New Rules for Punishing Opponents of Transfer of Houses to Their Residents

On January 16, 2019, the Milli Majlis introduced amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, which toughened penalties for non-compliance with housing legislation concerning the management of multi-apartment buildings. Judging by the text of the message of MM, previous orders of the executive power about transferring the management of houses by housing construction companies (HCC) to residents are not executed. In 2017, Turan reported that the leaders of HCC avoided the transfer of the rights to manage houses to their residents, as in this case they lose the income derived from the administration of the buildings they have built.

http://www.contact.az/ext/news/2017/6/free/Social/ru/63254.htm

The new edition of the law introduces monetary fines for violating the said legislation. According to the new rules, HCC within a month should change their legal entity and become the Association of Apartment Owners, or, take the necessary actions in accordance with the decree. Otherwise, officials will be fined at 2,000 manat, and legal entities - at 5,000 manat. But for this, the housing company must fully complete the construction of the building and the number of apartment owners in it should exceed 50%.

Changes to the Code of Administrative Offenses also concern the responsibility of municipalities, which should take measures to implement the election of managers in multi-unit buildings.

According to Article 141.4, within six months after the state acceptance of the building, its residents, who have bills of property on their apartments, must choose the form of building management. If they do not do this, the local municipality should assume the process of determining the form of government and hold a meeting of apartment owners, in which residents will choose their leaders and create an association, or prefer other forms of management in accordance with the law. If this does not happen within a year, or the decision made by the residents is not fulfilled, then the municipality should hold an open competition for the right to manage the building. If these measures are not taken on time, then the officials of the municipality will be fined at 300-500 AZN.

In case of failure to comply with other instructions of the relevant authority concerning the management of multi-apartment buildings, officials may be fined at 500-800 manat, and legal entities - at 500-2000 manat.

The decree determines the punishment of residents of such houses who do not comply with the rules for sharing the building. Those who evade payment of the fixed amount of money necessary for the management of the building can be fined an amount equal to 100-150% of the funds they have not paid.

Those who create obstacles to residents in electing the leaders of an apartment building can also be fined. Officials can be fined at 300-800 manat, and legal entities - at 1,000-2,000 manat.

The decree was made on the basis of an article on the Association of Apartment Owners (AAO) of the Housing Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, filling in the voids in this law. Under the existing law, housing companies lose their legal status exactly six months after building a house. Its authority naturally passes to the residents, i.e. an association of homeowners is being created, and this association of owners already determines for itself the form of house management, the types of necessary services and how much these services will cost them. In other words, the residents themselves determine the tariffs and manage their building, but, unfortunately, they do it on paper, because in reality construction companies are in no hurry to refuse such a profitable income item as the management of a multi-storey residential building. The residents themselves for the most part do not show such an initiative, continuing to be content with the services of the construction company. And, most importantly, the owners of cooperative multi-storey buildings, even if they wish, cannot always receive state registration as an AAO, - for example, if the building has not passed the state acceptance - and this is already a situation from a series of chronic insufficiency of the local real estate market.

In a conversation with Turan, the former project coordinator for creating a joint community of apartment owners, economist Samir Aliyev called this problem a "key" and "main" obstacle. "Owners of cooperative houses that have not passed state acceptance cannot receive state registration in status of an AAO. It turns out that even after the residents have settled, the cooperative functions legally. In our country, this is the main problem preventing the formation of condominiums. On the other hand, there is no special legislation regulating this area," the expert said.

According to the expert, in addition to the legal aspects, the problem caused by the complexity of introducing the idea of ​​AAO in Azerbaijan has mental-psychological reasons. Residents still do not want to manage their building, avoiding responsibility. It is easier for them to leave this job to the housing office, as if the work of these organizations were not far from the requirements of the same residents. Many residents of the building do not want to pay for the maintenance of the building, without understanding the benefits of running the house on their own. "The lack of awareness in this area, as well as the reluctance to take responsibility, pushes residents to the usual practice from Soviet times - they continue to pay to third parties - if not to housing operation offices, then to construction companies, preferring not to go into the question of what they pay for and how much it costs in fact.