Management fee for apartment buildings. Let's figure out what kind of beast this is (part 1)

What is apartment building management?

Managing an apartment building involves carrying out certain activities agreed upon by all owners and aimed at achieving certain goals:

Providing housing conditions;
Preservation of common property;
Appropriate use of property;
Providing utility services for residents of an apartment building.

Apartment owners must independently choose the form of management for their home. Making such a decision is mandatory, since ownership of real estate implies a certain responsibility for it. In addition, during the operation of the property, it is necessary to properly “monitor” the house in order to prevent harm to others as a result of improper operation (

What does it mean to manage an apartment building?

Regardless of the management procedure for MKD, activities should be carried out taking into account the following principles:

the task is to promote the well-being of residents, care for common property;
tenants receive equal access to shared property;
when the management of an apartment building is carried out by a commercial company, the company receives a license for the relevant activity;
the form in which the management of an apartment building will be carried out must be chosen by homeowners at general building meetings;
the range of available management companies with a license is publicly available on the municipality’s website;
Management companies provide reports on their work to residents and are responsible for the quality of services;
companies that maintain apartment buildings are controlled by higher authorities and law enforcement agencies (you can file a complaint against the actions of the manager with Rospotrebnadzor, the prosecutor's office, the police, or the court).

Important! Only one method of managing a multi-apartment building can be used. When attracting a commercial organization, it can also only be the only one.

The legislative framework

The main document that regulates the maintenance of multi-apartment residential buildings is the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

Management Standards

Activities related to the management of an apartment building mean maintaining the property in proper condition. Based on this, house managers must perform the following actions:

Monitor the condition of technical systems at home;
Ensure regular cleaning of the local area, as well as in common areas, that is, entrances, staircases, elevators;
Monitor the utilities at home, as well as enter into agreements with companies supplying resources.

The Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation approved certain standards and rules for activities aimed at managing an apartment building. Based on such standards and rules, the residents themselves, residents’ associations, management companies, companies providing services, local governments and the authorities of a specific subject of the Russian Federation participate in the management of the house.

Important! Management companies are required to provide residents with access to information about the company’s activities. Any owner has the right to become familiar with the services provided by the management company, as well as the amount of payment for a particular service.

Management of an apartment building by housing cooperatives

A housing cooperative is a voluntary association of citizens designed to meet the need for housing and manage houses. Members of such a cooperative, using their own funds, participate in the acquisition of property, major repairs, and maintenance of houses. The association must have at least five members, but no more than the number of apartments in the building being built or purchased.

A participant in a cooperative can be a legal entity or a citizen who has reached the age of sixteen. Persons wishing to join a cooperative are considered a member after paying the entrance fee.

Each participant in such a cooperative is obliged to make share payments. The terms and conditions for contributing a share are regulated by the charter of the cooperative.

The cooperative participant is provided with housing in the cooperative building by decision of the fees in accordance with the amount of the contribution paid upon entry. Ownership of residential premises begins from the moment of full payment of the contribution.

The division of property of a residential cooperative occurs among shareholders and is allowed if there are isolated premises. If the reconstruction and redevelopment of residential premises involves the isolation of real estate, such property is also subject to division.

Control difficulties

Any of the home management options will have certain problems. The main disadvantage will be that it is quite difficult for residents to come to a common decision, since they usually have different opinions.

The integrity of the service company will be of particular importance in managing the house. The risk that funds collected by residents are used for other purposes is very high. If this fact becomes clear, the board is re-elected, and this is accompanied by a long process of proceedings.

Control of the residents themselves in the activities of the management company will be very important. The company itself, as a rule, is not interested in maintaining the house in proper condition, and therefore many problems can simply be ignored by them (

Legislative changes in the management of apartment buildings

Until the new housing complex of the Russian Federation was adopted, the management and maintenance of apartment buildings was carried out by housing and communal services and special services appointed by local authorities without the knowledge of residents. Third-party organizations could not enter the utility services market. In accordance with this, competition between organizations was completely absent, which led to a decrease in interest in improving the quality of services.

After the revision of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation since 2005, home owners have the right to independently choose the way to manage the house in which they live. When holding a general meeting of residents of the house, they must decide on the choice of one of the forms of management. There are 3 main forms of management of an apartment building:

Through the Homeowners Association;
Through the Management Company;
By independently managing the forces of the residents of the house.

In 2011, adjustments were made to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, according to which local government bodies, as well as housing owners themselves, have the right to exercise control over the activities of the management company. In accordance with these adjustments, HOAs cannot be created during the construction phase, and developers cannot participate in the creation of a homeowners' association. In addition, a method of paying utility bills is now permitted in which residents pay directly to the resource provider, avoiding the participation of service organizations.

Licensing of activities for management of apartment buildings

Since May 2015, mandatory licensing of management companies in housing and communal services has been introduced in Russia. Nowadays, no management company can offer its services if it does not have a license. Licensing of activities includes two aspects:

Issuance of a license.
Monitoring the compliance of an organization or individual entrepreneur with licensing requirements.

To obtain a license, the management organization and its manager must meet certain requirements:

registration of an organization or individual entrepreneur on the territory of the Russian Federation;
the presence of a qualification certificate at the head of an organization or an individual entrepreneur, which is issued to him in case of successful passing of a qualification exam for the right to manage an organization that manages apartment buildings;
the absence of an unexpunged or outstanding conviction for crimes in the economic sphere, serious and especially serious crimes by the head of an organization or an individual entrepreneur;
the organization was not subject to the procedure for revoking its license to manage apartment buildings;
the head of the organization or individual entrepreneur has not been subject to disqualification procedures;
disclosure by the organization of information about its activities.

The decision to issue a license or to refuse to issue it is made by a licensing commission created in a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. At least one third of the licensing commission consists of representatives of self-regulatory organizations, public associations, and other non-profit organizations.

The State Housing Inspectorate monitors the compliance of the management organization’s activities with licensing requirements.

At the same time, the licensing requirements for the activities of a company that has received a license are broader than those imposed on the applicant.

If a company receives two orders to eliminate violations in one apartment building within a year and does not comply with them, it loses the right to manage this building. If the area of such houses is more than 15% of the area of all houses managed by the management company, it is deprived of its license to manage houses, and its manager is disqualified for a certain period. The license is canceled by a court decision based on consideration of the application of the State Housing Inspectorate.

Despite the presence of unfulfilled instructions, the owners at the general meeting can decide to continue working with the existing organization. In this case, the license is not revoked.

Within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the notification from the State Housing Inspectorate about the termination of the license, the local government authority convenes a general meeting of owners to decide on the choice of method of managing the apartment building. If the owners do not make decisions or the meeting does not have a quorum, the local government body, within three days, announces a competition for the right to manage such a house.

Ways to manage an apartment building

Residents have the right to choose or change the method of managing an apartment building at a general meeting at any time. The RF Housing Code offers three ways to manage an apartment building:

Management of house residents;
Management of an owners' association or a special cooperative association;
Management through the management company.

Each of these forms has its own characteristics; the choice of method will depend on the number of apartments in the building, the solvency of the residents, the availability of metering devices, etc.

Apartment building management

The Constitution of the Russian Federation enshrines the right of every citizen to own property, own, use and dispose of it, both individually and jointly with other persons. This constitutional provision is reflected in housing legislation: the owners of residential and non-residential premises in an apartment building, at their own discretion and in their own interests, manage the apartment building with minimal interference from authorities. In Russia, there is a gradual formation of the owner, his understanding of his role in the effective management of real estate, increasing its value and market attractiveness. In this article we will try to formulate the concept of “management of an apartment building”, define conditional criteria for choosing a method of managing an apartment building and designate contractual relations for each management method.

What is apartment building management?

The newly adopted Housing Code of the Russian Federation does not define the concept of “management of an apartment building,” although an entire section is devoted to this area of activity. In order to define a phenomenon, it is necessary to identify its characteristics.

Signs of managing an apartment building:

Activity. Management is always an activity, a process extended over time. The time frame for managing a specific apartment building depends on the life cycle of the building - from the moment of its construction until the moment of demolition.
An object. The vector of any control is directed to some object.

According to the object of management, forms of management of an apartment building are distinguished:

Housing management is the activity of managing all premises (apartments, rooms) owned by one person;
management of common property in the house is carried out by the owners of the premises in the house or by a person attracted by the owners.

Thus, in general, the object of management is an apartment building. The question is what is considered an apartment building. How many rooms and owners of these rooms must there be in a house for the house to be considered multi-apartment? This issue is not regulated by the Housing Code. However, based on established practice, a house with two or more premises can be considered an apartment building if there is at least one owner of these premises.

Subject. A subject of management is a person, a group of persons, a specially created body or society as a whole who influence the managed object in order to ensure its functioning and movement towards a given goal.

Subject of management:

carries out management and organizational work;
makes decisions;
ensures achievement of set goals.

When managing an apartment building, the subject of management is the owners of the premises in the apartment building (primary subject) or the persons involved by them to manage the house (indirect subject). In some cases, the subject of management of an apartment building may be local government bodies (if the owners themselves do not choose the method of managing the house, local government bodies choose a management company for them, clause 4 of Article 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

Focus. Any management activity has certain goals and objectives. Thus, the management of an apartment building is carried out in order to ensure: favorable and safe living conditions for citizens, proper maintenance of common property in an apartment building, resolving issues of use of common property, as well as providing utilities to citizens living in such a building.
Coherence and unity. Management of an apartment building, the residential and non-residential premises of which belong to different owners, can only be carried out on the basis of uniform conditions agreed upon by them. Owners can develop these conditions themselves or delegate their rights to formulate them to a person authorized by them, who will represent the interests of all owners when choosing and concluding agreements with management companies.

Thus, the management of an apartment building is a coordinated activity of the owners of premises in an apartment building or persons involved by them, aimed at ensuring favorable and safe living conditions for citizens, proper maintenance of common property in an apartment building, resolving issues of use of common property, as well as providing utility services. services to citizens living in such a house.

How to choose a home control method?

The Housing Code of the Russian Federation imposes on the owners of premises the obligation to choose a method of managing the house within a year before the date of the competition for the selection of a management organization by local government bodies. It is likely that the date of such competitions should be known in advance, that is, at least not less than one year in advance.

The RF Housing Code offers three ways to manage an apartment building:

direct management of premises owners in an apartment building;
management of a homeowners' association or housing cooperative or other specialized consumer cooperative;
management of the management organization.

The choice of management method depends on how many apartments there are in the building, how solvent and disciplined the residents are, what management organizations are on the housing and communal services market, what kind of relationships have developed with resource supply organizations, whether communal and apartment-level metering devices have been installed, etc.

Criteria (conditional) for choosing a method of managing a house:

Management of an apartment building by residents

Residents can choose to manage the house independently if the number of apartments in the building is no more than sixteen. All issues in this case are resolved by holding general meetings, at which responsibilities are distributed, and representatives of the house are elected to conclude service agreements. If the house is managed directly by the residents themselves, then they do not have any extra costs associated with maintaining the HOA. A contract for the organization’s services is concluded separately with each resident.

Management of an apartment building by management organizations

A management organization is a legal entity that carries out management, operation, sanitary and maintenance of a house.

This type of management is carried out under an agreement concluded with the property owners. The management agreement provides equal conditions for residents and has a certain validity period.

The contract must indicate:

address of the house and list of property that will be managed;
list of works and their frequency for home repairs and its maintenance, provided utilities;
the procedure for calculating the amount of costs for maintenance, repairs, the cost of services, the payment procedure;
a way for owners to control the fulfillment of obligations.

The management company is obliged to begin execution of the contract within thirty days. Homeowners have the right to refuse to fulfill the contract on the basis of improper execution of the contract by the management organization. It also provides for early termination of the contract based on a change in the type of management.

HOA

When creating a partnership (HOA), it is assumed that residents will unite with the appointment of responsible persons who are entrusted with responsibilities for resolving issues related to the maintenance of the house, concluding agreements on behalf of all residents. That is, with this method, the HOA acts as a legal entity that deals with the issues of concluding contracts with organizations for maintenance and provision of services. Residents elect a chairman, as well as members of the HOA board. They are chosen from among the residents, based on the fact that they, like other residents, are concerned about the fate of the house and should not neglect their responsibilities. If the residents of the house are not satisfied with the work of the chairman, they have the right to re-elect him. It is more expedient to create an HOA in those buildings in which a significant number of residents live.

If you do not select a control method

In the event that a year has passed since the moment when the residents had to choose how to manage the house, and they did not do so, local authorities can themselves choose a management company for maintenance. This is due to the fact that municipal authorities are responsible for the safety of apartment buildings. In order to determine the management company, a competition is held, to which any company has the right to apply. Based on the more favorable conditions offered by organizations, they choose a management company.