How to leave a management company in a HOA or an owners' association in a management company

Housing legislation provides for several forms of managing the common property of an apartment building. The most popular options are to engage a management company for these purposes or to create a homeowners’ association.

So, which method (form) is preferable? How to switch from one control scheme to another? What to do if the management company wants to hand over the reins of government, and how to remove it in this case? The answers to all these questions are revealed in detail in this article.

The concept of HOA and management company, what is the difference

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, owners of an apartment building can, at their request, choose one of the following schemes for managing common property:

• independent performance of this function by the residents themselves (however, in this case the number of apartments should not exceed 30);
• creation of a homeowners' association (HOA);
• involvement of a third-party management company (MC).

So, for many multi-storey buildings, the last two options are especially relevant, namely: creating an HOA or attracting a management company.

Typically, a HOA (housing cooperative, TSN) means a non-profit legal entity created by uniting the owners of apartments in a residential building to manage property that is in common shared ownership.

A management company is a commercial organization that provides paid services for managing the common property of residents of an apartment building. At the same time, it carries out its activities on the basis of a trust management agreement.

In order to clearly see the difference between these two control options, their main characteristics can be reflected in the form of a table.

As can be seen from the table presented, there is a fundamental difference between the management company and the HOA. Moreover, each of these forms has its own pros and cons.

How to change the HOA to a management company

In paragraph 3 of Article 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation it is written that the owners of apartment buildings have the right at any time to change the method of managing common property and transfer these powers to another organization.

Thus, one of the significant disadvantages of HOAs is that residents need to regularly attend general meetings and make decisions on issues that sometimes require special training, experience and knowledge. Often this circumstance brings a lot of inconvenience, so the owners of some apartment buildings decide to change the method of home management and switch to a management company.

So, the change from HOA to UK is made on the basis of a decision made by all residents at the meeting. It is mandatory for all residents of the house.

Pros and cons of management company

Like any other option for managing the common property of apartment owners, a management company also has a number of advantages and disadvantages.

So, the main advantages of this method include:

• the house is managed by a team of multidisciplinary specialists who have a sufficient level of training in various housing and communal services issues;
• the presence of a developed material and technical base;
• The management company regularly monitors changes in housing legislation and responds to them in a timely manner;
• the management company is a priority participant in various government programs related to the housing and communal services sector (reimbursement of costs associated with major repairs, construction of specialized areas for children's games, etc.);
• Management companies can easily be held accountable, since the activities of these organizations are controlled by Rospotrebnadzor, the Housing Inspectorate and many other supervisory authorities;
• ensuring quality management with planning improvements for the long term, etc.

At the same time, the main disadvantages of this MKD control scheme include the following:

• Often, it is not easy for residents to control the activities of the management company, including the expenditure of targeted funds;
• in the event of termination of the contract, painful adaptation to the new form of government occurs;
• often representatives of management companies begin to take advantage of their position and improperly maintain the house;
• the complex legal nature of the trust management agreement (it contains many legal nuances and subtleties that should be taken into account when concluding such an agreement).

Is it necessary to liquidate the HOA when changing the form of house management?

It is worth noting that the current legislation does not stipulate a mandatory condition that if another method of managing an apartment building is chosen, the homeowners association must be liquidated. It follows that this issue remains at the discretion of the apartment owners. However, in practice, if residents leave the HOA, they liquidate it. This is also carried out on the basis of a decision adopted at the general meeting.

Change procedure step by step

In general, the procedure for changing an HOA to a management company involves step-by-step implementation of the following actions:

1. First of all, the initiator organizes a meeting of all other residents of the house.
2. At a meeting of homeowners, a vote is taken to choose a new form of management of common property. This procedure must comply with the rules prescribed in Article 48 of the RF Housing Code.
3. The decision made by the apartment owners is documented in a special protocol. In this case, all residents of the building must be notified of the voting results, including those who were not present at the general meeting.
4. Further, within 3 working days from the date of the decision to change the management option for the apartment building, the owner’s association must transfer technical documentation for the house, keys to common premises, as well as access codes to electronic equipment (clause 3.1 of Article 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation). All this can be given:

• a representative of the management company to which the reins of management were transferred;
• any owner of an apartment building.

1. After this, a trust management agreement is concluded with the management company, within the framework of which it is obliged to perform the functions of servicing and maintaining the common property of the residents.

It is worth keeping in mind that if within 6 months (this period is calculated from the moment the decision is made) the owners do not choose a management company, then the local government will do this by holding an open competition to select a suitable organization (clause 4 of Article 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation) .

Minutes of the meeting

Minutes must be kept at every meeting of owners, starting with the creation of the HOA.

1. This document indicates the agenda and issues that residents need to resolve.
2. The protocol contains information about the number of residents who voted for the creation of the HOA.
3. The decision of the homeowners must be written down.

If the meeting is held in absentia , then the document also indicates:

• number of ballots created;
• number of submitted ballots from residents;
• members of the commission who counted the votes.

How to remove a management company and create an HOA

Often, residents of apartment buildings decide to refuse the services of a management company and create an HOA. The reasons for this can be very different, ranging from misuse of common funds to improper fulfillment of one’s direct responsibilities for the maintenance of shared property and areas of the house.

In this case, the decision is also made at a general meeting of all residents of the house. After that, the results are documented in the appropriate protocol, on the basis of which further actions are taken.

HOA - pros and cons

The main advantages of creating a partnership include:

• apartment owners have the opportunity to influence the chosen management model, since most decisions are made at the meeting by voting;
• reduction of general household expenses through the use of additional sources of financing. According to current legislation, the HOA has the right to conduct commercial activities and use the income received to satisfy its needs;
• ensuring constant control over the process of managing the common property of apartment buildings;
• As practice shows, home maintenance is performed at a higher level, since the HOA is interested in its improvement.

However, a number of disadvantages characteristic of this form of residential building management cannot be ignored. We are talking about the following disadvantages of HOAs:

• higher fees are charged for maintaining the home. In this case, we are talking about additional fees that are organized by the residents of the house for its improvement. Not all apartment owners are happy with this situation;
• constant disagreements between residents and lack of coordination of actions;
• If there is a person in a residential building who has large debts on utility bills, his debt will be compensated by all other payers.

The procedure for transferring from a management company to a HOA

In order to replace the management company with a HOA, the following steps must be performed sequentially:

1. First, at the general meeting, a decision is made to refuse the services provided by the management company and switch to a form of management with the help of an HOA.
2. Further, on the basis of the decision made, the trust management agreement previously concluded with the Criminal Code is terminated (clause 8.2 of Article 162 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).
3. The next step will be to create an apartment owners association and register it in the prescribed manner.

The procedure for creating an HOA step by step

The instructions for creating a HOA have a specific algorithm of actions. You need to take the following steps:

1. Initially, an initiative group consisting of home owners must be created, which will deal with all the formalities.
2. Next, the initiators contact the local administration with an application to take the following actions:

• providing a list of all apartments in a particular building;
• approval of the candidacy of a representative from the district, who must be present at the meeting of residents to establish a quorum.

1. Preparation for the meeting - you need to develop a charter for the future HOA in order to immediately approve it, prepare voting sheets, etc.
2. Holding a general meeting of apartment building residents - at it the issue related to the choice of a new option for managing the house should be finally resolved, and the developed draft charter of the HOA should be adopted.
3. Registration of the partnership with the registration authority.
4. Opening a bank account, as well as sending a notice of the creation of an HOA to all regulatory authorities (Housing Inspectorate, local administration, etc.).

After all these actions, the form of management of the common property of the house is considered officially changed.

The management company does not transfer the house to the HOA, what to do?

Sometimes in practice it is quite difficult to painlessly remove a management company that cannot cope with its responsibilities and transfer these powers to the HOA.

As noted earlier, when changing the management option of an apartment building, the organization that must leave is obliged to transfer all the necessary documentation and keys to its legal successor. However, sometimes situations occur when the management company categorically refuses to transfer the house. In this case, a completely logical question arises - what to do?

The way out of this situation is for the HOA to file a claim with the court at the location of the residential building.

Summarizing all of the above, it should be noted that the legislation does not prohibit citizens from leaving the HOA, giving preference to the management company, or from changing the management company to a homeowners’ association. In both cases, it all starts with making an appropriate decision at a general meeting of residents of an apartment building.

Where to begin?

HOA - what is it and how to organize it? What is needed to create an HOA in an apartment building?

The idea of ​​creating their own organization arises among residents when they are dissatisfied with the work of the management company .

Usually this issue is dealt with by an initiative group that conducts campaigning and appoints a general meeting of residents.

This group may include not only owners, but also third parties, for example, the mayor's office.

But the main thing is that the initiators have legal or management experience.