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Apartment building management

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Baikal Forum 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 751 (2021) 012151 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/751/1/012151

Apartment building management

E V Krasnoyarova1
1
Irkutsk National Research Technical University, 83 Lermontov str., Irkutsk, 664074,
Russia

E-mail: krasnoyarova.65@mail.ru

Abstract. The article discusses the issues of apartment building management, analyzes the
concept of common property and opinions of landlords, examines the rights of apartment
building management bodies (general meetings of landlords), councils of apartment buildings,
as well as studies controversial aspects of law enforcement practices. The research is based on
the analysis of the law enforcement practices, including materials of the Supreme Court of the
Russian Federation, personal experience, observations of activities of the councils of apartment
buildings. The relevance of the issue is due to the lack of conditions for enforcing legal rules,
implementing specific legal mechanisms, negative law enforcement practices, numerous legal
proceedings and interpretations provided by higher judicial bodies. The work is independent and
original. It is aimed at summarizing the current law enforcement practices. The study is carried
out at the junction of constitutional, civil, and housing branches of law. The main emphasis is on
the analysis of civil law norms governing the property rights and housing relations. The works
by civil scientists (M.M. Braginsky, V. V. Vitryansky [1], O.S. Ioffe [2], E.A. Sukhanov [3]) are
used as a methodological basis. The author’s previous work deals with the issues of apartment
building management from the labor law’s perspective [4]. It seems interesting to analyze the
rights of apartment building management bodies and develop recommendations for improving
the apartment building management legislation.

Due to the transition to the market relations and creation of new forms of management, there is a need
for legal regulation of apartment building management relations. The Housing Code of the Russian
Federation [5] of 2004 establishes the rights of landlords to use, maintain and repair residential premises
and manage apartment buildings. These issues are topical, since the landlords do not know about
management problems; there are disputes between the participants in the apartment building
management relationships.
This is due to the imperfect legislation, the lack of effective legal mechanisms to exercise landlord’s
rights. They landlords do not understand their status, and lack legal knowledge. Management companies
are not able to organize their work, build relations with landlords and manage apartment buildings.
It should be noted that the owners do not always understand their legal status and, accordingly, do
not know about the rights and obligations that arise for the ownership. They limit their rights to their
apartments and are not interested in the issues of community property. Moreover, when discussing repair
issues, they try to solve issues related only to their own personal interests (entrances, hallways).
In addition to their own property (for example, apartments), the landlords own premises on the basis
of the common share ownership. Common property objects are inter-apartment staircases, staircases,
lifts, corridors, attics, basements, roofs, mechanical, electrical, sanitary and other equipment, land plots
with trees, bushes, playgrounds and other landscaping elements, other objects intended for the

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Baikal Forum 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 751 (2021) 012151 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/751/1/012151

maintenance of buildings located on the land plot. This property belongs to the landlords on the basis of
the right of common ownership.
The landlords have the right to use funds in a special account formed from major repair contributions.
They own, use and dispose of common property.
The only apartment building management body is a general meeting of landlords. It deals with the
following issues:
- reconstruction of an apartment building, construction of outbuildings and structures, the repair of
community premises, use of the overhaul fund;
- use of land plots where apartment buildings are located;
- use of community premises by other persons, conclusion of advertising contracts;
- empowering the council of an apartment building to make decisions on the minor repair of
community premises;
- conclusion of water supply, sewerage, electricity, gas supply, heating and solid municipal waste
disposal contracts with supplying companies and regional operators;
- transfer of residential premises to non-residential premises;
- other issues referred to the competence of the general meeting of landlords (Article 44 of the RF
LC) [6].
The general meeting of landlords deals with the most important issues of ownership, use and disposal
of common property objects.
It should be noted that when deciding on the disposal of common property, the consent of all
landlords is required for selling premises and reducing their area.
To transfer the premise to other persons, a decision of the general meeting of landlords is required.
This decision is made by at least 2/3 of landlords (part 1 of article 46 of the Housing Code of the Russian
Federation). [7].
The procedure for making decisions on the use of common property is established by Chapter 6 of
the Housing Code of the Russian Federation: decisions on the use of common property of landlords by
other persons are made by the general meeting of landlords.
Councils are created in apartment buildings. They are a link between the landlords and management
companies, government agencies and other organizations with which the landlords conclude contracts.
The council determines issues which are discussed by the general meeting of landlords, enforces
decisions made by the general meeting of landlords, monitors the provision of management services.
Unfortunately, the rights of landlords are often violated, and council powers are sometimes limited or
expanded, despite the fact that the legislation contains mandatory rules governing these relations.
According to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the council of an apartment building:
enforces decisions made by the general meeting of landlords;
has the right to submit questions for discussion at the general meeting of owners: common property
use procedures, maintenance and repair of common property, draft agreements on common property
objects and provision of utilities services; competences of the council and commissions, etc.;
submits proposals on apartment building management, maintenance and repair of common property
objects;
submits opinions on the terms of draft agreements proposed for discussion at the general meeting of
landlords. If landlords of the apartment building have elected a commission for evaluating draft
contracts, the opinion is submitted by the council and the commission;
monitors the provision of management services and performance of management, maintenance and
repair works, the quality of public services provided to owners and users of residential and non-
residential premises, the quality of maintenance and repair of common property premises;
submits a report at the annual general meeting of landlords;
makes decisions on the minor repair of common property objects (Article 161.1 of the Housing Code
of the Russian Federation) [8].
Thus, the council of an apartment building is an executive, organizational and informational body
that serves, enforces, controls the enforcement of decisions of the general meeting of landlords, being a

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Baikal Forum 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 751 (2021) 012151 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/751/1/012151

link between the general meeting of landlords, the management company, the overhaul fund and the
government agencies. The council of an apartment building performs its functions on a voluntary basis,
decides common property management issues. The number of landlords varies from several dozens to
several hundreds. In this regard, many organizational issues arise: when and where to hold general
meetings, how to inform landlords, how to vote, etc. Meetings are often held in courtyards, but there are
no proper conditions there. Not all owners follow voting rules. Renting a room for holding a general
meeting of landlords is expensive. To solve this problem, it is possible to use an electronic format.
Certain steps are being taken in certain regions of the Russian Federation. Thus, the Ministry of Housing
and Utilities adopted the order "On approval of the Procedure for holding general meetings of landlords,
polling and informing in an electronic form using the Unified Information and Analytical System of
Housing and Communal Services of Moscow Region" [9].
In the law enforcement practice, powers of the general meeting of landlords, the chairman and the
council are often expanded or limited.
A large number of controversial issues arise due to the violation of general meeting procedures [10].
They sometimes solve issues that are not within the competence of the general meeting of landlords
[11].
Decisions of the general meeting are void in the following cases: 1) they are made on issues that have
been on the agenda; 2) there is no quorum; 3) they are made on issues that do not fall within the
competence of the general meeting; 4) they contradict the legal and moral rules.
Disputes with management companies often arise. The management companies sometimes try to
restrict the rights of owners. For example, one management company refuses to provide access (keys)
to the basements, despite the fact that this issue had been discussed by the general meeting and the
majority of landlords voted for the provision of access to the basements. The owners wanted to exercise
control over the performance of duties by the management company, since the amount communal
payment was too large. The judge came to the conclusion that the council was deprived of the right to
control the provision of management services or the performance of maintenance works [12]. The
management company did not take into account that the owners have the right to own, use and dispose
of their property in accordance with the law.
The judicial practice shows management companies violate the right of owners of common property
to establish communal fees. For example, the State Treasury Department has operational management
rights to several apartments in an apartment building. As a result of the competition, the institution
entered into an apartment management agreement under which it was exempted from the maintenance
fees and obliged to pay only for heating services. According to the court decision, the term on the
exemption from property maintenance fee payment is void [13].
Sometimes management companies participate in the election of members of the council of an
apartment building and propose candidates for a post of the council chairman. The council is formed in
accordance with the number of entrances, floors, apartments, unless otherwise established by a decision
of the general meeting of landlords. Management companies tried to form a council by reducing the
number of owners and ignoring their interests, since the small number of members of the council is more
efficient and manageable. Court decisions often challenge these elections, the scope and term of council
powers [14].
Management companies try to declare decisions of the general meeting of landlords unlawful. They
believe that the documents on general meetings submitted by the initiators of meetings do not meet the
requirements of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the Order of the Ministry of Construction
"On approval of the requirements for the registration of minutes of general meetings of owners of
premises in apartment buildings and the procedure for sending decisions and minutes of general
meetings of landlords to the authorized executive bodies of the regions of the Russian Federation
exercising state housing supervision" [15]: the issues on the agenda have been formulated incorrectly;
the minutes of the general meeting was drawn up in violation of the requirements for the registration of
the minutes of the general meeting of landlords. For example, the management company believed that
the decision of the general meeting cannot be enforced, since it was not correct, understandable and

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Baikal Forum 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 751 (2021) 012151 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/751/1/012151

went beyond the competence of the general meeting of landlords established by the Housing Code of
the Russian Federation. They also indicated that there were no required attachments to the minutes. They
believed that the decision of the general meeting of landlords was null and void. The court rejected the
claim of the management company and obliged the management company to enforce the decision of the
general meeting of landlords [16].
An analysis of the law enforcement practice shows that in some cases management companies do
not cope with their direct responsibilities, sabotage decisions of the general meeting of landlords, do not
include important issues in voting protocols, post advertising information, mislead landlords by drawing
up protocols containing unclear and incomprehensible statements which allows them to use premises,
establish fees, rent out non-residential premises without decisions of the general meeting of landlords.
The landlords dissatisfied with the work of management companies solve these issues in different
ways. In some cases, they refuse the services of an unprofessional management company, terminate
building apartment management contracts, search for a new management company; in other cases,
councils refuse to fulfill their duties and members leave them and refuse to cooperate with management
companies, which do not perform their obligations stipulated by civil law contracts.
An example of the negative law enforcement practice is the situation when a management company
took advantage of the absence of the council, which refused to work with this company that did not
provide quality services and wanted to replace it with another one. But the landlords did not approve the
council's decision, since the management company was a structural unit of the former urban planning
public company. The management company chose three owners to the council without holding a general
meeting. Therefore, these owners approved the annual maintenance decision, solved issues on major
repairs and signed documents without legal grounds. Such situations provide an opportunity for abuse
of law by unscrupulous management companies.
To summarize, it should be noted that it is the general meeting of landlords that decides all crucial
issues of ownership, use and disposal of common property. The council of an apartment building is an
executive body that plans, controls the enforcement of decisions of the general meeting of landlords and
submits reports to annual general meetings of landlords. The council of an apartment building is
constrained by decisions of the general meeting of landlords and follows the current legislation.
The management company enforces decisions of the general meeting of landlords. To solve the
problems arising in the management of apartment buildings, it is necessary to think over procedural
mechanisms for enforcing the legal rules and creating conditions for harmonizing the interests of
landlords with government bodies and organizations entering into legal relations with them. In our
opinion, the widespread use of digital technologies can contribute to the solution of many housing and
utilities problems [17]. In addition, the Government of the Russian Federation has been implementing
measures to create conditions for the development of the digital economy in all social and economic
areas which will make it possible to boost the national competitiveness, improve the quality of life and
ensure economic growth and national sovereignty [18].

References
[1] Braginsky M M and Vitryansky V V 2011 Contract law
[2] Ioffe O S 2003 Selected works on civil law
[3] Sukhanov E A 2017 Property law: scientific and educational essay
[4] Krasnoyarova E V 2019 Management of apartment buildings: the legal status of persons in charge
International Scientific Conference on Investments, Construction, Real Estate: New
Technologies and Special-Purpose Development Priorities
[5] Housing Code of the Russian Federation N 188-FZ of December 29, 2004 (as amended on July
31, 2020)
[6] Housing Code of the Russian Federation N 188-FZ of December 29, 2004 (as amended on July
31, 2020)
[7] Rule N 5-KG19-144 "Review of judicial practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
N 1 (2020)" (approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on

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Baikal Forum 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 751 (2021) 012151 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/751/1/012151

June 10, 2020)

[8] Housing Code of the Russian Federation N 188-FZ of December 29, 2004 (as amended on July
31, 2020)
[9] Order of the Ministry of Housing and Communal Services of Moscow Region N 251-RV of
22.10.2018 (as amended on 04.08.2020) "On approval of the Procedure for holding general
meetings of appartment owners, interviewing andA informing in electronic form using the
Unified Information and Analytical System of Housing - municipal services of Moscow
region"
[10] Ruling of the First Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction N 88-17325 / 2020 of 02.07.2020,
Ruling of the Seventh Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction N 88-191 / 2019 of
21.11.2019, Ruling of the Fourth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction N 88-3387 /
2019of 04.02.2020, Ruling of the Sixth General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation N 88-11263
/ 2020 of 12.05.2020, etc.
[11] Appeal ruling of Moscow City Court No. 33-15981 / 2020 of June 16, 2020
[12] Appeal ruling of St. Petersburg City Court of January 29, 2020 N 33-3155 / 2020
[13] Ruling N 307-ES18-25783 "Review of judicial practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian
Federation N 3 (2019)" (approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian
Federation on November 27, 2019)
[14] Appeal ruling of Saratov Regional Court N 33-8959 / 2019, 2-2143 / 2019 of 13.11.2019
[15] Order of the Ministry of Construction N 44 "On approval of the requirements for the registration
of minutes of general meetings of owners of premises in apartment buildings and the procedure
for sending originals of decisions and minutes of general meetings of owners of premises in
apartment buildings to authorized executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian
Federation that state housing supervision" of January 28, 2019
[16] Appellate ruling of Chelyabinsk Regional Court N 11-4854 / 2020 of 21.07.2020
[17] Krasnoyarova E V Features of registration of labor relations in the digital economy Personnel
officer 5 pp 17-27
[18] Matveeva M 2018 Synchronization of the activity of participants during the implementation of
housing construction projects Proceedings of Universities. Investment. Construction. Real
estate 8 pp 31-41 DOI: 10.21285/2227-2917-2018-2-31-41
[19] Order of the Government of the Russian Federation N 1632-r of July 28, 2017 "On approval of
the program" Digital Economy of the Russian Federation"