Home overhaul fund: which is better, a special account or a regional operator?

Switching to a special account and back

[2] Decisions of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building on the choice of a method for forming a capital repair fund, the choice of a person authorized to open a special account in a Russian credit institution are adopted by more than fifty percent of the votes of the total number of votes of owners of premises in an apartment building (h .1 Article 46 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

Step-by-step algorithm for owners

to change the method of forming a fund from a special account to a Regional Operator account

Step 1.

Initiate a meeting of the owners of an apartment building, where the initiator can be any owner of the premises in this apartment building, the management organization that manages this apartment building under a management agreement, or a homeowners association [1].

Step 2.

Conduct a general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building in person, in person, in absentia or in absentia on the issues specified in the agenda, namely:

1. On the election of the chairman, secretary of the meeting and persons counting votes.

2. On changing the method of forming a capital repair fund for the common property of an apartment building.

3. Making a decision to close the special account No. __________________________________________ and transfer funds from the special account No. ___________________________ to the account of the Regional operator No. 40703810307000000256.

Step 3.

Document the decision [2] on the issues specified in the agenda in the minutes of the general meeting (Appendix No. 1 to the algorithm).

Step 4.

Send the decision within five working days after such a decision is made to the owner of the special account to which contributions for major repairs of common property in such an apartment building are transferred, and to the regional operator to whose account these contributions are transferred.

Step 5.

The person on whose initiative the meeting was convened is obliged to bring to the attention of the owners of premises in a given apartment building the decisions adopted by the general meeting of owners of premises in the apartment building, as well as the voting results, by posting a corresponding message about this in the premises of the given building, determined by the decision of the general meeting owners of premises in this house and accessible to all owners of premises in this house, no later than ten days from the date of adoption of these decisions.

The decision to terminate the formation of a capital repair fund on a special account and the formation of a capital repair fund on the account of a regional operator comes into force one month after the decision of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building is sent to the owner of the special account.

Within five days after the said decision comes into force, the owner of the special account transfers the funds from the capital repair fund to the account of the regional operator.

[1] The owner or other person, on whose initiative a general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building is convened, is obliged to inform the owners of premises in this building about the holding of such a meeting no later than ten days before the date of its holding (Part 4 of Article 45 of the Housing Code RF).

Home overhaul fund: which is better, a special account or a regional operator? — RIA Real Estate

Apartment owners in Russia are asked to choose one of two ways to form a capital repair fund: on a special account for a specific building on the account of a regional operator. The RIA Real Estate website, together with the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services, decided to once again tell readers what the features of both options are.

What is included in the list of services/works for major repairs of the common property of an apartment building?

The list of major repair works is established by the Housing Code and includes the repair of in-house engineering systems of electrical, heat, gas, water supply, and sanitation; repair or replacement of elevator equipment deemed unsuitable for operation, repair of elevator shafts; roof repair; repair of basements belonging to common property in an apartment building; repair of the facade and repair of the foundation of an apartment building. Both individual types of work and complex repairs can be carried out.

Owners may decide to increase the contribution amount and, thus, expand the list of works that can be carried out for major repairs, including increasing the energy efficiency of the house and, thus, reducing their utility costs.

How to choose a method for forming a capital repair fund?

There are two ways to form a capital repair fund for an apartment building: on a special account or on the account(s) of a regional operator.

In order to issue a special account for a house, the owners must make a corresponding decision at a general meeting. There they also need to determine the amount of the monthly contribution for major repairs, which should not be less than the minimum contribution amount established in the subject, the owner of the special account, and the credit institution in which it will be opened. At the same time, it is important that the credit institution meets the reliability requirements provided for in the Housing Code.

Apartment owners in each building independently decide how to save money for major repairs, and the Russian Ministry of Construction recommends opening a special account for their home. This way you can make your own decisions about how to collect and spend money. But, if residents do not want to participate in managing their own home, the state takes over the organizational part. The money will be transferred to the account of the regional operator, which is responsible for repairing houses in the region.

What are the features/advantages of each method?

A general account (registrar's account) is certainly convenient for home owners who may soon need major repairs. The regional capital repair program establishes the order of major repairs in all apartment buildings in a particular region. Thus, the house can be repaired even before its residents collect the required amount. The program is formed based on proposals from local administrations and, of course, the condition of the houses. Every resident of the region can familiarize themselves with it on the official website of the regional operator.

The funds paid by the owners to the refurbishment operator are used exclusively for carrying out major repairs. Even the maintenance of the regenerator is carried out at the expense of the budgets of the subjects - not a single penny from citizens’ payments will be spent on anything other than repairs.

As for a special account, its main advantage is the ability to independently manage the maintenance of your home. The owners themselves decide how to save and spend money, what work to do and in what time frame.

A special account collects funds from the owners of one specific house. The owners independently manage these funds - they have the right to decide to carry out repairs at an earlier date, of course, provided that the funds in the special account are sufficient to finance the work or other methods of financing have been chosen.

With a rational approach and responsible attitude of all residents, the formation of a fund in special accounts gives noticeable results even within a short period of time. There are examples when residents collect the required amount in less than a year and carry out major repairs in their home.

For example, the owners of an apartment building (79 apartments) in Chita carried out major renovations on their own in 2015, having opened a special account a year earlier. “As soon as the law on major repairs came out, we turned to residents with a proposal to open a special account and save for repairs on their own. At first people paid little. I called all the apartments, posted notices in the entrances, and held meetings. We saved up a certain amount and decided to solve the most problematic issue - to replace the rotten hot water pipes in the basement. We found a company that did everything quickly,” said a resident of the house.

“Now,” she added, “we are planning to replace the heating unit, we already have a project. We also need to repair the elevators - they will be up and running in two years. And in this part we need state support, because even with a 100% collection rate, it will take ten years to save for them.”

Even if citizens are engaged in the formation of a fund on their own, they can always turn to a repository for consulting support. Thus, in the Astrakhan region, people are actively carrying out major repairs at the expense of contributions from owners, accumulated in special accounts. Citizens ask the registrar how to draw up documents, what requirements to impose on contractors, how to correctly draw up and execute contracts with contractors.

Most often, owners use the collected money to replace window units in their entrances and repair the entrances themselves.

But there are cases when owners want to carry out larger-scale work - to repair the water supply system, electricity supply, roofing, and blind areas of the building. If there is insufficient funds in special accounts, the owners decide to approve other sources of financing: contributions to the HOA, to the management company, or their own funds.

The contribution for major repairs in the Astrakhan region is 4 rubles per 1 square meter of premises. For example, in an apartment building of 99 apartments with a total area of 5345.7 square meters, a major roof repair was carried out at a cost of 450 thousand rubles. The owners of the premises of this house have been accumulating funds in their special account for roof repairs for a year, since November 2014.

How are contributions for major repairs paid through a regional operator, or to a special account?

In both cases, contributions for major repairs are paid through receipts that the owners receive monthly. After paying the receipt for the contribution for major repairs, the funds go either to a special account or to the account of the reoperator, opened by him for the formation of capital repair funds. Using these funds, the operator organizes and carries out repairs according to the approved short-term plan on the territory of a specific subject.

In what currency can I open a special account?

A special account is opened in rubles.

Who can become the owner of a special account?

The owner of the special account can be a regional operator, a homeowners association, a housing cooperative or a management organization that manages an apartment building on the basis of a management agreement.

An individual (a specific person) cannot become the owner of a special account.

Can owners change the way the fund is formed and how?

It’s never too late to change your mind - owners can open their own special account at any time and transfer savings to it. Now this requires half and one more vote in favor of making a decision, and not two-thirds, as it was before.

Who will be responsible for managing the funds from the special account if the house is managed by an HOA?

In this case, the owners will be responsible for the disposal of funds. The HOA is only the nominal owner of the account. The credit institution is responsible for the targeted spending of funds from the special account.

The management of funds in the general account falls within the competence of the general meeting, of course within the framework of their intended use. The credit organization at its level also monitors that funds are spent specifically for the purpose of capital repairs. Thus, all owners are responsible for the disposal of funds; the decision on spending funds is made at a meeting of home owners, which is then relayed to the HOA.

What are the legal responsibilities for fundraising under both schemes?

The Housing Code provides for the obligation to collect funds for major repairs.

Major repairs are a very expensive undertaking that cannot be paid for at once. To update the current roof of a standard five-story building, you will have to spend about one and a half million rubles. Replacing the elevator costs about two million. Therefore, there is only one way out - to save, and to save for a long time.

How to control that the collected funds are used for their intended purpose?

When funds are spent on a special account, the bank transfers money only if the owner of the special account provides the documents required by law. That is, until the work is carried out and the necessary documents are signed, the money will not be transferred from the bank account to the contractor. Also, at the request of any owner, the bank will provide a statement of all transactions.

Each reoperator keeps records of funds received from owners and publishes a quarterly report on its official website using forms approved by the Russian Ministry of Construction. Each owner can read the report and find out the amount of savings for his home, find out whether money from his apartment building was borrowed for the renovation of other buildings, whether it was placed on deposits, or, on the contrary, loan funds were attracted for the renovation of his home.

Who can choose a regional operator account?

The formation of a capital repair fund is available to everyone on the account of a regional operator - based on the decision of the owners of the premises or if the owners have not made or implemented a decision on the method of forming the capital repair fund.

Where can you find out which repositories are available in a particular region?

One registrar has been created in each subject, although the law provides for the possibility of creating several.

Information about the registrar in a specific region can be found in the local administration, including on their websites. In addition, all regoperators are open to information; they regularly publish information about themselves and the work they do in local media.

Who can receive benefits for paying for major repairs?

The following categories of citizens have the right to compensation for the costs of paying contributions for major repairs:

Heroes of the USSR, Russian Federation, full holders of the Order of Glory; Heroes of socialist labor, Heroes of Labor of the Russian Federation, full holders of the Order of Labor Glory; labor veterans and military service veterans; disabled war veterans, participants in the Great Patriotic War and their families; persons awarded the badge “Resident of besieged Leningrad”, recognized as disabled; minor prisoners of concentration camps; family members of military personnel killed in the line of duty; citizens who suffered from political repression; combat veterans and their families; home front workers; orphans; citizens exposed to radiation and their families.

It is worth noting that compensation is provided to citizens if they have no debt to pay for housing and utilities, including contributions for major repairs, or if citizens enter into and (or) fulfill agreements to repay it.

In addition, most regions have established compensation for the costs of paying contributions for major repairs for pensioners:

- those who have reached the age of 70 years - in the amount of 50% (of the regional standard for the standard residential area used to calculate subsidies);

- those who have reached the age of 80 years - in the amount of 100% (of the regional standard for the standard living area used to calculate subsidies).

This list can be expanded by decision of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation and municipalities.

Thus, 72 regions have already adopted a law providing for compensation for the costs of paying the contribution. At 13, the document is under development.

This year in Russia it is expected to spend 175 billion rubles on major repairs and renovate 45 thousand residential buildings.

In total, 745 thousand houses are included in regional capital repair programs.

RIA Real Estate

In connection with the questions received at the meeting on March 5, 2021 by the owners of the premises about the reasons for the transfer of contributions for major repairs to a special account opened in the name of the Manager, and not in the name of the HOA, the Board of the Pudovkin HOA 7 reports the following.

Currently, contributions for major repairs are transferred to the account of a regional operator (Moscow City Capital Repair Fund), which uses these funds for major repairs of other houses. According to the capital repair program approved by the regional operator, our house is subject to major repairs in 2039-2044. Until this moment, our funds will be used for major repairs of other buildings in Moscow. We have the opportunity to decide to open an account in the name of either the HOA or the management company and transfer funds from the account of the regional operator to an open special account of the HOA or management company. Next, we ourselves will control this account and make a decision at any time to carry out major repairs.

If a special account is opened in the name of the HOA, the HOA must issue receipts for payment of contributions for major repairs and ensure the collection of debt for these contributions. Plus, you must constantly submit reports on your account to the Moscow Housing Inspectorate. Those. opening a special account in the name of the HOA entails a fairly large amount of administrative work, which, given our passive form of the HOA and the absence of full-time HOA employees, there is no one to assign to. When opening a special account in the name of a management company, all this administrative work is assigned to the management company.

At the same time, many owners logically have a question about possible abuses on the part of the management company when using funds held in a special account. Questions arise about what will happen if the management contract with the management company is terminated, if the management company becomes bankrupt, if the management company uses these funds for its own needs and other purposes not related to major repairs of the house.

The legislator regulated all these surveys in the Housing Code. Below are the articles of the Housing Code, according to which, due to the obligations of the owner of a special account, collection cannot be imposed on the funds in the special account; these funds are not included in the bankruptcy estate in the event of bankruptcy of the owner of the special account; funds in the special account can only be used for major repairs of the house and cannot be used owner of the account for other purposes (control is vested in the bank in which the special account is opened). When the management company changes, control of the account passes to a person determined by a decision of the general meeting of premises owners. The management company does not have the right to dispose of funds in a special account without a decision of the general meeting of premises owners. With such significant restrictions, there are no risks of opening a special account in the name of the management company. At the same time, all administrative work on servicing the special account and collecting contributions for major repairs falls on the management company.

According to Article 166 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation

The list of services and (or) work on major repairs of common property in an apartment building, the provision and (or) implementation of which is financed from the capital repair fund, includes:

1) repair of in-house engineering systems of electrical, heat, gas, water supply, and wastewater disposal;

2) repair or replacement of elevator equipment declared unsuitable for operation, repair of elevator shafts;

3) roof repair;

4) repair of basements belonging to common property in an apartment building;

5) facade repair;

6) repair of the foundation of an apartment building.

According to Article 172 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation

The owner of a special account is obliged to submit to the state housing supervision body information about the amount of funds accrued as contributions for capital repairs, information about the amount of funds received as contributions for capital repairs, information about the amount of funds spent on capital repairs from a special account, information about the amount of the balance of funds in the special account, information on the conclusion of a loan agreement and (or) a credit agreement for major repairs, with certified copies of such agreements attached.

According to Article 174 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation

Funds from the capital repair fund can be used to pay for services and (or) work on major repairs of common property in an apartment building, development of design documentation, payment for construction control services, repayment of loans received and used to pay for these services, works, and also for paying interest on the use of such credits, loans, payment of expenses for obtaining guarantees and guarantees for such credits, loans. At the same time, at the expense of the capital repair fund, within the amount formed on the basis of the minimum amount of contribution for capital repairs established by the regulatory legal act of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, only the work provided for in Article 166 of the Housing Code can be financed .

According to Article 175 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation

Owners of premises in an apartment building have the right to create a capital repair fund only in one special account. A special account can accumulate funds from the capital repair fund of premises owners in only one apartment building.

Money held in a special account cannot be recovered for the obligations of the owner of this account , with the exception of obligations arising from contracts concluded on the basis of decisions of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building, as well as contracts for the provision of services and (or) carrying out work on major repairs of common property in this apartment building, concluded on the basis of a decision of the general meeting of owners of premises in the apartment building to carry out major repairs or on other legal grounds.

If the owner of a special account is declared bankrupt, the funds located in the special account are not included in the bankruptcy estate.

If a decision is made to liquidate and (or) reorganize the owner of a special account, the owner of a special account is declared bankrupt, as well as if the management organization, homeowners association or housing cooperative that is the owner of the special account terminated management of the apartment building on the basis of a decision of the general meeting of the owners of premises in this building or such termination of the management of an apartment building is provided for by law or a court decision, the owners of premises in an apartment building are obliged at a general meeting to decide on choosing the owner of a special account or on changing the method of forming a capital repair fund.

The owner of a special account, determined on the basis of a decision of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building, from the moment such a decision is made, transfers all the rights and obligations of the previous owner of the special account, including the rights and obligations arising under agreements concluded with the Russian credit institution in which it was opened. special account.

The previous owner of the special account, within three days from the date of the decision on the selection of the owner of the special account, is obliged to transfer, and the owner of the special account, determined in accordance with the decision of the general meeting of premises owners, to accept documents related to the opening and maintenance of a special account, including agreements with the Russian credit institution in which the special account is opened, documents submitted to the state housing supervision authorities, and other documents related to the activities of the owner of the special account.

According to Article 175.1 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation

1. The owner of a special account, on the basis of a decision of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building, places temporarily free funds from the capital repair fund, formed on a special account, on a special deposit in a Russian credit institution.

2. Income received from placing temporarily free funds of the capital repair fund formed in a special account on a special deposit can be used only for the purposes specified in Article 174 of this Code.

3. Depositing funds into a special deposit is carried out exclusively from a special account. Return of funds placed on a special deposit and payment of interest on it are allowed only to the special account of the owner of such an account.

According to Article 177 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation

1. The following operations can be performed on a special account:

1) write-off of funds associated with payments for services rendered and (or) work performed on major repairs of common property in an apartment building and payments for other services and (or) work specified in Article 174 of this Code;

2) write-off of funds to repay loans, loans received to pay for services and (or) work specified in Article 174 of this Code, payment of interest for the use of such loans, loans, payment of expenses for obtaining guarantees and sureties for such loans, loans ;

3) in the event of a change in the special account, transfer of funds located in this special account to another special account and crediting to this special account of funds written off from another special account, based on the decision of the owners of premises in an apartment building;

4) in case of a change in the method of forming the capital repair fund, transfer of funds to the account of the regional operator and crediting of funds received from the regional operator, based on the decision of the owners of premises in an apartment building;

5) crediting contributions for major repairs, penalties for improper fulfillment of the obligation to pay such contributions;

5.1) crediting financial support funds from the federal budget, the budget of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation;

6) accrual of interest for the use of funds and write-off of commissions in accordance with the terms of the special account agreement;

7) transfer of funds located in this special account for the purpose of demolition or reconstruction of an apartment building if the apartment building is recognized as unsafe and subject to demolition or reconstruction;

7.1) placement of funds (part of funds) on a special deposit and their crediting from a special account to a special deposit, return of funds (part of funds), interest on the placement of funds on a special deposit in accordance with the terms of the agreement on a special deposit to a special account ;

2. Operations on a special account not provided for in Part 1 of this article are not permitted.

3. The bank is obliged to ensure that transactions carried out on a special account comply with the requirements of the Housing Code.

4. Transactions for transferring funds from a special account can be carried out by the bank at the direction of the owner of the special account to persons providing services and (or) carrying out work on major repairs of common property in an apartment building, upon provision of the following documents:

1) minutes of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building, containing the decision of such a meeting on the provision of services and (or) on the performance of work on major repairs of common property in an apartment building;

2) an agreement on the provision of services and (or) on the performance of work on major repairs of common property in an apartment building;

3) act of acceptance of services provided and (or) work performed. Such an acceptance certificate is not provided in the event of an advance payment transaction for the provision of services and (or) work in the amount of no more than thirty percent of the cost of such services and (or) work.

5. Operations to write off funds from a special account to repay loans, borrowings and to pay interest on loans received for major repairs of common property in an apartment building may be carried out by the bank by order of the owner of the special account on the basis of:

1) minutes of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building, containing the decision of such meeting to conclude a credit agreement, loan agreement, respectively, with a bank, lender, indicating the bank, lender, the amount and purpose of the loan, loan;

2) credit agreement, loan agreement.

6. The bank refuses to execute the order of the owner of the special account to carry out the corresponding transaction, in support of which the documents specified in parts 4 and 5 of this article are not presented.

7. The bank in which the special account is opened and the owner of the special account provide, at the request of any owner of premises in an apartment building , as well as at the request of the state housing supervision authority, information on the amount of payments credited to the account of the owners of all premises in an apartment building, on the balance of funds on special account, about all transactions on this special account.