Can water be turned off for non-payment in one apartment?

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Published: 12/25/2021

Reading time: 9 min

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The constant increase in the cost of utility services leads to the fact that citizens stop paying for them. Housing services, in turn, try to collect debts by all available means. They have the right to reduce the supply of economic services for a certain period of time, and then stop it completely. Therefore, to the question whether hot water can be turned off for non-payment, the answer will be in the affirmative. However, the procedure must be carried out within the framework of the law, without unauthorized actions of the management organization, which sometimes, unfortunately, happens.

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What to do if the water is turned off.

• 1 Legislative acts on shutting off hot water in 2020
• 2 Requirements for turning off water supply 2.1 Turning off an individual apartment

Legal side of the issue

Russian government decree No. 354 of May 6, 2011 states that utility companies can limit access to resources only if payments are overdue for at least 3 months. According to clause 119 (section 21), utility companies have the right to suspend the supply of hot water, gas, electricity in the general manner, but are required to adhere to the rules described in the Resolution. At the same time, they do not have the right to make housing unsuitable for human habitation, i.e. turn off sewerage, cold water, heating. It is also considered a violation of the Legislation if water is turned off by management company employees without written notice 30 calendar days in advance.

To suspend the supply of utilities, the resource supplying organization must have compelling reasons regulated by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. An agreement must be drawn up between the management company and consumers. All clauses are subject to execution and must not contradict the norms of legislation and legal acts.

On their basis, temporary suspension of hot water in the entire house is allowed without prior informing the residents if the following legal factors arise:

• the occurrence of an emergency situation that threatens the life and health of residents;
• carrying out repair and preventative work;
• Emergency situations, natural disasters.

There are other cases for stopping the supply of hot water to an individual consumer without warning if the client:

• creates an emergency situation for other property owners;
• illegally changes utility systems, installs heated floors in the apartment from the hot water supply network;
• unauthorized connection to the water supply pipe.

Debt collection for heating

Debt collection for housing and communal services is an integral part of the work of management companies, HOAs and RSOs. However, it is difficult to understand the nuances of the procedure on your own. Management companies, before using radical measures to turn off heating, are required to comply with the pre-trial format for resolving the dispute.

First of all, a notice of the presence of arrears is sent - as a rule, the text is indicated on the payment receipt. If there is no payment from the owner, a claim is filed.

In addition to the required details, the text of the document contains the following information:

• legal grounds for claims;
• legal consequences in the form of accrual of penalties in accordance with Article No. 155 of Part No. 14 of the Housing Code of Russia.

In this case, the debtor can react in different ways - ignoring, counterclaiming, complaining about the absence of batteries in the apartment, etc. In each situation, experts recommend consulting with a lawyer about the legality of the requirements of the Criminal Code or RSO.

But if the claim is legitimate, then the debt should be paid in order to avoid litigation, since by decision of the authorities the company has the right to forcibly collect the arrears.

Statute of limitations

An example of calculating heating fees according to PP 354.

When a debt collector goes to court against an apartment owner with a debt, he must comply with the limitation period. This period is 3 years from the date of the last payment. In this case, for each payment the time is calculated separately. If the plaintiff misses the specified period, the defendant has the right to file a petition to apply the statute of limitations.

Collection of heating arrears from pensioners and orphans

The Russian Housing Code does not provide for exemption from utility bills for pensioners and orphans. Article No. 155, clause No. 11 of the Housing Code also establishes that non-use of an apartment is not grounds for non-payment of bills. Elderly persons have the right to apply to social authorities to receive benefits in the amount of 50% of the amount of receipts for housing and communal services.

On 04/06/19, Russian Government Order No. 656-r came into force, which, along with Federal Law No. 48, regulates that representatives of orphans are obliged to take steps to preserve the housing of the ward. Thus, the guardian must take care of the child’s property and prevent its value from decreasing.

Additionally, a representative of a minor has the right to facilitate the extraction of profit from such property. Consequently, payment for heating and other utilities is carried out at the expense of the child’s income. Debt collection proceeds in the standard manner.

What can mitigate the defaulter’s guilt?

Cases in life are different. The debtor can avoid turning off the hot water tap and receive a deferment on payments if there are the following valid reasons:

1. Delay of wages upon provision of official confirmation from the place of work.
2. Low family income, not exceeding the subsistence level. In this case, you can contact the social protection authorities and obtain the status of “poor” by providing official confirmation.
3. Presence of disabled children or minors in the family. Money is needed for training, treatment, maintenance.
4. Temporary loss of employment.

In the cases described above, the defaulter has the right to contact the housing office at the place of residence and ask for an installment plan or deferment in payment of the debt. Low-income citizens are entitled to subsidies for 6 months, a one-time payment from the state to pay off utility debts.

* * *

An apartment building is a complex, multifunctional and single object. The use of all its technical, engineering and other communications, as well as infrastructure, serves a single purpose - the maintenance and maintenance of the entire facility (that is, the house), including heating of housing construction according to established rules, quality standards (for example, maintaining a certain temperature regime). In this regard, housing legislation does not exempt citizens who have been disconnected from central heating from paying for the heat losses of the heating system of the apartment building and the consumption of thermal energy on the central heating system.

Housing and communal services: accounting and taxation, No. 4, 2021

Disconnection procedure

The sanction against the debtor in the form of shutting off the hot water riser is applied 30 days after notification by letter. A warning is issued reflecting the details of the defaulter:

• FULL NAME;
• residential address;
• account number;
• debt period;
• amount of debt;
• maturity date.

A warning letter is handed to the addressee against signature or delivered by registered mail. The debtor is given time to pay the debt. Then the notification is sent a second time, 3 days before the shutdown. If the defaulter is inactive during this period of time, then the utility services will suspend water supply for a period of 1 month. If payment is not forthcoming, then the managers shut off the water riser in the apartment. If the debt is not repaid, you have the right to go to court in the future.

Supplier Responsibility

Unlawful disconnection of citizens from water supply entails administrative and, sometimes, criminal liability. Here we are talking about Article 19.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and Article 7.23 on violation of the rules for servicing the population of the Russian Federation. Involvement under these articles is punishable by a fine of one thousand Russian rubles for individuals to ten thousand rubles for legal entities.

Articles 215.1 and 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, also concerning arbitrariness and limiting the source of livelihood of the population, imply fines in the amount of eighty to two hundred thousand for officials. As mentioned above, if there are aggravating circumstances, the official may be imprisoned for a period of two years, and if his actions lead to death - for five years.

Minor fines fall within the competence of the Housing Inspectorate, while sanctions against officials and criminal liability are the domain of the judiciary.

Thus, not only respectable payers who find themselves in a difficult situation through no fault of their own can restore justice. Even debtors have legal rights, and preventive measures against them must be applied strictly in accordance with the rules and legal requirements. Otherwise, they can not only challenge the actions of the management company, but also demand punishment for it. However, it should be understood that even with the most successful outcome, no debtor is released from the obligation to repay the debt in full.

How to disconnect

The hot water pipe in the apartment is closed or the riser is welded. If this method becomes unavailable for housing office representatives, because not every owner is ready to let you into the apartment, then another option is to install a plug on the pipe in the basement. But you will need special equipment and devices to carry out the actions. Utilities themselves risk suffering damage. Although it has the right to recover in the future in court as an addition to the principal amount of the debt.

Actions to limit or restrict services must not cause harm or inconvenience to other owners.

If the water is turned off in the basement, the owner pays both the debt for services and for the installation used by the utilities. Additionally, fines and penalties for delays are imposed.

Arbitrage practice

In most constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the practice of collecting debts for heating and other utilities occurs through writ proceedings.

However, the new edition of Article No. 122 of the Code of Civil Procedure of Russia gives expanded powers to management companies, homeowners' associations and RSOs:

1. It is no longer necessary to send a warning about a heat outage. It is enough for the RSO or management company to wait 3 months from the date of the last payment to stop supplying the resource.
2. Debt collection is carried out in accordance with a court order. Thus, the legislator excluded the use of negative methods of influencing the defaulter.
3. The debtor has the right to appeal the decision, which makes it possible to change the subsequent rules of action.

To file a claim for non-contractual consumption of thermal energy in judicial practice, two conditions must be met:

• no payments for three consecutive months;
• the amount of debt does not exceed 500,000 rubles.

In the event that the amount of arrears is more than half a million, bankruptcy proceedings must be initiated to recover.

Examples from judicial practice are available here.

Is it legal to disconnect?

Housing departments can legally turn off hot water, but only if there is no full payment for 3 months. If during the specified period of time the homeowner paid for the water supply partially or contributed at least 1 ruble, then the actions of the public utilities to stop the water supply already become illegal. In this case, the amount of debt does not affect the disconnection. Another reason for illegal shutdown is lack of notifications. And twice, 30 days and 3 days before taking action.

According to Resolution No. 354, paragraph 122, utility services can disconnect or limit the supply of services, but do not have the right to violate the interests of other subscribers who pay regularly. In particular, damage their property, create any inconvenience or conditions unsuitable for the intended use of the home.

When do they have the right to turn off water for non-payment?

If a person regularly fails to pay utility bills, a person may be declared a defaulter, and the Criminal Code has the right to apply the above penalties.

There is a certain procedure for turning off water for non-payment, which is prescribed in Government Resolution No. 354.

Termination of the service is subject to the following conditions:

• bills have not been paid for 3 months or more;
• a notice to turn off the water was received and signed by the owner, but the debt was either not repaid at all or an incomplete amount was transferred;
• violation of the terms of the agreement by the owner.

Water can be turned off only if the consumer fails to pay the debt completely. The procedure is legal if the following conditions are met:

• the apartment remains suitable for living;
• there will be no damage to public communications;
• Suspension of water supply will not affect neighbors who are not in debt.

It is prohibited to turn off electricity, gas supply and sewerage for non-payment if the debt relates only to water.

How to file a complaint

The complaint is made to an official of the management company. There is no particular unified form. You can write by hand. The header contains the name of the organization, surname, first name, patronymic, address, contacts of the applicant, the essence of the claim + a link to the law (Resolution No. 354). It is important to reflect the reason for the unauthorized disconnection of the service. It happens that payment was made partially or there was no notification about the disconnection. The date and signature of the applicant are placed at the bottom of the business paper.

It happens that after filing a claim, the management company still admits its mistake and decides to supply water to the apartment again. If he ignores the consumer’s demands or gives a negative answer, then the next authorities for filing a complaint are the Prosecutor’s Office, the Housing Inspectorate.

The application is written to the manager. The details of the applicant, the name of the organization, the circumstances of the case, the fact of illegal water shutoff, the date, and the signature at the bottom of the document are written down. You should definitely attach the answer received from the Criminal Code. If the regulatory authorities also issue a negative answer, and the problem remains unresolved, and the applicant has suffered particular harm, then it is worth contacting the district court. The claim is made as follows:

1. The header contains the full name, telephone number, address of the applicant, name of the judicial organization, details of the defendant, legal address, telephone number.
2. The body of the document sets out the claims. The circumstances under which the water was turned off and the date when the management company, after filing a claim, issued its verdict are stated.
3. The date and signature are placed at the bottom.

It is important to attach to the statement of claim copies of claims with responses received from regulatory organizations.

It is important to draft your claim correctly. It might make sense to contact a lawyer.

The court will establish justice. Perhaps the plaintiff will be able to win, obtain water connection, and compensation for moral damages. Although it will be necessary to prove that utility services acted negligently, deliberately violated the rights of residents, and created a threat to life and health. Measures to cut off the water resulted in damage to their property.

Can an application be refused?

The controlling authority may give either a positive or a negative answer upon consideration of the complaint. Refusal to accept a complaint for processing may occur in cases where:

• the complaint is formatted or written incorrectly;
• there was no prior application to the Criminal Code;
• there is no reason to consider turning off water illegal.

If the document is accepted for production and an investigation into illegal actions has been carried out, then a refusal can only follow if the company has proven that it acted in relation to the debtor in accordance with the law.

The response to the complaint must be provided:

• in a written form;
• indicating the reasons for the refusal;
• indicating the norms of the articles of law that guided the institution when making a negative decision;
• with the signatures of the performer and the director, sealed.

If a refusal is received, there are two subsequent options:

• urgently pay debts and on this basis demand water connection;
• file a claim in court.

The claim is filed in court at the location of the apartment building. The filing deadline is 10 days from the date of the negative decision by the authority considering the complaint.

The planned shutdown of hot water in the summer has long become an unpleasant but familiar tradition for our country. This is justified by the fact that it is necessary to check the serviceability, eliminate problems in the water supply system, and generally prepare it for the winter period. Read our articles about how you can find out from what date it will not be hot and when it will be turned on, what are the standards for the period of preventive maintenance, as well as who and how to contact with a complaint.

Where to submit

Filing a claim is carried out by redirecting a registered letter with notification to the management company or directly to the person responsible. The paper is drawn up in 2 copies. One remains with the employee, the other with the applicant with signature.

10 days are allotted for consideration of the application and issuance of a written response.

The following organizations to solve the problem of inaction of the management company are Housing Inspectorate, Rospotrebnadzor. Employees are required to respond to the complaint within 30 days of receipt of the complaint. The last resort is the court if previous organizations do not take action or ignore the deadlines for issuing a response.