How many houses can be part of an HOA?
Management companies that organize the provision of apartment buildings are a commercial structure. A homeowners' association is a non-profit organization that does not involve attracting profit, but only provides for the desire of citizens to legally and transparently monitor their property and the provision of utility resources.
So, how many houses can there be in an HOA? Current legislation limits the prevalence of HOAs per house. The exact number is not indicated in the documents regulating the partnership, since all apartment buildings are purely individual in area and in the number of owners.
Clause 1 of Article 136 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation clearly states the basic principle of creating an HOA. It says: only one HOA can exist in one house.
REFERENCE. Before the entry into law No. 123-FZ (06/04/2011), it was possible for two HOAs to coexist in one house. But from July 2021 (No. 189-FZ) this is strictly prohibited.
The minimum and maximum number of HOAs is established by Article 136 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. The following restrictions have been established:
- one partnership can be created in one apartment building, subject to the participation of at least 50% of the total number of living owners in the total area of housing;
- one HOA can manage several houses bordering each other.
Who in the HOA is responsible for its preparation and registration?
All residents of an apartment building who own apartments - members of the HOA - take part in drawing up the charter.
Information about the creation of a partnership is entered into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, and the signed charter is registered. The registration procedure is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Law of 08.08.2001 No. 129-FZ.
To register, the selected chairman applies to the tax authority at the location of the partnership , preparing a list of documents in accordance with Art. 12 of Law No. 129-FZ. Instead of the chairman, his representative can contact the tax office if he has a notarized power of attorney.
Can an association manage one apartment?
According to Article 136 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the HOA must include at least half of the owners of the house. The minimum number of management and employees in the created organization is 5 people (what positions should there be in an HOA?). More than two owners from different apartments can register for membership in the HOA. This means that the establishment of a partnership in one apartment is impractical and impossible.
The only exception is the initiative to create a partnership coming from one owner. In this case, it is possible to organize a meeting, collect documents and select assistants from among interested residents of the same building.
What are the homeowners association bylaws and why are they needed?
The main document regulating the activities of the partnership is the charter of the HOA. Each such association of residents must have its own charter. This document is the legal basis for the creation of an HOA, the members of which must strictly comply with all the points specified in it. The rules prescribed in the charter regulate the objectives of the partnership, the structure of the association, operating principles and other important issues.
The charter of the HOA in legal significance follows immediately after the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and is the official constituent document, without which the partnership has no legal status.
Read about the pros and cons and other nuances of HOAs here.
Is it possible for an organization to exist in one building?
The answer is no. One entrance does not include more than 50% of the residents, so the creation of an HOA in this case has no legal force.
There are still situations where half of the house has already been organized by an HOA, and the other half is still served by a management company (what is the difference between an HOA and a management company and what to choose?). In this case, there are two options to solve the problem:
- connecting the remaining entrances to the existing HOA;
- creation of a new partnership and liquidation of an existing one.
How to write an application for membership in a partnership
The legislation has not developed a single sample act that would be used to join the ranks of HOA members. For this reason, a free format is used.
When registering you must indicate:
- document header: drawn up at the top of the act, on the right. It indicates where and from whom the application is sent;
- name of paper;
- main part: here you need to indicate why the citizen applies to the HOA board;
- conclusion: date of formation of the act and signature of the originator.
An act is attached to the application, through which the citizen’s identity and documentation for housing are verified.
Application example
The application for membership in the HOA is completed taking into account the general rules.
The sample looks like this:
To the board of homeowners association "Snegir"
from Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich,
residing at the address: St. Petersburg, st. Rakitnaya, 123-65
Statement
on joining a homeowners association
I, Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich, am the owner of a residential premises located at the address: St. Petersburg, st. Rakitnaya, 123-65. This is confirmed by a certificate indicating the existence of ownership rights to this premises, entry in the Unified State Register of Real Estate 132436655424 dated 06/12/2022.
I ask you to accept me as a member of the Snegir homeowners association from 12/01/2022.
12/01/2022 ___________________ (Ivanov I.I.)
Application for membership in the HOA in WORD format
Is it legal to operate two partnerships at once?
Until July 1, 2021, it was completely legal for 2 HOAs to operate within one apartment building. But with the entry into force of the new law canceling this permit (No. 189-FZ Art. 5.1), this became impossible.
The main reason is frequent confusion with payment receipts, which violates the main principle of the HOA: transparency of financial transactions.
ATTENTION: If there are still two HOAs in the house, their separation or liquidation of one of them should be carried out in court by filing a statement of claim with the appropriate judicial authority.
If the residents do not come to a common opinion on the creation of one new HOA, then the organization of providing the house can be transferred to the management company. This organization is capable of protecting the interests of all homeowners , but with some disadvantages (the management company makes most decisions based on its actions, without coordinating the issue with the residents). We wrote about how an HOA can enter into a service agreement with a management company here.
Creating an HOA is an important, but also very complex undertaking. It is necessary to know in what cases and under what circumstances it is possible for authorities to approve the implementation of a new partnership. Each owner of an apartment building has the right to know his responsibilities, to directly participate in the provision and protection of his housing and to monitor where his money invested in communal resources goes.
TSN is an association of owners of different types of real estate for joint ownership, use and disposal of common property.
An HOA is one of the types of TSN, but only the owners of premises in an apartment building (MKD) or several MKDs or in residential buildings can unite in an HOA. Re-registration of the HOA in connection with the emergence of the TSN is not required. There are three ways to manage an apartment building (MAD): 1) direct management by the owners; 2) management of a HOA or housing cooperative or other specialized consumer cooperative; 3) management of the management organization. In this case, the management method is chosen by the general meeting of premises owners and can change it at any time based on its decision. An HOA is an association of owners of premises in an apartment building, created for the joint management of common property in an apartment building or property in several apartment buildings or residential buildings, providing utilities (with the exception of a number of cases), carrying out activities aimed at achieving the goals of managing an apartment building or for the joint use of property owners. At the same time, the HOA is a non-profit organization and is recognized as a type of TSN. The concept of “property owners' partnership” appeared on September 1, 2014 as a new organizational and legal form of non-profit organizations. TSN is a voluntary association of owners of real estate, in particular premises in a building (including an apartment building) or in several buildings, garden houses, garden or vegetable plots of land, etc. The goals of such an association and the goals of creating an HOA are similar. Based on the above, the HOA is a broader concept compared to the HOA - an association of owners of different types of real estate, while within the HOA only owners of premises in apartment buildings are united. With the advent of a new organizational and legal form of legal entities - TSN - from September 1, 2014, the legislator is not about. The creation and activities of HOAs, the legal status of its participants are still regulated by the norms of housing legislation, which are special in relation to the general provisions of civil legislation on HOAs. The charters of TSN and HOA must contain information about their name, including the words: - “association of real estate owners” for TSN; - “homeowners association” for HOA. The organizational and legal form does not always have to be indicated in the name of the organization. In cases where the law provides for the possibility of creating a type of legal entity, it is permissible to indicate only this type in the name. Considering that the HOA is created as a type of TSN, an indication in the name of the HOA of the type of its organizational and legal form is not required. The name indicates only the type - homeowners' association. Thus, when filling out an application for state registration of a legal entity when creating an HOA or to make changes to information about the legal entity contained in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, for submission to the registering authority it is necessary to indicate: “homeowners association (name).” At the same time, from May 23, 2015, the charter of a legal entity must contain information not only about its name, but also about its organizational and legal form (which in our case is TSN). In this case, the charters of HOAs created before the specified date must be brought into compliance with this requirement the first time the charters of such HOAs are changed. At the same time, the appearance of a TSN does not automatically entail the need to re-register the HOA. Moreover, in order to avoid additional social tension among citizens in matters of management of apartment buildings, the attention of state housing supervision authorities is drawn to the inadmissibility of sending demands, notifications or other types of documents to the HOA about the need to re-register the HOA, as well as about making changes to the constituent documents of the HOA in the absence of relevant grounds.
How to become a member of the HOA
All that is required from the owner of the premises is to write an application for admission. This application will then be considered at a meeting of the board members. After the application is approved by the board, the consent of the remaining participants of the partnership is obtained. The holding of the meeting is recorded in the minutes, on the basis of which the members of the board will act.
Download the Application for joining the HOA (form) (25.5 KiB, 315 hits)
If the homeowner has not reached the age of majority, on a general basis, powers are transferred to adults - parents, legal representatives of the child.
If it is impossible to attend the meeting, the right to vote is transferred by proxy. To enable voting by proxy, you must present a power of attorney and record its presence in the protocol.
Responsibilities and rights of the participant
All terms of interaction between the HOA and the new participants are fixed in the contract. The main points of the document include a list of powers and responsibilities of each party. The text of the agreement should not contradict the law and include the set of rights and obligations that are provided for in the charter documentation of the partnership.
Download a sample contract with the HOA for maintenance (109.5 KiB, 411 hits)
Owner's agreement with the HOA (form) (47.5 KiB, 331 hits)
By transferring responsibility for maintaining the technical serviceability of the equipment of the HOA, the member of the partnership receives the obligation to promptly transfer payments accrued according to the receipt.
To maintain participation in the society, the apartment owner must attend annual meetings of the organization and cast his vote for the renewal of the contract.
Members of the HOA have the right to vote when making decisions regarding the disposal of the common property of the apartment building, and can propose candidates to the board of the organization. Each participant can put forward ideas aimed at improving the house and improving living conditions.
The list of who can join the HOA includes ordinary citizens and legal entities, if the MKD includes real estate owned by organizations.
Information about the responsibilities of the partnership
According to the norms of the Housing Code (this is Article 138), this legal entity is obliged to:
- manage the house at the proper level;
- ensure the plumbing condition of the house and property;
- fulfill all requirements prescribed by housing legislation, the Charter of the organization, as well as the agreement with the owners;
- ensure the fulfillment of obligations to pay tariffs and maintain common property on the part of all owners;
- take measures to prevent abuse by third parties;
- maintain and submit reports in a timely manner;
- protect the legitimate interests of homeowners in this building in various instances;
- maintain a register, a copy of which should be sent to the city administration.
