Housing pension suffers from lack of motivation | Changchun free consultation lawyer

Property special maintenance funds, commonly known as "housing pension" and "major repair funds", refer to funds specifically used for the maintenance, renewal, and renovation of residential shared parts, facilities, and equipment after the warranty period expires.

Recently, the Legal Affairs Office of the People's Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, together with the Housing and Urban Rural Development Department of the autonomous region, held a legislative hearing on the draft of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Property Management Regulations. At the hearing, the deposit and use of residential special maintenance funds, as well as how to use maintenance funds in emergency situations, became one of the focuses of attention for the attendees. Changchun Free Consultation Lawyer

Recently, reporters conducted a survey on the use of "major repair funds" in Urumqi and found that many citizens have varying degrees of misunderstanding about "major repair funds". There are also many difficulties that need to be urgently studied and explored at the government level.

The difference in one word is significant

Nearly 8 years after the completion of Yashan Xintiandi Community, Xishan Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang, many exterior walls have been mottled. The owner Li Ming has come up with the idea of painting the walls with "maintenance fund".

However, although Li Ming's proposal received support from many homeowners, it was rejected by the property management company on the grounds of insufficient conditions. He was puzzled, why didn't we use the 'fund' even if it was left there?

Regarding this, Wang Gang, a property management staff member of the community, introduced that "funds" have a public welfare meaning and are generally coordinated by the government or charitable organizations. The system of special maintenance funds for residential buildings in China began in 1999, when the former Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Finance issued the "Management Measures for Maintenance Funds for Shared Facilities and Equipment in Residential Areas". In 2008, the measures were renamed as the "Management Measures for Special Maintenance Funds for Residential Buildings", and the maintenance fund was renamed as maintenance funds.

The difference in one word is significant. It is reported that in the era of maintenance funds, some communities did use this money for general maintenance projects, but the effect was not good. Although the maintenance fund has long been converted into maintenance funds, many homeowners like Li Ming still misunderstand the maintenance funds and believe that they can be used for greening, beautifying building facades, and replacing their own glass.

In fact, according to the "Regulations on the Management of Special Maintenance Funds for Residential Buildings", the funds should be used exclusively for the maintenance, renewal, and renovation of shared parts, facilities, and equipment of residential buildings after the warranty period expires, and cannot be diverted for other purposes. This can be understood as when the warranty period for various public facilities in residential buildings expires and damage occurs that affects daily life, the owners can only use the maintenance funds. Changchun Free Consultation Lawyer

After paying the maintenance funds, the Maintenance Fund Supervision Office of Urumqi Real Estate Bureau will create a separate account for each homeowner in the bank's special account, and notify them of any changes in the amount through SMS. Every year, dividends will be distributed to the homeowner based on the comprehensive income of the maintenance fund interest. The ownership of the maintenance funds belongs to the homeowner, and the government only has regulatory authority and no right to use any money. In essence, it is a 'personal deposit' and a 'pension' for shared parts and facilities and equipment after the warranty period of their own house expires. Wang Gang said that some homeowners feel unhappy when they apply to use the funds, but the property management also considers the homeowner and uses this money when the house is relatively new. So what should be done when the house is severely aged and damaged decades later?

The program is complex and difficult to use

Ms. Liu, who lives in Tianshan Garden Community in Urumqi, is currently very distressed because she lives on the top floor. In 2001, Ms. Liu and her partner purchased a top floor apartment, and over time, the roof gradually began to experience moisture and peeling. Ms. Liu contacted workers herself to carry out external wall insulation treatment on the house, but the situation did not improve. Since 2013, there have been multiple leaks in the living room, bedroom, and dining room at home. Every spring when the snow melts, the leaks become even more severe, including large areas of leaking water and peeling skin on the roof and even walls.

After multiple reflections, in July 2015, the property management company finally included the waterproofing maintenance of Ms. Liu's roof in the overall maintenance plan for that year. Based on on-site inspections, several leakage points on Ms. Liu's roof were sealed and repaired, temporarily curbing the leakage phenomenon. But the good times didn't last long. Around the Spring Festival in 2016, there was a large area of leakage and dripping around the original leakage point on Ms. Liu's roof, and the peeling of the roof surface became more severe, seriously affecting the daily life of Ms. Liu's family.

Helpless, Ms. Liu once again approached the property management company and requested the use of special maintenance funds from the property management to thoroughly re waterproof the roof. In response to this, the property management company stated that there are still many cases of leakage in the community that are more serious than Ms. Liu's house, and the use of maintenance funds must be approved by the Urumqi Property Special Maintenance Fund Supervision Office before proceeding. Moreover, according to regulations, the overall waterproofing treatment of the roof must meet two "two-thirds or more" conditions, which require the consent of more than two-thirds of the owners whose exclusive parts within the scope of use account for more than two-thirds of the total area of the building, and more than two-thirds of the total number of owners.

Ms. Liu said that in this way, I have to find the owners of the entire building and obtain the consent of the majority of them before I can use the maintenance funds. On the one hand, it is difficult to find all the owners, and on the other hand, even if the number of owners who agree is less than two-thirds, it is still not feasible.

Jia Kang (pseudonym), an employee of Xinjiang Jianhua Property Company who successfully helped homeowners apply for "major maintenance funds", told reporters that as an old "property owner", he knows the difficulty of applying. "Using maintenance funds not only requires the property company to draft a maintenance fund usage plan in the early stage, but also requires the consent of more than two-thirds of the relevant beneficiary homeowners after public announcement. After on-site investigation by the regulatory department, the overall maintenance project also needs to be publicly tendered to select the construction unit. After completion and acceptance, the regulatory department will directly transfer the maintenance funds to the construction unit.

Jia Kang said that the difficulty in applying for maintenance funds is that more than two-thirds of the relevant owners need to vote and agree, and there is enough money in the owners' accounts. Therefore, it is necessary to do a good job for each owner, explain the policies in place, and avoid delaying the application for funds and the timing of maintenance.

In the notice issued by the General Office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development and the General Office of the Ministry of Finance on further leveraging the support role of special maintenance funds for residential buildings in the renovation and renovation of old residential areas and elevators, it is mentioned that the scope and focus of the use of maintenance funds should be clarified, the voting rules for owners should be optimized, and a multi-party funding mechanism for the renovation and renovation of old residential areas and elevators should be explored. 

At present, the total amount of special maintenance funds for residential buildings in Urumqi is increasing day by day. However, as the age of commercial housing residential communities gradually increases, the degree of natural aging and damage to shared parts, facilities and equipment is becoming increasingly severe, and the use of maintenance funds has become more concentrated. Changchun Free Consultation Lawyer

In response to the difficulties faced by property owners in voting on the use of maintenance funds, the Urumqi Property Special Maintenance Fund Supervision Office has also innovated some models. For example, when property companies apply for the use of maintenance funds and solicit opinions from property owners, there are three voting methods: written signature, brushing the owner's ID card, and online voting. Improving the efficiency of maintenance fund utilization and timely use of maintenance funds to better serve homeowners, while the government actively innovates, experts also call on homeowners to participate more in home construction and accelerate the approval process of relevant procedures.

Continued payment becomes a challenge

During the interview, the reporter met Cao Zhensen, the director of the property office of Urumqi Honghui Garden Jialin Property Management, who had just completed the renovation of the house using maintenance funds. Not long ago, the community approved the use of 2.1 million yuan in maintenance funds to comprehensively renovate the waterproofing of the rooftop and the drainage system of the community. However, some owners' accounts lacked maintenance funds, so the property management company had to advance nearly 200 households to share a total of more than 30000 yuan in maintenance costs.

Everyone is happy that the house has been repaired, but it is difficult to recover the money advanced by the company, "said Cao Zhensen. Building 6 in the community used maintenance funds once two years ago, and the owner with the least maintenance funds this year only has 1.9 cents left. Each beneficiary owner must share the maintenance costs according to the building area they own, and the insufficient maintenance costs need to be paid in cash by the owner. Many owners do not understand or cooperate.

It is reported that the maintenance fund allocation in Urumqi City has reached 142 million yuan since 2003, with a utilization rate of 2.69%. Although the utilization rate is generally low, it has shown a rapid upward trend year by year. According to statistics, the maintenance fund allocation in Urumqi City in 2015 was 30.7283 million yuan, an increase of 49.59% compared to 2014.

Maria, the head of the Audit Department of the Maintenance Fund Supervision Office of the Urumqi Real Estate Bureau, said that the utilization rate of "major repair funds" may seem very low, but it is actually a "mathematical problem" that cannot be compared. Many owners of old residential areas buy houses at low prices and pay less maintenance funds. After using them a few times, the current utilization rate of maintenance funds in their accounts is nearly 100%. However, for new owners whose houses have not yet reached the warranty period or the major repair period, the utilization rate is zero.

It is reported that the "Management Measures for Special Maintenance Funds for Residential Buildings" stipulate that the maintenance, renovation, and renovation costs of shared parts, facilities, and equipment in residential buildings shall be shared by relevant owners in proportion to their respective building areas. After use, if the balance of maintenance funds is less than 30% of the initial deposit amount, it should be renewed in a timely manner.

The current challenge is the renewal of maintenance funds, "said Malia. The maintenance problem of buildings will run through the entire life cycle of the house, especially in the" elderly stage "of the house. After the warranty period of the house expires, there will be more common parts and facilities that need to be repaired, and the cost of major repairs will also be higher. Insufficient or exhausted maintenance funds will also cause more unnecessary disputes and troubles for property management. We hope that owners can face this problem and use their limited maintenance funds wisely. 

Many provinces and cities in China are still in the exploratory stage regarding issues such as how to initiate repairs when the balance of funds is insufficient, and who should take the lead in collecting renewal fees. This is the real challenge.