Stolbom house: the number of courts with HOAs has increased almost sevenfold
In five years, the number of legal disputes with the HOA has increased 6.7 times, Izvestia found out. Most often they are related to debt and settlements, but there are also claims about the legitimacy of management and abuse of authority. The model of such partnerships does not work as a sustainable management mechanism and is increasingly becoming a source of debt, corporate and judicial conflicts, experts say. The State Duma believes that HOAs should be an instrument of representation and control on the part of owners, and complex operational functions — calculations, contractual work, interaction with contractors and resource supply organizations — should be transferred to professional management organizations.
Why are they suing the HOA
The number of legal disputes involving HOAs has been consistently increasing over the past five years: from 608 in 2021 to 4062 in 2025. These data are contained in a study by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Committee on Entrepreneurship in the Housing and Communal Services sector and the Analytica Research Center. Business. The right" (Izvestia has it). Thus, in recent years, there have been 6.7 times more disputes.
"The largest volume is generated by disputes related to debt and settlements, but corporate disputes about the legitimacy of management, the powers of HOA bodies and responsibility for debts also consistently account for a significant share," the analysts noted.
Homeowners' associations (HOAs) will be used in the management of apartment buildings. This is a type of Partnership of Real Estate Owners (TSN), a broader organizational and legal form created for the joint management of common property.
"The accumulated financial, organizational and law enforcement data on the HOA institute show that the current model is increasingly working not as a sustainable management mechanism, but as a source of debt, corporate and judicial conflicts," the analysts emphasized.
According to the Federal Tax Service, there are now 35.1 thousand people in Russia. HOA and 30.2 thousand other forms of TSN. Another 56.5 thousand . HOA and 5.1 thousand . TSN ceased to exist, and as of February 2026, 286 and 70 were in bankruptcy proceedings, respectively.
In 2024, only 8 thousand people have revenue data. HOA and 2.4 thous . TSN, indicated in the study. At the same time, the debt of HOAs, in particular, to resource organizations, exceeded revenue by 2.6 times, and for 19.9% of HOAs — by more than 30 times.
— If we were talking about a small number of abnormal organizations, the median debt index would not be so high, — said the director of the center "Analytics. Business. Pravo" by Venera Shaidullina. — However, the median of 2.6 and almost one fifth of HOAs in the area of extreme stress mean that the financial structure of the HOA as an independent business operator does not work sustainably in a significant number of cases.
The bankruptcy of the HOA means a management failure in a particular apartment building, complicated settlements with contractors, increased conflicts with owners and signals attempts to shift responsibility for the situation to the chairman of the board, added Susana Kirakosyan, Chairman of the CCI Subcommittee on business development in the field of residential real estate management.
How to change the HOA model
The institution of a HOA is an important form of self—organization of owners, but today it is increasingly faced with debt, managerial and judicial conflicts, confirmed Alexander Yakubovsky, a member of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services.
"The increase in litigation involving HOAs and median debt is a signal that the model is overloaded," he believes. — But the main task is to make the management of the house more professional and at the same time protect conscientious HOA chairmen from disproportionate personal risks.
According to Alexander Yakubovsky, the chairman should not become extreme for debts that arose due to non-payments by the owners or the general financial situation in the house.
"On the other hand, he must possess the necessary competencies and knowledge to perform his duties in good faith, when the quality of life of the owners in the house depends on it," he added.
According to a survey by the subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, 79.7% of respondents consider it absolutely unfair to assign subsidiary responsibility to the chairman for the debts of owners.
— In addition, 89.8% are confident that the application of general bankruptcy procedures to HOAs is unacceptable or requires special restrictions, — said the associate professor of the Irkutsk Law Institute (branch) Evgeny Cenotrusov University of the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. — The current model demotivates initiative citizens to participate in the management of the house due to disproportionate personal risks.
It's not about the HOA and TSN themselves, but often in the absence of relevant competencies, and often the necessary levers for pre-trial settlement of problems, says Alexander Ivanov, a leading analyst at the federal company Floors.
— There are obligations, but it becomes problematic to fulfill them, — he said. — Managing even one apartment building requires a lot of competencies, from financial to purely applied ones. It's impossible to combine them all in one or two people.
According to him, the problem is systemic and, in order to effectively develop such partnerships at the federal level, it is necessary to strengthen consulting and support work, identify best practices and replicate them throughout the country.
A more equitable model is needed, in which debts are not concentrated on one person, Susana Kirakosyan added. A mechanism for their settlement is also needed, which takes into account the peculiarities of the HOA as a form of management of an apartment building and ensures a balance of interests of owners, creditors and management bodies.
It is also necessary to clarify the status of the chairman and the board of the HOA, the limits of their responsibility, the procedure for dealing with debts and bankruptcy situations, Alexander Yakubovsky believes. Separately, it is worth developing a model in which the HOA remains an instrument of representation and control on the part of owners, and complex operational functions — calculations, contractual work, interaction with contractors and resource supply organizations — are transferred to a professional management organization.
— The task is to preserve the HOA as a form of participation of residents in the management of the house, but to make it safe, understandable and efficient, — said the parliamentarian.
According to the authors of the study, it is important to ensure a unified and understandable procedure for the participation of owners in the management of the house, eliminate the gap between members and non-members of the partnership, and clearly consolidate the structure of governing bodies.
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