattery towards us (those (those)) who cannot defend themselves in every sense of the word and the forces are NOT equal, where you are simply NOBODY!!! NO ONE CAN HELP IN ANY WAY to stop all these actions, they will simply lead you very nicely to certain actions!!! WHAT CAN WORK IN THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS TO PROTECT ITS RIGHTS AND ITS PROPERTY!!!?? TELL ME HOW!? AFTER OUR PERSON IS NOT SIMPLE!!! IN THE 21st CENTURY, WE ARE RESIDING IN OUR PRIVATE APARTMENT IN MINSK, IN SEREBRYANKA SINCE 1978 RESIDENCE!!! KNOWING AND SELECTING IN SUCH WAYS AND METHODS!!! NO CONSCIENCE AND HUMANITY AT ALL!!!WORSE THE 90S!!! PLEASE HELP TO PROTECT FROM ALL THESE ACTIONS!

Tatiana

::
Minsk

Shared debt repayment

Joint liability for utility debts is provided for residents whose apartment is jointly owned, and citizens own property without a clear delineation of shares. But in some cases, by agreement between residents or by court order, a part of the apartment is allocated for everyone or only for the defaulter.

The division of housing is carried out in two ways:

in kind - the owner receives possession of a separate room;
ideally, the share in the apartment is not tangible, but the ownership right is divided among everyone, for example, three owners each receive 1/3 of the apartment.

The accumulated amounts of debt before the allocation of part of the apartment are paid jointly and severally. But after the allocation of shares has occurred, if there are rent debts, only the owner of this part of the housing is responsible for them.

In some situations, even after allocating a share in the apartment or dividing personal accounts, the problem tenant does not pay for housing and communal services. Such debts can no longer be recovered from former owners/bona fide payers. Therefore, management companies submit documents for trial to the court, which:

consider the reasons for the debt;
will find out whether the housing is the only one for the defaulter.

After receiving a court decision, if the shareholder does not pay for utilities and the amount of debt has reached the cost of part of the apartment, the bailiffs will offer the remaining co-owners to purchase his share. But this extreme measure is applicable only after identifying the following information:

the defaulter does not have enough money in his accounts, deposits, or deposits with banks to repay the debt;
there is no other property from which the debt can be paid.

The process of foreclosure on part of a debtor’s apartment has many nuances and largely depends on how the share was allocated.

Judicial decisions on joint and several recovery

Requests for payment of housing and communal services debts are considered at the place of residence of the debtors. If the amount of debt is up to 500,000 rubles, the application is considered by order without calling the parties, with subsequent notification of defaulters about the execution of the court order.

Conflict situations most often occur when the owners or tenants are strangers who have received the right to housing as a result of inheritance, donation or other means.

As a rule, payment for utilities occurs separately by verbal agreement between residents. Therefore, you can find out that there is a housing and communal services debt for several owners only after receiving a court order.

Practice shows that when collecting jointly and severally, owners often do not agree with the amounts presented and seek to send their objections in order to cancel the document. However, there are not many chances to achieve this, because the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the only basis for releasing defendants from the obligation to pay - full repayment of the debt by one of the owners or tenants. In this regard, decisions are most often made to jointly collect debts for utility services.

Required Documentation

The list of important certificates and papers must include:

Application with a claim to a judicial institution.
An extract from the debtor's personal account.
Documents confirming that the resources were delivered to his apartment on time and were of adequate quality.
A document with the calculated amount of debt.
Certificates confirming the fact of non-payment.
Bank details of the energy supplier.
Letters of claim, notices and other evidence.
Receipt for payment of state duty.

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