Personal utility bill - features, requirements and example

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Sometimes there are disagreements between the owners of the premises due to late payments for utilities. In this situation, the separation of the personal account becomes an excellent way out, this is when an individual payment document is formed for each co-owner, and he pays for it independently. Articles 155 and 156 of the GC state that every resident has the right to apply to the ERIC with a request to allocate a personal account.

Features of the division of a personal account

In practice, such a need arises quite often. In a situation of co-ownership of the premises by several entities, when the personal account is registered for one of the persons, when dividing the property, personal accounts should also be divided. Thus, each co-owner will be able to pay according to their own payment document, generated on the basis of the area owned by him.

The breakdown of a personal account consists of several steps:

• breakdown of the total account into individual;
• issuance of a special document confirming the rightownership of an apartment or part of it;
• signing a social employment agreement (if necessary);
• decree on the operation of residential premises.

In what situations might such a procedure be required?

The Housing Code states that the following persons can initiate the procedure:

• citizens who are not in a family relationship at the time of application;
• each owner should have an income independent of each other.

Everyone living in an apartment consumes a certain amount of electricity, gas, water and other resources supplied by utilities. Responsibility for paying bills, as a rule, lies with the owner of the premises on which the housing is registered. But this does not mean that he is obliged to pay for all residents of the apartment, since all registered tenants have an equal share of the property, and therefore the responsibility for paying bills.

The need for splitting personal accounts may arise in a situation where the co-owners of the premises run a separate household and are not financially dependent on each other. Particularly acute is the problem of dividing a personal account for paying utility bills in shared apartments, since all residents use the resources separately and no one intends to pay for other people. In this case, the owners prefer to install individual metering devices for accurate data recording.

Non-privatizedproperty

Separation of a personal account for paying utility bills in a non-privatized apartment can be done in two ways:

On a voluntary basis, when all owners are the initiators of the procedure. In this situation, it is required to issue an agreement on the splitting of a personal account and notarize it. This document can be issued only with the support of all residents registered in the apartment. After that, you need to go to the ERIC at the place of residence and apply for the separation of payment documents

Through the court. The account can also be divided in the case when one of the residents is against. In this situation, you should file a lawsuit with the court to establish the share required for payment for each tenant and the division of a single account between co-owners. In addition, you can apply to the court if you receive a refusal to divide payments from ERIC

Important! If there is a debt due to the fact that not all residents pay their bills, the responsible owner can file a lawsuit with a demand to recover the amount of the debt from the neighbors.

Privatized housing

In accordance with the law, each owner of the premises is obliged to pay for it in a timely manner. In a situation where several people have rights to square meters, these rights are divided between them in equal shares. There are two ways to split a personal account for paying utility bills in a privatized apartment:

• on a voluntary basis;
• in court.

Voluntary division of the account is performed when all owners are ready to allocate shares in payment documents. In this situation, confirmation of shared ownership of the property is required. All parties enter into a written agreement and notarize it. After determining the share and ownership, the owners need to contact the Rosreestr authorities to obtain the relevant documents. After that, you should write an application addressed to the service provider with the requirement to divide the personal account for paying utility bills. Then the authorized bodies consider the application and make a decision on the appropriateness of this procedure.

In court, the issue is resolved in the event that not all owners agree to the division of personal accounts for utility bills. The process for the allocation of a share will be possible only by a court order. To do this, a statement of claim is submitted to the judicial authorities on the division of the procedure for using residential premises, including communal resources. Documents on shared ownership, as well as a receipt for payment of state duty, must be attached to the claim. If the claim is satisfied, the housing office must carry out the procedure for splitting the account.

ZHEK employees do not like to accept voluntary applications for splitting a personal account for paying utility bills, most often finding grounds for refusal, a more significant reason for the procedure is a court order.

Reason for rejection

The reason for refusing to divide a personal account may be:

• The presence of debt. In this case, the court may oblige the owners to repay the debt and only then satisfy the claim.
• No certificate of ownership. A resident who is not the owner of the premises does not have the right to apply to the authorities with a request to share utility bills.

Important! In a situation where not all co-owners want to share a personal account for paying utility bills, you must first file a claim with the court for recognition of ownership (in its absence), and then receive a document on shared ownership and apply with it to the court to resolve the issue.

Action algorithm

The whole process of dividing a personal account consists of the following steps:

• checking utility bills on a personal account;
• gathering a package of documents;
• appeal to the appropriate authority;
• waiting for a new payment document for each owner of the premises.

In order to get separate personal account numbers for paying utility bills, you need to contact the housing maintenance office (ZHEK) assigned to the house where the apartment owners live.

Required documents

Before you go to the housing office, you need to collect the following package of documents:

• Certificate confirming the shareownership of the apartment (in a situation where this document is missing, you should contact the notary's office, where a lawyer can make it, or go to court if one of the owners is against dividing the personal account).
• A document indicating the right to own a dwelling.
• Application demanding to share a personal account. This document is drawn up in one copy, the signatures of all co-owners are put at the bottom.

Filling out an application

When drawing up an application, it is important to indicate the following information:

• Initials of the applicant and other residents who wish to receive their own personal accounts for payment of housing and communal services.
• Data on how much each tenant owns. This information is the most important, as monthly accruals will be made on the basis of it for each individual account.
• Personal signature and initials of each co-owner of the apartment at the bottom of the application.

The account splitting procedure is carried out within 30 calendar days after the application was registered. After this period, each owner receives an individual payment document.

Sometimes there are situations when, after the due date, a single receipt for an apartment arrives. In this case, you should re-apply to the Housing Office to determine the cause.

Amount of utility bills after bill split

The amount of payment after splitting the bill depends on the number of people registered in the apartment. Howas a rule, the total amount of accruals for the month is divided into all residents in equal shares.

Example: A personal account for paying utility bills in a three-room apartment was divided between 3 owners. There is one person in each room. The total amount for the use of communal resources amounted to 10 thousand rubles a month, respectively, this amount will be divided among three owners. As a result, each of them will receive an individual payment document, which will indicate the amount equal to 3333 rubles.

This is an approximate calculation, since there is no exact formula for dividing the amount, it is important to know how utility rates are calculated. In order not to pay too much, many tenants in communal apartments install meters for water supply, electricity, and so on.

Splitting a utility bill implies making changes to the lease agreement, during this procedure, the tenant has the right to privatize the room, open a personal account to pay utility bills and deposit funds on an individual basis.

Instead of a conclusion

An important factor is that when a personal account is divided between several owners, the management company does not have the right to stop the supply of utilities, regardless of whether all owners pay the bills. The apartment has a unified system and a tenant who pays money to the account on time should not suffer.