Housing subsidy and the military mortgage: registration, calculation, refusals

What is happening

A typical situation: a serviceman completes the required period, files his documents and is refused recognition as needing housing. The reasons vary — a share in his parents' house is counted, the surrender of previous housing is not evidenced, one document is missing. A refusal can almost always be examined on its merits.

The second scenario is the calculation of the subsidy. Its size depends on the family's composition, length of service and the floor-space norm. An error in any of the three changes the sum. The housing authority's decision with its calculation is a document that can and should be checked.

The third concerns the savings-and-mortgage scheme and the targeted housing loan. Questions arise on removal from the register, on discharge before the right accrues, on demands to repay the loan, and over the fate of a flat charged to a bank.

What the law says

• The right to housing provision and its forms are set by Article 15 of Federal Law No. 76-FZ of 27 May 1998 on the Status of Servicemen, including the housing subsidy as a monetary form of provision (Article 15(16)).
• The housing authority decides on the documents whether a serviceman is in need; a refusal or removal from the register must give reasons and can be challenged in the military court.
• The size of the subsidy depends on the floor-space norm, the composition of the family and the length of military service.
• Participants in the savings-and-mortgage scheme receive a targeted housing loan; on discharge without a right to housing the funds may become repayable.
• A housing authority's decision can be challenged within three months of the day you learned of the breach; a missed deadline may be restored by the court.
• A serviceman's family members count towards housing provision, and the dispute is most often about exactly who they are.

What we do

• We review the registration documents and point out what is missing and what will trigger a refusal.
• We challenge refusals of recognition as needing housing, removal from the register and refusals of the subsidy.
• We check the subsidy calculation item by item: floor-space norm, family composition, length of service, deductions for housing already held.
• We handle savings-and-mortgage scheme cases: removal from the register, reinstatement, demands to repay the loan.
• We deal with a flat under a charge: the encumbrance, the bank's and the state's obligations, and the family's rights.
• We prepare documents for the housing commission and follow the application through to a decision.

What we need from you

• An extract from the order of enrolment and a certificate of length of service.
• The housing authority's decision: the refusal, the removal from the register or the subsidy calculation.
• Documents on the family's composition: marriage and birth certificates, registration details.
• Information about housing owned or used by you and your family members.
• Military mortgage documents: the participant's certificate, the targeted housing loan agreement, the loan agreement.
• Correspondence with the housing authority and notices of the decisions taken.