What is the salary of the chairman of the HOA: calculation features

Last modified: October 2021

The owners of housing that is part of the HOA independently determine what salary the chairman of the HOA will be assigned, taking into account the volume and list of work performed.

The work of managing the property of an apartment building, its maintenance and repair, requires constant attention. For these purposes, home owners organize an HOA and elect a board, whose responsibilities include providing a full cycle of home maintenance - from monitoring the provision of utilities and their payment to maintaining the house in technically sound condition. The chairman of the board directs the actions of the partnership.

It is planned for the residents of the house to resolve the issue of appointing the chairman of the HOA, paying him a salary or remuneration, and how to formalize payments from the point of view of law. A competent chairman is able to quickly and effectively solve problems at home, gradually improving the quality of life of all residents. In addition to a well-maintained, renovated house, the result of his work may be the representation of the interests of the HOA in government and judicial authorities, and all this takes a lot of time.

Is the chairman entitled to a salary?

In order to receive a salary in Russia, you need to conclude an employment contract. This paper confirms the employment relationship between employer and employee. But in the case of the chairman of the HOA, it is not so easy to figure out who he is.

The chairman must act for the benefit of the residents of the house and defend their rights, which means that he is an employee. But, on the other hand, he has the right to give orders himself and issue wages to other employees.

Based on this, the question arises: with whom to enter into an agreement if there is no legal entity, and the chairman meanwhile has the powers of a manager?

For a long time there was no answer to this question. The HOA chairmen set their own salaries, since the law did not regulate this area in any way.

What has changed now?

How is the chairman paid?

In 2011, a number of amendments to the Housing Code were adopted. For this reason, confusion began with the definition of the powers of the chairman. For example, the law establishes that a member of the association’s board cannot serve as the chairman of an HOA. But in reality it turns out that the chairman is chosen from among the members.

That is, it turns out that the chairman cannot work under an employment contract. What to do in this case?

This question has been very relevant for many years. It got to the point that people withdrew their candidacies, because no one wants to work for free.

Previously, Article 147 of the Housing Code was interpreted literally. Therefore, it turned out that the chairman could not work and receive a salary. But now people have realized that the interpretation of the article may be completely different. The chairman of the HOA does not receive a salary, but he is given a reward for each work. This includes repairing elevators and painting work in the entrance.

It is important to understand that such a unique salary of the HOA chairman cannot exceed 30% of the cost of the work done. That is, if the painting work costs 30,000, then the chairman will be paid a remuneration of 9 thousand rubles.

Insurance premiums

If we talk about the fact that the chairman of the HOA receives a salary or remuneration, then we must also mention insurance premiums. They must be paid by each member of the partnership.

The contributions cover the chairman's expenses. These include time, travel, light and downtime during work. After all, if no work is carried out, then the chairman does not receive his remuneration.

As a rule, contributions are included in the bill for repairs and maintenance of housing. They do not exceed 5% of the total amount, which indicates a low remuneration for the chairman.

Salary of an accountant in a homeowners association

Although HOAs are a non-profit organization, they are not exempt from accounting. Therefore, the manager is obliged to either do this work himself or hire an accountant. The accountant in the HOA becomes responsible for the formation of accounting policies, accounting and tax reporting.

How much to pay an employee is decided by the members of the partnership at a meeting. The exact amount will depend on whether the accountant is working full-time or part-time (if the accountant works part-time), how much work needs to be done, etc.

On average, the salary of an accountant in a homeowners' association in Russia varies between 10-12 thousand rubles.

How to apply

We already know that the chairman of the HOA receives a salary, or rather, remuneration, for each work done. Perhaps someone would like to assign a reward to their loved one on their own, but the law does not allow this. For this reason, it is very important to understand how the chairman’s salary is determined.

The salary of the chairman of the HOA board is arranged in a special way. As we have already said, a person holding this post does not have the right to set his own salary. For this reason, once a month a general meeting of residents is held, at which remuneration is issued to the chairman for work carried out under his leadership.

Each person present receives an invitation to the meeting. The latter specifies the time, place and date of the event. In order for the meeting to take place and the chairman of the HOA board to receive a salary, more than half of the residents must be present. If such a number of participants is not observed, then the issue of assigning remuneration for the chairman is not considered.

During the meeting, the chairman reports on the work done and names its cost. We have already said that the average salary of the chairman of the HOA should be no less than 30% of the cost of the work performed. But meeting participants can increase this percentage if they are very satisfied with the way the chairman carries out his duties.

The decision on remuneration is made by secret or open voting. Based on the results, the amount of salary for the chairman is selected.

At the end of the meeting, a protocol is drawn up, which indicates the voting process, the final result and the proposed options.

Once all formalities have been completed, the chairman can receive his remuneration. To do this, he needs to submit an application to the tax office to receive incentives for work and withdraw money from the account.

Decision on payment of remuneration

According to clause 8.1 of Art. 161.1 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the adopted decision must contain:

1. terms of payment (based on work results, after hearing the report, regardless of work results);
2. payment procedure (how, who collects funds and pays them, pays personal income tax, insurance premiums, with what frequency);
3. the procedure for determining the amount of remuneration (it is important to indicate how the amount of remuneration is determined: is it paid for each square meter, or for each owner, or for each residential premises, how are personal income taxes and insurance premiums paid).

When deciding on the payment of remuneration, it is necessary to indicate in the decision and management agreement the amount of such remuneration, as well as the frequency of its payments (month, quarter, half-year, year). In this case, it is necessary to provide that the amount of payment may vary depending on the work done, its quantity and quality, and provide for the accrual of remuneration after consideration of the report of the members and (or) the chairman of the council of the MKD.

When choosing the amount of remuneration, you must understand that taxes and fees provided for by law must be paid on the amount received, so it is better to indicate that taxes are included in the amount of remuneration, or the amount of remuneration is fixed and the stipulated amount of taxes is collected from the owners in addition to the amount of remuneration. When concluding an agreement with a management organization, it is worthwhile to provide for who calculates and pays insurance premiums and personal income tax on remuneration.

Unfortunately, there are often situations when not all owners pay the required amount of remuneration, and the final amount may not correspond to the one established by the general meeting of owners. For example, at the meeting it was decided to pay the chairman of the MKD council 10,000 rubles monthly. In fact, 8,000 rubles were collected. Where can I get the remaining amount? And what to do if suddenly in the next period the owners or part of them, who did not pay the remuneration for the previous period, paid it too, and in fact, for example, not 10,000 rubles were collected, but 12,000 or 10,800 rubles? This question remains open, since the payment of remuneration to the members and chairman of the house council lies on the conscience of the owners and depends on them. At the same time, members and the chairman of the house council have the right to go to court if payments are not made in full. The problem in this case will be that it will be necessary to go to court in relation to each specific owner.

It can be stated that if the full amount of remuneration is not collected to the members and (or) the chairman of the council of the MKD / HOA board for the established period, the amount that was actually collected is paid. In the case of collecting an amount higher than the stipulated amount, either the actually collected amount of remuneration is paid, or the amount is paid in the established amount, the remainder is returned to the owners, or the previously underpaid amount of remuneration is recalculated - provide for the procedure that seems most convenient and logical specifically for your apartment building. It should also be taken into account that the amount of personal income tax and insurance payments will be paid from the actual accrued amount of remuneration.

As an example, let us cite the Appeal Ruling of the Saratov Regional Court dated June 24, 2015 No. 33-3075 , which states that the chairman of the MKD council must be paid the amount actually collected for a certain period . Thus, “by decision of the owners of an apartment building, a monthly remuneration was established for the chairman of the council of the apartment building, paid by the owners of the premises of the apartment building to the chairman of the council of the building, in the amount of 1 ruble per 1 square meter. The decision of the general meeting of owners of an apartment building established that the amount of remuneration to the chairman of the council of an apartment building is indicated in receipts for payment of housing presented monthly to the owners of the premises of an apartment building. After payments from the owners to pay for the activities of the chairman of the house council are received to the bank account of Stroy-Service+ LLC, it transfers the actual funds received to the chairman of the house council. Under such circumstances, the arrears of remuneration to K. must be calculated from the amount actually received into the bank account of Stroy-Service+ LLC from the owners of the premises of the apartment building.

It is important to note that if remuneration is accrued through a management organization (and this is appropriately secured), then no separate agreement is necessary between the members and the chairman of the house council and such organization , and payment of the collected remuneration in full is mandatory, not depending on the presence of debt of the owners to the management organization .

Thus, the management organization “Zhilkomservice” illegally withheld funds in its account intended as remuneration for the chairman of the board of MKD. The justification given by the management organization was the lack of agreement between it and the chairman of the MKD directly. By the appeal ruling of the Perm Regional Court dated February 2, 2015 in case No. 33-731/2015, the court determined that “since the service is provided by the chairman of the board to the owners of the apartment building, and not to the Non-Profit Partnership of the Social Initiative “Zhilkomservice”, the decision of the owners was not challenged or canceled , the defendant’s argument about the absence of an agreement concluded with the plaintiff has no legal significance . The materials of the case confirm that the plaintiff fulfills the duties assigned to the chairman of the board of an apartment building by the provisions of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.”

According to the ruling of the Primorsky Regional Court dated March 31, 2014 in case No. 33-2590, “the presence of debts among the owners of the premises of an apartment building to pay utility bills to the management company does not relieve the latter from the obligation to transfer remuneration to the chairman of the Council of the house , since the management company has the right to implement the provided clause 2.2.5 of the Agreement the right to collect the specified debt from the owners in the prescribed manner.”

The management organization may disagree with the decision of the general meeting of MKD owners and refuse to include a clause on the payment of remuneration to members and (or) the chairman of the MKD board in the management agreement, since the inclusion of additional conditions is not mandatory, but is based on mutual agreement of the parties (owners and management company) .

If the management organization refuses to indicate the item “payment of remuneration” in the payment documents, the management organization will not collect funds or transfer them to members and (or) the chairman of the house council.

Since the exact procedure for collecting and paying remuneration is not provided for, various options are possible that are convenient for owners in each specific case. Of course, such options should not go beyond the law and violate someone’s rights.

One of the possibilities is to find an organization (for example, a payment center or another organization) that will issue receipts, accrue and pay remuneration for free or for a fee (and the owners will also have to spend money on this).

We assume that the general meeting cannot make a decision to directly transfer established amounts to the personal bank accounts of members and (or) the chairman of the MKD council. The transfer of funds in a manner that does not provide for accounting and the ability to determine the payer/defaulter, the payment deadline, seems to us to have been chosen not in the interests of the members and the chairman of the house council. A member or chairman of the house council has the right to go to court to collect the uncollected amounts of remuneration, and for this he or the organization needs to know who is in debt and in what amount. However, everything depends directly on the residents of the house, on the number of apartments and other features.

Theoretically, it is possible to transfer remuneration to a person chosen at the meeting, who acts voluntarily and collects, stores (including in a personal bank account) and transfers (transfers) the remuneration to the persons for whom it is intended. Such a person can be determined by the cashier, collector - as the owners decide.

However, in the last two cases, it is necessary to pay special attention to the issue of calculation and payment of personal income tax and insurance premiums.

The method of paying remuneration through a settlement center and management organization seems to us the most convenient and transparent, however, the law does not contain a prohibition on other methods of paying remuneration.

Taxes on remuneration

We all know that any income is subject to taxes. Chairman's remuneration is no exception. The person holding the post reports expenses to the tax office and provides information about remuneration there.

13% is subtracted from the total incentive amount and paid to the tax office. Only after tax has been deducted does the chairman have his salary in his hands.

Free labor

What to do if the chairman of the HOA is without a salary? How to format it correctly? Let's figure it out further. It happens that the members of the partnership do not consider it necessary to pay for the work of the chairman. People think that he doesn’t do anything, so there’s no reason to pay him.

What to do in this situation? If no meeting has been held within sixty days and the residents do not even talk about paying remuneration, then the chairman has the right to turn to the housing inspector for help. They will explain how to proceed further, and if necessary, they will help you file a lawsuit.

Usually the case is heard in the district court, so there will be no difficulties with filing an application. The chairman will contact the place of registration and pay the state fee. The application has a clear form and must contain information about the chairman, the defendant and the partnership itself.

The document must reflect the date from which the chairman stopped being paid, as well as the latter’s services to the members of the HOA. In addition, it is necessary to indicate the reasons why residents refuse to pay even the average salary to the chairman of the HOA.

The application must be signed by the chairman himself, and he must also put the seal of the partnership on it.

In addition, the claim will not be considered if there are no documents confirming the words of the chairman. Therefore, evidence of correctness is needed, for example, a protocol for the election of the chairman or reports on the work carried out.

The document must be typed on a computer or written with a black or blue ballpoint pen. If the application is in writing, the handwriting must be legible.

Unfortunately, such situations arise more and more often, and the court, as a rule, takes the side of the chairman. When the conscientious performance of the latter’s duties is confirmed, the remuneration is allocated from the overhaul fund. If the fund is empty, then the remuneration amount is included in the overhaul bill for each resident.

Nuances and pitfalls

Often, residents of a multi-storey building refuse to pay wages to the chairman of the board only because they do not know what he should actually do, what his responsibilities are in his work activities. It may seem to them that he is not doing anything, he is simply appointed as a manager, but in fact he is fiddling with a whole bunch of papers, working with those who do not pay utility bills, and so on. In order to prove to the judiciary or to the housing service that the representative actually performs all the functions assigned to him, he needs to be savvy in the law and clearly understand his responsibilities.

It is necessary to somehow popularize the activities of the leader so that residents agree to make payments to the chairman.

If the residents do not agree, then the head of the HOA can contact the housing inspectorate or the judicial authorities with a statement containing a request to receive wages. In Russian practice, the most common situations are when the court is on the side of the chairman, but this is only possible if a number of evidence is provided about the work activities of representatives of the homeowners association.

If the head of the homeowners association performs his activities only from time to time, then no judicial authority will agree to confirm his request for a permanent salary. In this case, it seems quite possible to accrue in the form of payments for activities already completed. This form of wages is considered the best from the point of view of the residents of the high-rise building being serviced, because receiving money encourages the head of the HOA to more often and more productively perform the tasks and responsibilities that are provided to him during the performance of his work activities.

Thus, it is quite possible for the chairman of the HOA to receive a salary, despite the fact that this is not provided for by Russian housing legislation. In order to receive payments for his work, the head of the partnership must simply gather residents with the question of approval of payment, and in cases where property owners refuse to make payments, he can contact the local housing inspectorate or territorial judicial authorities.

The person appointed as the chairman of the homeowners association must be aware of his responsibility. He is responsible to the residents of the serviced house by providing them with all services for home improvement, concluding contracts with service companies and other types of activities. In addition to the residents, he is responsible for all members of the partnership, because illegal activities on his part will lead to a threat to the entire Council of Owners.

Two in one

Is it possible to combine the salary of the chairman and accountant of the HOA? In 2011, a bill was passed stating that a manager cannot combine primary responsibilities with others during the same working hours. That is, it turns out that the chairman has the right to conduct accounting, but this activity will not be paid. But not everything is so sad. At the meeting, the members of the partnership can agree to increase the chairman's remuneration. It is quite possible that the latter will receive additional payments if the chairman performs work that is uncharacteristic for him.

Responsibility in case of violation of the law

1. In the best case scenario for the chairman, he will be dismissed from his post and will be able to take part in the management of the cooperative only as part of the conference.
2. For more serious cases, administrative liability is provided - fines, disqualification as a manager.
3. The final level of liability is criminal, applied in cases of actual theft or property damage of another nature. Depending on the amount of damage caused to the cooperative, the former chairman may be sent to forced labor or sentenced to imprisonment.

Many housing cooperatives are now completely uninterested in protecting their interests through the chairman and do not even hold meetings - this is an unreasonable refusal of the opportunity to obtain a legal way to effectively and quickly communicate with public utilities. You should not give up your rights, especially if they are protected by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation - the chairman is completely controlled by the cooperative.

Who increases the reward

If the salary of the HOA chairman is not agreed upon with the homeowners, then problems arise. But the same owners have the right to increase the amount of incentives. After all, only the general council of the partnership can regulate the amount of remuneration.

The HOA must act according to the charter; it is the main document. This paper is referred to if it is necessary to resolve any issues or define rules. That is, if the charter contains a clause that talks about the possibility of determining remuneration by members of the partnership, then the amount of remuneration can be any.

If the charter stipulates the maximum amount of remuneration, then what salary the chairman of the HOA will be accrued depends only on it, because it is impossible to rise above this threshold.

Apartment buildings

Article 161 of the Housing Code states that homeowners have the right to choose one of the following methods of managing their home:

1. Management Company.
2. Housing cooperative or homeowners association.
3. Direct control. This option is only available if the house is considered small apartment (less than thirty apartments).

If there is no HOA in the house, then the homeowners manage it independently. This means they are required to choose the house council. A chairman is selected from among the council members, who assumes the duties provided for in the sixth part of Article 161.

According to the Housing Code, the general council is required to pay remuneration to the chairman. That is, to the question “Does the chairman of the HOA have the right to receive a salary?” you can confidently answer “yes”. Only it will not be called a salary, but a remuneration. This should be reflected in the verdict of the meeting.

What is the amount paid?

The remuneration to the chairman of the board of an apartment building may vary in size. The exact amount of payment is determined by the owners of apartments in the building at a meeting. Most often, a fixed amount of funds is determined for this, which will be transferred by each apartment owner.

Additionally, when determining the exact remuneration for the chairman of the board of an apartment building, a percentage of the total fee or the area of ​​the building can be calculated. It is the residents of the house who decide what the amount of this payment will be. To do this, the well-being of residents is taken into account, as well as their opinion on this issue.

In some buildings, the chairman receives only a symbolic amount of funds, while in another building he can count on a full salary, so he can devote a lot of time to improving the living conditions of residents.

Who can become chairman

Since the salary of the chairman of the HOA after the changes in the housing complex began to be called a remuneration, there has been a noticeable decrease in those interested in this position. But you still need to figure out what criteria a candidate for the position must meet.

A person who has reached the age of majority can become the chairman of the HOA. This is not stated in the Housing Code, but is indicated in the general norms of the Civil Code.

Also, only a fully capable person can become the chairman of the partnership. If a person has limitations in legal capacity or is completely incompetent, then there is no chance. This is due to the fact that the position involves concluding contracts and performing actions.

To become chairman, you need to nominate yourself at a council meeting. The council, in turn, consists of members of the partnership. That is, at the meeting the issue of the composition of the council is also decided.

We can conclude that only the person who is a member of the partnership can become the chairman of the partnership. But the circle of applicants is not limited to this. The following may nominate oneself:

1. An official at an enterprise with which the HOA has a contract.
2. A person who enters into a contract with a partnership to manage an apartment building.
3. A person working under an employment contract in a partnership.
4. Member of the audit committee.

After the election of the chairman, the question arises whether the chairman of the HOA receives a salary. Based on this, the person will decide whether he needs this position or not. But if there is a need to become a chairman, then you need to know how to do it.

Who is the head of a housing cooperative?

Reference. The chairman of the housing cooperative is an official vested with a list of rights and obligations in relation to the legal entity (cooperative) being created.

Any of the owners can be chosen by voting (according to clause 1 of Article No. 119 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation), if the following is not noticed about him:

• criminal record;
• bankruptcy;
• exclusion from another housing cooperative within the last three years;
• the presence of administrative offenses that disqualify him as a leader.

The remaining candidates are admitted to the position without conditions - other than their own consent.

The chairman represents the general interests of residents and is mainly involved in monitoring how decisions of housing cooperative meetings are implemented. As an official, he bears all main types of responsibility before the law of the Russian Federation - civil, criminal and administrative.

How to apply for a position

What does the chairman of the HOA receive: salary or remuneration? We have figured it out, but it is still unclear how to fill the position.

To be able to become a chairman, you need to have housing in a certain house. This point is spelled out in Article 143 of the Housing Code. If a person rents an apartment or lives in an apartment that is rented by someone else, he cannot apply for a position.

The same article states that to join a partnership it is enough to submit an application to the chairman or the person who performs his duties.

Once you join the partnership, you need to take the next step. Namely: get on the board. The board is elected at the general meeting of the apartment building. The maximum term of the board is two years, after which elections take place again.

Article 149 of the Housing Code states that the chairman can be elected only for the period specified in the charter. Most often, both the board and the chairman are elected for the same term.

Let's derive the algorithm of actions:

1. Own housing that is located in the building where the partnership operates.
2. Write an application addressed to the chairman or the person performing the duties. This is necessary in order to join the partnership.
3. Wait until the term of office of the chairman and board ends.
4. Attend the general meeting. It is there that the issue of re-election is decided.
5. Be on the list of candidates for the position at the meeting.
6. Make as positive an impression as possible so that more participants will vote.

Everything seems simple, but in order to get on the list of candidates, you need to have the following knowledge and qualities:

1. In-depth knowledge of the legislation of our country.
2. Understand contracts and understand legal language. Without this knowledge it is impossible to work in a position.
3. Mastery of business communication style. The position involves communication with different social strata, which means that the chairman must be able to communicate with any people.

If all these skills are available, then only the social status or age of the applicant can become an obstacle to obtaining a position. Although it is not prohibited by law, they try to choose people with rich experience as chairmen. They are better at navigating situations and are able to effectively lead people, unlike young people.

The more successful a person is, the more likely he is to become chairman. High income and a good reference from the place of work also contribute to the sympathy of the board of the partnership.

Rights and obligations

Since the size, needs and characteristics of each housing cooperative vary greatly, the duties of the chairman can only be described in general terms. Most of the actions that the chairman must ensure are decided at the meeting.

Main responsibilities of the chairman:

1. Ensuring the improvement of the home and surrounding areas. For these purposes, the official has the right to independently contact, on behalf of the cooperative, municipal and private companies providing such services.
2. Conducting and organizing general meetings.
3. Dealing with financial issues, managing house accounting.
4. Consultation (reception) of residents on issues related to housing cooperatives. The chairman also forms appeals or petitions to utility services from the complaints and needs of the owners.
5. Schedules and reporting. The chairman must draw up a plan of activities and work annually, as well as prepare a report for the annual meeting.
6. Organization of repair work - in connection with this, hiring and firing of workers and specialists who are necessary for this.
7. At the stage of housing construction (usually the chairman is selected at this stage), he is obliged to advise shareholders on issues of entering into property.

There are quite a few responsibilities - for their conscientious performance, the chairman receives a salary and the opportunity to actively participate and significantly influence the functioning of the residential building.

This official has the right:

• independently monitor residents’ compliance with the rules for the operation of residential premises (while respecting the latter’s right to privacy);
• engage in personnel selection;
• in case of emergency or emergency situations, can take measures to break into premises (only with the consent of the owner);
• initiate repairs and landscaping of the territory;
• select contractors;
• resign from office at any time;
• lead and organize other members of the cooperative.

Job description

Each position has its own rules that must be followed. It does not matter at all what the chairman of the HOA receives - salary or remuneration, he must fulfill all the obligations assigned to him and know his rights.

1. A person can serve as chairman for two years. After which elections take place again.
2. The Chairman is obliged to comply with the laws of the country that are in force at the time of exercising his powers.
3. A person holding a position has no right to be negligent in his own responsibilities or to put personal gain above the interests of the partnership.
4. The chairman can give instructions to subordinates. It is important to remember that orders should not contradict local regulations and laws of our country.
5. The chairman of the partnership must supervise the activities of the board and general council.
6. The chairman can take initiative, which is aimed at improving the work of the HOA and the condition of the house.
7. The person who holds the position can represent the interests of the partnership, but a power of attorney is not required.

Chairman's check

Residents often wonder how to check the legality of the salary calculation for the chairman of the HOA. Residents especially often demonstrated distrust before changes were made to the Housing Code. Once the amendments were adopted, there were no questions about remuneration transparency. This is because the encouragement of the chairman depends entirely on the participants of the partnership. They decide what percentage the chairman will receive from the work performed.

Changes in legislation completely eliminate the possibility of salary fraud, because the manager reports on the work done not only to the board of the partnership, but also to the tax service. For this reason, you don’t have to worry about your money, because the reward calculation system is completely transparent.