Growth of debts among co-owners: HOAs file a record number of lawsuits in court
Kyiv • UNN
According to the court registry, condominiums filed 3,630 lawsuits and court orders against debtor co-owners in 2024. This is 2.7 times more than at the beginning of the full-scale war, with the largest number of cases recorded in Dnipropetrovska oblast.
As of the end of 2024, according to the court register, 3,630 lawsuits and court orders against co-owners-debtors were filed by condominiums. The number of lawsuits over debts has increased by 2 times compared to the same period before the start of a full-scale war. This is reported by Opendatabot, according to UNN.
The record year for the number of lawsuits against co-owners was 2023: then condominiums filed 1,400 lawsuits against co-owners. This may be due to the lifting of the ban on fines for utility debt at the end of 2023. However, the number of court appeals did not decrease last year. As of the end of 2024, 3.6 thousand cases against debtors had already been filed in courts. This includes both lawsuits and court orders. This is 2.7 times more than at the beginning of the full-scale war, when 1,340 such cases were filed for the entire year
According to Opendatabot, the highest number of lawsuits over condominium debts is in Dnipropetrovska oblast: 644 cases or 18% of the total number of cases last year. The statistics in Odesa region are slightly lower: 547 or 15%. Zaporizhzhia region rounds out the top three, where condominiums went to court 488 times (14%).
The practice of applying for a court order is becoming increasingly popular. Currently, such cases are considered even without summoning the parties to court: documents confirming the circumstances of the case are checked, and if the requirements are met, a court order is issued. After that, the condominium association can apply to bailiffs and collect money from the debtor.
The number of court orders has been growing from year to year since the start of the full-scale operation. In 2022, there were 685 of them, and in 2023 - 1.8 thousand. 2.2 thousand orders were issued in 2024. This is almost as many as before the full-scale invasion. Their share of the total number of orders with claims has also increased - from 51% to 62%. This indicates that after the moratorium on fines for utility debts was lifted, courts were able to issue orders for judicial penalties without prior restrictions
In addition, Opendatabot recommends a brief instruction, along with a template for a court application for condominiums.
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To file a lawsuit in court, you must have an electronic account in the electronic court. The account is registered using the electronic digital key (EDS or QES) of the head of the housing association.
The application is attached:
receipt of payment of the court fee;
a copy of the agreement with the debtor, concluded in writing (including electronic);
evidence of your fulfillment of obligations (services rendered, goods delivered, etc.);
evidence of the debtor's default (e.g., invoices, acts of acceptance of goods/services).
