Hi, i'm lok. I keep you updated every day, so if you feel useful to your life, you can pay attention. The relationship between the estates and the owners of the sub-districts, like the neighbours who live together, does not look up and down, but contradictions often erupt because of problems of “discretion and uncertainty”: property fees are not paid in vain, revenues from public areas are not known, and maintenance funds are spent in vain. In fact, many owners do not know that by asking three key questions, the property and the owner's rights and obligations can be clarified and the property can be left to its own detriment. Today, these three “psychological tortures” have been dismantled in plain language, and each issue has a policy basis and a practical approach, and once it is finished, it is no longer feared that the property will be “disguised”。
First question: “can we give the owners a clear account of our community's public revenues?”
Elevator advertising in the community, express container rentals, temporary parking fees, and revenue from public area rentals... Who the hell is this money? Many owners think that “this is the extra income of the property”, which is, in fact, a shared income of the owner, and that the property is managed on its own behalf and cannot be appropriated or appropriated. This is also the easiest place for the property to be “obfuscated” because public revenues in a number of sub-regions have long been in the form of “property collections, property management, property decisions” and owners do not know exactly how much money they spend。
In january 2026, the public revenue management scheme for housing quarters of shanghai city was introduced, specifically requiring that public revenues must be deposited directly into the supervisory account, that the former property must not be divided into shares, that the income and expenditure must be settled at the end of the quarter, that the following quarter must be advertised by the 15th of the first month, and that the accounts must be kept for inspection in visible positions such as the district administration, the bulletin board, the entrance to each building. While policy by-laws vary slightly from one place to another, the core principle is consistent: public revenues must be transparent, and owners have the right to know and monitor。
In a real case, the hangzhou board of owners of a small district had asked the property to disclose public revenues, which had initially been given only a general “income of about 200,000 per year” with no details. The owners joined together and, in accordance with the property regulations and local regulations, repeatedly intervened and complained to the housing department, eventually forcing the property to publish detailed accounts: with an annual revenue of 180,000 for elevator advertising, 60,000 for express containers and 120,000 for temporary parking, the remaining 300,000, after deduction of reasonable management costs, were replenished by more than 50 per cent of the earmarked maintenance funds, while the remainder was used to upgrade public facilities in the sub-districts, with real benefits for the owners。
What should the owner ask and how
- to speak directly to the property industry: “please provide a breakdown of the public revenues in the small areas over the past year, including income items, amounts, objects of expenditure, management cost ratios, as well as publicity documents.”
- if the property refuses or delays, it keeps a record of communication (micro-letters, audio recordings, etc.) and then complains to the local housing department and to the street. A telephone and post office such as the pioneer station has been set up specifically to report the seizure of public revenues。
- note that the management costs of public revenues are clearly limited and cannot be determined at will by the property, generally not exceeding 10-15 per cent of the total proceeds, depending on local regulations and contracts for property services。
Second question: “does the rates and expenses for property costs correspond?”
"why is the cost of property higher than it is a year?" "what's the cost of paying for it, no sanitation, no elevators broken, no money spent?" this is the problem most often complained by owners. In fact, the cost of property is not “unconstructed” and both the rates and the range of expenses are clearly stated, and the property must be “specifically priced and priced”。
According to the administration of fees for property services issued in 2003 by the national commission for development and development and the former ministry of construction, property fees are divided into government-directed prices and market-regulated prices: ordinary dwellings are mostly subject to government-directed prices, with local price and residential sectors setting benchmark prices and floating ranges, and the property sector is not free to increase prices; high-end housing and commercial goods are subject to market-regulated prices, provided that the rates and service content are specified in the contracts for property services. And, regardless of the pricing method, the property has to be placed prominently in the sub-region to publicize the content of the service, the standards of service, the charges, and the rates that the owners can see。
There is also a clear scope for expenditure on property costs, consisting mainly of nine components: salaries and social security for management service personnel, maintenance of day-to-day operation of shared areas and facilities, cleaning and hygiene costs, conservation costs for greening, maintenance of order, office expenses, depreciation of fixed property assets, public liability insurance, and other costs with the consent of the owner. Large expenditures such as elevator repairs and outside wall renovations cannot be deducted from property charges and require funds for specialized residential maintenance。
In a typical case published by the supreme people's court, mr. Xu, the owner of guizhou, was sued for refusing to pay property fees for the quality of his house. The court ruled that mr. Xu had failed because the quality of the house was the responsibility of the developers and not the defects in the services of the property, for which the owner would pay for the services provided under the contract; in turn, if the services were seriously substandard, such as the long-term poor transport of garbage and the unmaintained fire-fighting facilities, the owner could demand a reduction in the cost of the property。
What should the owner ask and how
- ask the property industry, "what is the basis for the pricing of our small property fees? Is it government-directed or market-regulated? Can the last year's revenues and expenses be disclosed in detail?"
- reconciling property service contracts: to see whether the service standards and actual services agreed in the contract are consistent, for example, when the contract provides for the cleaning of the building twice a day and the actual cleaning takes place only once a week, which is the failure of the service。
- in the event of an increase in the price of property: the property is required to provide the approval documents of the price department, it can refuse to pay the fee without them and file a complaint with the price department; if the service fails, the evidence (photography, video recording, complaint record) is retained and the property is consulted for relief, which cannot be defended by litigation。
Third question: “funds for specialized residential maintenance, who cares? How?”
Many owners pay for “house-specific maintenance funds”, commonly referred to as “house pensions”, but most do not know who to pay, who to manage and how to use them. In fact, the ownership of the money belongs to the owner and is reserved for residential areas, repairs and renovations after the end of the maintenance of shared facilities, such as elevator repairs, waterproofing of exterior walls, fire-fighting upgrades, etc., must not be diverted。
According to the act on the management of funds for specialized residential maintenance, there are two types of management of this amount: before the establishment of the owner's conference, the local housing department was responsible for the administration, there was a designated commercial bank account and a separate account was maintained by the house's door number, and after the establishment of the owner's assembly, it could be transferred to the owner's conference, but the commercial bank must be entrusted with the opening of the account and supervised by the building department. Moreover, there are strict procedures for the use of funds: it must be recommended by the property or the owner concerned, with the consent of the owner who owns more than two thirds of the building and more than two thirds of the total, before the bank can transfer the funds after approval。
In practice, some properties may attempt to misuse maintenance funds in an irregular manner, for example, by adding maintenance costs to major maintenance projects or by applying for them without the consent of the owner. The property of a small district in beijing, which had applied for maintenance funds to replace the street lights without consulting the owner, had been found by the owner and had complained to the building department, the application had been rejected and the property had been notified of the criticism。
Owners need to note that when the balance of the maintenance funds is less than 30 per cent of the initial deposit, it is necessary to renew it in a timely manner and the renewal programme is decided by the owner's decision; and that the money cannot be used for routine maintenance, such as the replacement of light bulbs and the facilitation of sewers, which should be covered by property fees。
What should the owner ask and how
- ask the property industry: "what bank does our district have for specialized maintenance? What's the balance? Has it been used in the past? Can the project, the amount used, the approval process be publicized?”
- search for personal accounts: the balance of the maintenance funds in their name and the records of their use can be obtained through the network of officials of the local construction services, by micro-mail, or by carrying identity cards to the government hall。
- monitoring of the use process: if the property proposes to use the maintenance funds, it is necessary to confirm whether the “two-thirds” of the owners have agreed to use the funds, whether the programme and cost details have been published, and to report the use of the funds immediately to the building department for suspension of the transfer。
In addition to these three questions, owners should know about the common sense of rights
The property can not be collected by means of a “stop-and-stop” payment: the supreme people's court has made it clear that the owner is in default of payment of the property, that the property can only be collected through legal means such as mediation, litigation, arbitration, etc., and that it cannot be imposed in such a way as to affect the basic life of the owner, e. G., by suspending the use of elevator cards or door-block cards, which is illegal。
2. Distinction of the subject of responsibility: problems of housing quality (e. G., break-down of walls, sinking of the ground) to developers; problems of services in public areas (e. G., sanitation, greening, order) to find property; costs of electricity, water and gas are charged directly by the relevant entities to the owners, and the property is not charged for handling。
3. It is important to establish a proprietors ' conference: it is the owner's rights body that can elect the owner's council, oversee the work of the property, decide on such important matters as the adjustment of property costs, the use of public revenues, the use of maintenance funds, etc., and the owner's voice will be greatly enhanced with the establishment of the proprietors ' conference。
4. There are formal channels for lodging complaints about property irregularities, which, in addition to consulting with the property, can be addressed to the street, residential and price sectors, and the national unified government service people's hotline 12345 can handle property disputes, providing detailed evidence and claims。
Summary: owners defend their rights, the key to which is “understanding, evidence, reason”
In fact, the property and the owner are not opposing, and the property provides a qualified service and the owners pay their fees on time in order to build a comfortable community. In reality, however, many owners are “sniffed” by property because they do not understand policy and do not know their rights; and others use poor information from owners to profit from irregularities。
These three issues give the property “fear” not because it is deliberately difficult, but because they strike straight at the core of the industry's compliance: public revenue is to be disclosed, property costs is to be subject to compliance and maintenance funds are to be regulated. As long as owners are willing to understand the policy and dare to assert their rights to information and supervision in accordance with the law, property regulation can be undermined。
The defence of rights, of course, must also be done in a manner that does not lead to excessive behaviour, first by retaining evidence and then by legal means such as consultation, complaints, litigation, etc. At the same time, the owners must be united and actively involved in the management of the sub-districts, which should be truly open, transparent and fair, through the establishment of a conference of owners and a board of owners。
