The procedure for fulfilling obligations to pay utility bills is regulated by the provisions of Sec. VII LCD of the Russian Federation. Art. 153 is considered one of the key norms in this area. Let's consider it in more detail.
Responsibilities of Citizens and Organizations
Legal and physical persons must fully and timely pay utility bills and living space. The corresponding obligation, according to Part 2 of Art. 153 LCD RF, there is:
- The tenants of the premises under the social rent agreement, including the housing fund for social use. The indicated persons must pay from the date of conclusion of the agreement.
- Tenants / tenants of the premises of the municipal or state housing stock. The obligation also arises from the date of execution of the agreement.
- Members of the housing cooperative since the provision of the premises.
- Landowners from the date the law arose. In doing so, the rule provided for in Article 169 of the Code (Part 3) is taken into account.
- Persons who have accepted premises from a developer (an entity providing the construction of an apartment building) under a transfer or other act from the date of transfer. The obligation arises if the structure is put into operation. This fact must be confirmed by appropriate permission.
- Developers in relation to premises in an apartment building not provided to other persons by transfer or other act. The obligation arises from the date of granting him permission to put the facility into operation.
In accordance with the third part of Vol. 153 of the LC RF , until the settlement in the premises of the municipal and state housing funds, the costs of their maintenance are borne by the structures of local and state power, or entities authorized by them.
Explanations
Considering Art. 153 of the RF Housing Code with the comments of lawyers, it should be noted that earlier relations related to the fulfillment of obligations to pay for premises and utilities were regulated mainly by by-laws. Currently, the provisions of the norm not only have a regulatory character, but also implement the most important system-legal task. Contained in the LC RF 153, along with other provisions of Section VII, acts as a guarantee of protecting the interests of participants in the housing process.
Specificity of the norm
Part one of Art. 153 LCD RF has a general character. It stipulates that the payment of housing and communal services and housing is the duty of all entities that have entered into housing relations on the basis of an agreement or law. The procedure for its implementation is disclosed by other Codex standards. Section VII does not use a collective concept that covers all entities required to pay. It seems that all users of premises can be attributed to them. The corresponding term is used in Article 159 of the Code. The term "user" refers mainly to citizens living in municipal and state housing funds. The rules for the provision of housing services contain the concept of "consumer". This term refers to entities receiving utility bills and obliged to pay for them.
Subject Features
In the second part of the norm under consideration, a list of persons who are charged with making payments for housing and housing services is assigned. According to paragraph 1 of Art. 153 LCD RF , they are the tenants of the premises. To obtain the appropriate status, a person must conclude an agreement. From the moment of its registration, the subject becomes a liable person. Meanwhile, far from all cases, the approach established in the RF LC can be considered indisputable. Art. 153 (paragraph 2), for example, also determines when the obligation arose, the date of conclusion of the lease agreement. But it must be borne in mind that it, like social security agreements, hiring a municipal or state housing fund, is recognized as consensual. All of them must be in writing.
Such agreements are considered concluded at the time the parties reach an agreement on the essential conditions, which, in turn, should be recorded in the text of the main document. The date contained therein is considered the moment of conclusion of the transaction. Meanwhile, in practice, the lessee / tenant cannot actually operate the premises until it is provided to him.
Features of object transfer
At the time the premises are provided, keys and documentation confirming the proper condition are given to the subject (tenant / tenant). The securities, in particular, include:
- Sanitary certificate.
- Technical passports for equipment installed in the room.
- Rules for the operation of devices.
The tenant / tenant inspects the property. In the absence of comments, the parties draw up an act. From the moment of its signing, the premises are recognized as transferred for use. Accordingly, it can already be operated.
Nuances
The subject to whom the premises are transferred in accordance with the lease contract has the right to refuse to accept the object and move into it if its condition is inappropriate or unsuitable for living. In this case, assigning an obligation to a person to pay utility bills would be incorrect. If the entity that concluded the contract, unreasonably evades the acceptance of the premises, this fact is recorded in a special act. The document should reflect that the person refuses to place and sign the necessary papers without good reason. In such a situation, the obligation, which is fixed by the LC RF in Art. 153 , would have arisen since the execution of the special (commission) act. Meanwhile, the legislation does not contain norms containing requirements for the process of transferring premises. It seems that this is a significant enough gap in the norms, which should be filled.
Expert opinion
Due to the lack of rules governing the process of providing premises to a tenant, a number of lawyers suggest using the provisions of Article 611 of the Civil Code by analogy. Experts believe that it is quite logical to link the imputation of the obligation to pay for the premises and utilities on the subject from the moment the object is provided to him. Moreover, in practice, as a rule, it happens so that an employment agreement is concluded, and housing is transferred later.
However, art. 153 fixes another rule. It seems that the logic of the legislator is to encourage the employer to remove any obstacles on his part to move into the premises provided to him under the contract and to use it for its intended purpose. If, after concluding the agreement, the landlord delays the transfer of the object for some reason, then the second party to the transaction may well demand non-payment of fees for the period in which he could not operate the living space. If a dispute arises between the parties, which can only be resolved within the framework of legal proceedings, the instance considering the case must take into account specific circumstances and determine the exact date on which the property was provided to the tenant. In resolving the conflict, the court should be guided not only by general, but also by special provisions governing obligations of obligation.
Cooperative members
They receive the right to premises not in accordance with the contract, but on the basis of the fulfillment by the association of their obligations. As indicated in Article 124 of the Code (Part 2), for the introduction of a member of a cooperative, the general meeting decides on this. Accordingly, the obligation enshrined in the LC RF in Art. 153 , arises at the time of approval of the specified act by all members of the association. According to experts, it would be logical to provide that payment for the premises provided to a member of a housing cooperative should not be paid by him not from the date of the decision, but after the transfer of the property under the relevant act.
The proprietors
As indicated in paragraph 5 of Art. 153 LC RF, the obligation to pay amounts for utilities and premises arises from the owners after acquiring the right to an object. According to lawyers, this approach also cannot be called impeccable. The fact is that at the time of the acquisition of the right of ownership specified in paragraph 5 of Part 2 of Art. 153 LCD RF , is state registration. In this case, the basis of its occurrence does not matter. State registration, by virtue of the provisions of the law, is considered the only confirmation of the existence of a right. In practice, meanwhile, the assignment of responsibility to the owner to pay utility bills and other mandatory amounts occurs in different ways. For example, when buying a room as part of participation in shared construction of the MKD, the object is transferred even before the registration of the right.
Participation in shared construction
In Art. 153 of the RF Housing Code , it is indicated that the obligation to deduct payments for premises and utilities services arises when the object is transferred under the relevant act. This document acts as one of the grounds for registering the right to housing. In this case, the subject has not yet become the rightful owner, but must already fulfill the obligations stipulated by law. If the acquirer acquired the right to the premises by virtue of the contract, then the object may be transferred before state registration. Correspondingly, at the same moment the obligations enshrined in Article 153 of the Code appear. According to lawyers, it would be logical to supplement the initial wording of part two with a reference indication "unless otherwise provided in the contract or law."
Open list
The purpose of the rules enshrined in part of the second rule under review is to determine when the obligation to pay for utilities and premises appears. In this regard, it does not disclose a complete list of persons. Accordingly, the rules enshrined in part two should be applied in conjunction with other Codex norms that establish the circle of obliged entities. These, in particular, include competent (fully or partially) relatives of the owner / employer (under a social credit agreement) and co-tenants.
Innovation
P. 6, Art. 153 LCD RF was introduced relatively recently. It establishes that the obligation enshrined in part one arises:
- The subject who accepted the object under a bilateral act of acceptance from the developer. The status of a person is not specified. It seems that this entity should have the power to submit demands for the provision of premises.
- Since the transfer of the object.
Conclusion
Municipal and state housing funds are managed by regional, local and state authorities. In this regard, it is quite natural that before the housing is not transferred to specific persons on one or another legal basis, the obligations stipulated by part one of the norm under consideration are assigned to the authorized bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation or Moscow oblast at the expense of budget funds of the corresponding level. Part 3 uses the wording “before the premises of the municipal and state housing stocks”. This expression, according to experts, is not entirely correct. Within the meaning of the norm, settlement should be considered the provision of an object in the prescribed manner to authorized persons. The concretization of the moment at which the obligation stipulated by the first part ceases in public entities and at the same time arises in these entities is set forth in part 2 of the 153rd article.