Attention!
New residents still continue to be exposed to risks associated with utility bills! Inattention at the stage of re-registration of documents can lead to quite unpleasant consequences that plunge even an inveterate optimist into despondency. Experts recommend that after registering property rights, you should continue your journey through the authorities without delay in order to re-issue agreements on utility payments as soon as possible.
We decided to figure out what could result from ignoring this important issue, and also offer the reader an optimal algorithm of action.
Buying a home is, of course, an important event, and many newly minted property owners, having completed the official registration process, go to celebrate the housewarming and explore the new space, putting aside the rest of the paperwork.
When can I change my personal account?
It will not be possible to deal with paperwork at the same time: first – registering property, then – registering a personal account. A payment document must be issued for each individual apartment. It is by the account number that information about payment for utility services is tracked down to each date and amount.
The document must indicate:
• exact address of the apartment;
• housing area;
• information about the account owner and the number of registered citizens;
• details related to landscaping.
As a rule, one invoice is issued for the entire apartment, although the owners, if desired and agreed, can split the invoices, which will be discussed below. The main owner is determined by agreement of the owners, for which it is necessary to write an application at the passport office, which will issue the necessary certificate.
It is important to remember that, regardless of any circumstances related to the apartment and its owner, utilities continue to make charges, and if the apartment has already been purchased, financial responsibility falls on the new owner. Therefore, it is important not to delay this issue and not create confusion in receipts.
Re-registration procedure
Re-registration of the account when the owner of the apartment changes occurs in the following order:
- The new owner orders the verification of individual meters from the management company.
- The necessary documents are collected.
- The owner submits documents with an application for re-registration of the account to the organization servicing the house.
- The application is reviewed within 3 working days.
- The owner is assigned a new personal account number.
Verification of meters must be done before re-issuing an account in order to avoid paying fines for incorrect readings in the future, as well as to save time, since when performing verification you will subsequently have to contact the management company again. The inspector will evaluate the quality of the metering devices and, if necessary, issue an order to replace them.
If accrual and payment for housing and communal services occurs through a cash settlement center (CSC), then the application must be submitted to this organization.
During the consideration of the appeal, ERCC employees evaluate the accuracy of the information provided, check for rent arrears and assign a new personal account number to the housing unit and the responsible payer. After re-issuing the account, the applicant must contact the management company or homeowners association to re-register service contracts.
If the previous owner of the apartment paid part of the payments directly to resource suppliers, then the new owner needs to re-register personal accounts and renew contracts with each supplier separately. These suppliers most often include:
- energy company;
- Gorvodokanal;
- Gorgaz.
The addresses and details of these companies can be found in the management organization. If the previous owner paid for all services through the management company, and the new owner wants to enter into separate agreements with suppliers, then he must indicate this desire in the application for re-issuance of the account in order to save time on re-application.
It is important to take into account that the transition to direct interaction with resource suppliers when re-registering a personal account is only possible if there are no debts on utility bills.
The account for paying for a home telephone is reissued with the local network operator (in Moscow it is MGTS), while the new owner, if desired, retains the old subscriber number or is assigned a new one.
Opening an account: where to go?
If the apartment was purchased in a new building
, you just need to open a personal account. To do this, you need to write a statement in any form and bring it to the management company. In order for a set of numbers to pay for utilities to be provided in the near future, a passport and a transfer deed are sufficient.
When an apartment was purchased on the secondary market
or received by new owners, for example, under a gift or exchange agreement
, in order to receive a financial account, you will have to apply to the HOA or management organization, also presenting a passport and a document that confirms ownership. When receiving housing under a social tenancy agreement, an appropriate agreement will be required.
If the property is shared
, it is required to collect statements from all owners. Many people find it convenient to re-issue a financial document through the Unified Settlement Center. It happens that a new account has already been opened, but receipts continue to come to the previous owner. In this case, it is necessary, without delay, to call or contact the suppliers in writing and resolve the issue related to updating the information.
The sequence of re-registration of a utility personal account after purchasing a home
Not everyone understands the meaning of a personal account. Most often it is presented as calculated. But, at its core, according to its purpose, a personal account is a means of accumulating information. It contains information about the apartment, owners, and records the history of use of electricity, water, gas, garbage disposal and other services.
Opening and recording information is the responsibility of the organization providing business services. Previously, the personal account was presented in paper form, using cards on which the management company recorded all expenses.
Modern accounting is carried out using computer programs. When changing owners, housing and communal services enterprises must re-register their personal account based on the application of the new owner. He, for his part, must follow the procedure specified by law.
Algorithm of actions
From the point of view of the law, the next owner receives the opportunity to rewrite the personal account after completing documentation of ownership (information from the Unified State Register of Real Estate). The right of ownership automatically imposes obligations on the owner of the property and responsibility for paying for the work of utilities. Therefore, do not hesitate, you need to follow these steps:
- Collect the necessary documents and contact the HOA, management company.
- Homeowners' associations and management companies review the documents and make a decision - approval, if the papers are in order, or refusal. The whole process takes from 2 to 5 days.
Required documents
When opening an account for an apartment, the following information is required:
- Total area, floor, number of rooms, exact address.
- Comfort: availability of centralized hot and cold water supply, sewerage, gas supply, heating, garbage chute, elevator.
- Number of residents (registered) persons. Information about their registration, existing subsidies, benefits for housing and communal services.
- Availability of metering devices: hot water and hot water meter, electricity, gas.
Information is taken from the technical passport of the apartment, certificate of ownership, passport data. It should be noted that today management companies track the number of people living only in the absence of individual metering devices.
To re-register business expenses for the newly-minted owner, he needs to provide an application, passport data and document the rights of the owner. If the HOA and management company have not established their own form of the document, the application is written in free form. It may contain information:
- details of the owner who has assumed responsibility for paying for utilities;
- list of documents in the application;
- readings of metering devices (in accordance with the information of the transfer act);
- consent to work with personal data.
The passport (copy) confirms the identity of the applicant.
Where to contact
First you need to define the structure that controls the house. This could be a homeowners association or a management company. This information can be obtained from neighbors, from the old owners of the apartment, but by law, this information must be in the public domain - on information boards in each entrance (who, where, contacts).
It should be remembered that not all services are paid for through the HOA and management company. There are direct contractual relationships between service providers and apartment owners. Organizations create their own internal personal accounts, so you should contact them directly and provide the same package of documents.
As a result, the homeowner receives a new document. It could be:
- agreement on the provision of television, communications, and Internet services;
- gas, water, heat supply;
- use of intercom and others.
Is it possible to re-register a personal account through the MFC?
Each district multifunctional center has its own set of services. As a rule, the process of re-registration of a personal account is not included in this list. The MFC may offer to make utility payments or provide copies of financial and personal accounts, an extract from the house register, and accounting cards.
This attitude is explained by the fact that the information is not contained in unified state registers, but on the other hand, it belongs to the category of personal data and needs protection under the law of July 27, 2006 N 152-FZ.
Updating your personal account: an effective algorithm
In order not to run in circles through authorities, you can use an effective algorithm
, allowing you to resolve the utility and financial issue as quickly as possible. You need to take your passport and documents for the apartment and go to the Unified Settlement Center, where you need to leave an application with a request to transfer the account to another owner. From the moment the document is received and processed, accruals should already be made to the new owner.
Next you need to go to the management company
, with which you need to conclude a new service agreement, or renew contracts with suppliers of electricity, gas, heat, water, if agreements were concluded directly. If this was not done at the stage of purchasing the apartment, you need to find out when the meters were last verified. If the three-year period has already expired, it is worth initiating this process. Many people save on metering devices, but, as experience shows, this ultimately results in additional expenses.
If necessary, leave a landline phone number
, refuse it or connect to the network, you must write a corresponding application to the Rostelecom division. At the same time, it’s worth understanding the Internet, choosing a provider that suits you and concluding an agreement with him. Since the exact list of all documents for registering an account changes periodically, it is important to clarify it before going through the authorities.
It is also worth knowing that it is better for a responsible tenant to be registered in the new apartment. Otherwise, it is possible that you will have to pay higher rates for most services. In any case, you will need an extract with information about everyone “registered” in the living space.
Refusal to rewrite a personal account
The refusal must always be justified, and the only reason can be the failure to provide the necessary documents, for example, confirming ownership.
Other reasons, including debts for housing and communal services, are not a reason for refusal. If the management company does not want to reissue its utility bills, then the apartment owner may go to court. A consumer protection claim may include a claim for compensation for moral damages caused. And the court in such cases supports the apartment owner.
If your re-registration is refused
If all debts are repaid, management organizations rarely refuse to open a new personal account.
Most often, problems arise if the previous owner left behind exorbitant debts.
It is worth remembering that the new owner is not responsible for the financial obligations of the previous owner of the property. There is a possibility that utility companies will try to force the new owner to pay “in full” - both for debts for electricity and water, and for major repairs of the house, if the payments have not been paid in full.
To avoid any misunderstandings, it is better to make sure that there are no debts at the stage of purchasing a home. Their presence, by the way, may be a reason to talk about reducing the price. But if the account statement is not considered an important document to study, it must be remembered that no matter what the debts of the previous owners were, the utility company is obliged to issue a new account to the owners, and he will pay for it.
If it is not possible to reach an agreement with organizations on re-registration, their decision must be appealed. However, as practice shows, more often than not, simply warning about such an intention is enough to resolve the issue. If the utility workers insist that they are right, they must send a statement to the prosecutor, attaching their refusal and documents on ownership.
It happens that this does not help, then you will have to file a claim in court. It is recommended to indicate in the application that the new owner is not able to make utility payments, since he does not have a utility account, and he receives refusals to open one. In addition to the requirement to open an account, you must definitely express a desire to exclude the debts of the previous owners from the payment documentation.
The chances of winning such a case are very high, which is confirmed by domestic judicial practice. As a rule, claims of new property owners against utility companies or management organizations that refuse to provide a new account and demand payment of debts of previous owners are satisfied without problems.
There are certain nuances in cases where utility services have already applied some kind of sanctions. For example, if the electricity in an apartment is turned off for non-payment, the account may be reissued, but the light will be connected only after the previous owner pays off the debt.
Transferring utility bills?
New owners need to know that when purchasing an apartment, they, along with the responsibility for paying utilities, also assume all debts remaining from the previous owner.
Even before the procedure for buying and selling a home, you need to obtain complete information about the absence of debt from the previous owner (certificate from the HOA, management company).
In addition, it is necessary to check the data of the metering devices, which are indicated in the transfer deed for the apartment. They must correspond to the information from the certificate of the HOA, the Criminal Code. And the certificate itself should be as late as possible.
If the new owner was not vigilant and became the owner of a receipt for a large debt for housing and communal services, then he will be obliged to pay it in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Otherwise, he will be subject to various penalties. Of course, this situation is unfair. The situation can only be corrected in court, after the debt has been repaid. A claim is being filed for a refund.
Splitting the bill in an apartment: everyone pays for themselves
If the housing is registered to several owners, financial utility bills can be divided, if necessary, after which each of the owners will receive a personal receipt and, accordingly, will be able to pay for their part of the services. True, debts that arose before such a division will remain with the person who was previously identified as the responsible person. Of course, it is better to immediately separate bills after purchasing living space, if there is such a need.
However, it cannot be said that the division of accounts is possible in absolutely all cases. An important condition is the availability of isolated rooms that are exactly suitable for living. It is necessary that the area of such premises corresponds to the share of the owner initiating the division. In addition, it is worth remembering that only a legally capable person who has reached the age of majority can receive a separate account, and it must be registered in this living space.
List of documents
To re-register an account, you must provide the following documents to the ERCC:
- Russian passport;
- title document;
- an extract from the Unified State Register of Rights to the apartment;
- cadastral and technical passport;
- a copy of the act of acceptance and transfer of living space;
- a certificate from the passport office about the number of people registered in the apartment;
- documents certifying the verification of individual meters;
- certificate of absence of debts for housing and communal services (if any);
- statement.
The title document is a contract of purchase, donation, exchange of housing, a certificate of inheritance, etc. The acceptance certificate must contain meter readings at the time of actual acceptance of the living space by the buyer.
If an apartment is registered as the property of several persons, each of whom plans to independently pay for utilities, then all persons must apply to the ERKTs simultaneously with passports, extracts from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, cadastral and title documents for the occupied living space.
The application states a request to assign a new personal account number in connection with the emergence of ownership of housing ; the following information must also be indicated in the text:
- name of the paper feeder;
- Full name and passport details of all co-owners of the apartment;
- information about the residential premises;
- details of ownership documents;
- the date of origin of rights and the date of actual acceptance of the property;
- information about the replacement and last verification of meters;
- readings of individual devices from the housing acceptance certificate;
- list of attached documents;
- date and signatures and contact details of all applicants.
Sample document: application form for re-registration of a personal account can be downloaded here.
It is important to supplement the text with the consent of all applicants to the processing of their personal data.
Data on residential premises include the address, cadastral and inventory number of the apartment, as well as information on the number of square meters per each co-owner, and the number of persons registered on its territory. For example, when re-issuing an account by three owners of rooms in a communal apartment, the responsible owner, area and list of registered persons are indicated for each room.
How many accounts can be opened?
Most often, a utility consumer has one account number, which is provided to him by the management company. However, each locality has its own rules. Since services are provided by different organizations, each of them can open their own personal account. Of course, the consumer is responsible to each of these structures for timely payment for services. If new owners install meters in apartments, these devices must be registered with resource suppliers.
It happens that companies are reorganized, change structure and subordination, or even liquidate. In these cases, consumers receive new personal accounts along with appropriate notification. In these cases, the re-conclusion of the contract is initiated by the organization itself.
When does a new home owner make utility payments for himself?
All utility documents should be reissued as soon as possible, this is in the interests of the new owners. Let us repeat once again that the basis for re-registration are the following documents:
- A deed signed upon acceptance and transfer of property.
- Extract from the Unified State Register.
- Contract for the sale of housing.
The calculation of utility payments on the personal account of the newly-minted owner begins only after they are signed. You need to contact the Criminal Code from the moment you receive at least one of them.
Debts “by agreement”
Often, the buyer and seller decide among themselves at the stage of agreeing on the transaction about how to deal with utility debts. In many cases, the future owner agrees to pay off the debts of his predecessor. According to the rules, the approval for the transfer of debts must be given by the creditors themselves, who must be notified about this, even if a clause on the procedure for paying overdue utility bills is included in the purchase and sale agreement. This is important for people who are selling an apartment with debts. They can be sure that the amounts will not be forcibly collected from them only if they have the written consent of the creditors that the debt will be paid by the new owner.
