Association of owners fees are the reality of every apartment or flat owner. In other countries the legal entity that the owners form can be called a condo, commonhold or homeowners association. In Czech Republic it is called a ‘společenství vlastníků jednotek‘ or SVJ for short. We will call it an association of owners for the remainder of this article.
Many owners who are renting their property leave thousands of CZK on the table because they have problems with the association of owners statements. Either they don’t understand the statements they receive and/or they don’t know which items the tenant should be paying.
In many cases, tenants can be asked to cover the entire bill. However, often the rent must then be reduced. Most tenants are looking at the total cost rather than only the rent.
Association of owners statement – understanding the charges
Below is a typical statement you would receive from an association of owners. You can click to get the full-size image. We will step through it’s parts (they are numbered in the example below) and explain the meaning of each. Also we identify whether it is normally paid by the tenant or the owner.
An owner needs to be aware that the association of owners statement and it’s fees that you receive are an estimate based on actual costs from the previous year. The association of owners will usually read the meters and make all calculations for the previous year for actual usage in the spring.
- Počet osob evidenční | Number of people living in the apartment – This is critical to keep accurate as many calculations are based on the number of occupants. If your flat is empty for longer than a couple of weeks be sure to notify the SVJ.
- Vodné-stočné | Cold water – Paid by: tenant
- Úklid | Common area cleaning – Paid by: owner
- Komíny | Chimney – Paid by: owner
- Prádelna | Common laundry area – Paid by: tenant
- Fond oprav | Maintenance fund – Paid by: owner (This is a fund for repairs of the common areas of the house.)
- Správ.popl. | Building management fee – Paid by: owner
- Ostatní slu | Other services – Paid by: owner or tenant depending on what is included
- Teplo | Heating – Paid by: tenant (these are the result when your heating comes from a common source in the building and the costs are shared)
- Odpadky | Garbage – Paid by: tenant
- Spol.el. | Common area electrical – Paid by: owner
- Stočné | Water distribution costs – Paid by: tenant
- Daň z nemov. | Property tax – Paid by: owner
- Hypotéka | Mortgage – Paid by: owner (this can be here if the SVJ takes a mortgage to pay for some maintenance or repair work)
- Ohřev TUV | Hot water – Paid by: tenant
- Výtah | Elevator – Paid by: tenant
- STA | TV Antennae – Paid by: tenant
- Splašky | Sewage – Paid by: tenant
- Pojištění | Insurance – Paid by: owner
- Ostatní slu | Other services – Paid by: owner or tenant depending on what is included. This can include, for example, payment of the person who represents the association of owners in Czech called the ‘předseda’.
- Započt. plocha teplo m2 | Size of the heated area of the flat – This is very important to be accurate as while some calculations are based on the number of occupants, others are based on the size of your flat.
Association of owners fees – our recommendation
What we do and recommend an rental owner does is to collect 25% to 50% more than the deposit amount monthly. This is because:
- actual association of owner costs usually go up during the year while you are still paying last year’s deposits
- the tenant may consume much more heating/electricity/water than the previous occupant
- it is extremely hard to collect additional costs after the tenant has vacated the apartment, which may have happened by the time you get your statement from the association of owners for the previous year.
Please remember that when the tenant requests a reconciliation of the time they lived in the apartment the owner is required to do this. This means they should keep very accurate records of the meter readings before and after the tenant left.
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Updated/Aktualizováno: May 21, 2015,
Hello everyone, is this division dictated by the law? For example, can I ask my tenants to pay the fond oprav on top of the actual rent, i.e. as part of the utilities fees?
Hi Gian, it’s based on agreement so if the tenant agrees to pay the ‘fond oprav’ you can charge it. Nathan
But if the fond oprav is not spent during my tenant’s stay, can he request it back when the contract ends?
Hi Dilara, No the ‘fond oprav’ is not based on usage and is not returned to the owner. It’s a reserve fund kept permanently for repairs in the building as they are needed. Nathan
Hello everyone! if the landlord does not state in the contract how much “fond oprav” is to be paid (only stating “fond oprav”), can he still ‘invoice’ tenant for this amount or withhold a paid deposit based on the “fond oprav” charges? Thank you!
Hi Ingrid, Thanks for question. As I responded to the other inquiry, if the contract specifies that the ‘fond oprav’ is paid by the tenant then the full amount would be the responsibility of the tenant, even if the association of owners changes that amount. Hope that helps. Nathan
Hello All –
Thanks for this great information.
My case is my tenant is coming now after 3 years and he is asking me to invoice him back everything was stated above under the Owner.
In the contract it was written this “Najemne cini 9000,- mesicne. K tomu najemce plati 3500,- mesicne. Toto jako zalohu na poplatky za spotrebovanou elektrickou energii, topeni, vodne a stocne, odvoz odpadu,uzivani vytahu, fond oprav a uklid spolecnych prostor.” Please advice me.
I guess your question is answered above. If the tenant sign it than it is considered as mutually agreed.
I am occupying a 6th floor appartment (under a vecne bremeno.) which has a small outside balcony/terrace. This terrace is almost 30 years old and its floor is cracked. Who should pay for the repairs…me or the SVJ
Hi Vera, Typically the exterior of the building, including balcony and terraces, are the responsibility of the SVJ. It would be good to look in the articles of association for the SVJ to get the exact separation of responsibilities. Nathan
Hello, if in the contract written monthly fees including (hot water, cold water, heating and other services) does “other services” means fond oprav? Or other services means only usage services auch as elevator for example? It is not written in the contract specifically “fond oprav”
Hello,
Thank you for your article. Renting a flat in CR for few years, I am not sure to understand if, as a tenant, I am responsible of contributing to fondu oprav based on my rental agreement.
Thank you in advance for your interpretation.
“4.3. Pronajímatel zajistí po dobu nájmu ve smyslu §2247 odst. 2 OZ nezbytné služby (vodné, stočné, zálohy na topení, údržba a osvětlení společných prostor, provoz výtahu, odvoz odpadu, provoz recepce, ostraha). Nájemce se zavazuje měsíčně platit pronajímateli zálohy na služby ve výši 4500 Kč (slovy: čtyři tisíce pět set korun českých). Zálohy se platí měsíčně předem a jsou splatné spolu s nájemným dle předchozího odstavce.”
Thank you for this useful article. Very helpful.
As owner I am finding the increase in association fees (which the owner has to pay ) in 2022 and 2023 to be very high compared to 2019 and 2020. What are the main factors driving this huge increase. As utility costs are borne by Tenants it must be other costs such as maintenance . Surely such costs can’t have more than doubled or even more ? Some explanation would be useful.
Hi Ashvin, Often the heating costs (which have gone up enormously) are included in the association fees. However, all other costs of the association of owners has gone up dramatically because of inflation. If you bought a newly constructed apartment the costs can be low to start with but within a few years there begins to be more and more maintenance costs. I hope this makes sense. Nathan
Thank you Nathan
It has got to the stage where I am getting virtually no net payments after association fees management fees and some other expenses have been deducted.
It seems like I am subsidising the tenant as owners pay most of the association fees. Are many owners in similar situation. This cannot be a sustainable situation surely?
The owner of the house where I live said that he cannot allow me to have my name in the post box. The reason is that he has already 2 post boxes and the SVJ will not leave him have another post box. The post box in these houses is coordinated by the SVJ and the process of making another is their decision. But I believe that having my name in the postbox is my right. Can you help me please?