We will continue to formulate the terms of an ideal management agreement for a management company. We have already examined what the inclusion of provisions on the claims procedure for dispute resolution in the management agreement will give the management company.
Today we’ll tell you how you can use this document to simplify your debt management. Namely: what conditions should be provided in the management agreement to simplify the procedure for limiting utility services.
How to register a claim dispute resolution procedure in the management system
Methods for collecting utility debts
The specifics of paying for utility services are specified in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. Owners of residential real estate are required to pay a certain monthly fee from the moment of registration of ownership rights. Similar obligations are placed on the shoulders of persons who rent an apartment on the basis of a social tenancy agreement, that is, in cases where the apartment is not privatized.
Every year the situation regarding housing and communal services debts is changing, not for the better. The main violators are asocial categories of citizens and owners of investment apartments. The most disciplined when it comes to paying for utilities are pensioners.
We advise you to read:
- ✅ Can the lights be turned off for non-payment?
- ✅ Statement of claim for collection of debt on utility bills
- ✅ What to do if you bought an apartment with utility debts?
- ✅ Procedure for foreclosure on mortgaged property
There are several methods for collecting utility debts:
- Accrual of penalties. In accordance with the law, payments for utility services must be paid before the tenth day of each month, therefore, from the eleventh day, penalties for accumulated debts begin to accumulate;
- Restricting or suspending the provision of utility services is considered a fairly common measure that is used to force debtors to pay. When applying this method of collection, representatives of the Management Company must act in accordance with the law, namely, Resolution No. 354;
- Posting a list of debtors on a notice board or publishing in a newspaper. The effectiveness of this method is that the debtor himself will be uncomfortable with such “fame” and will decide to repay the debt as quickly as possible;
- To contact the fiscal authorities, the parties need to complete a certain list of formalities, in particular, to make sure that the owner of the apartment has really stopped making payments to the housing and communal services account;
- Transferring debt to collectors is a rather harsh measure of debt collection against defaulters, which is often used. It is worth keeping in mind that this method is not always legal;
- Eviction is considered a last resort. During such actions, representatives of the Management Company are guided by Article No. 90 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and act strictly in accordance with the norms of current legislation.
Changing the procedure for restricting and suspending public services
The utility service provider has the right to provide for a different procedure for limiting and suspending utility services.
This possibility is enshrined in clause 119 of Rule 354, according to which, unless otherwise established by federal laws, decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation or an agreement containing provisions on the provision of utility services, the contractor, in the event of incomplete payment by the consumer for utility services, has the right after a written warning (notification ) consumer-debtor to limit or suspend the provision of such utility services.
From the contents of paragraphs. “p” of clause 19 of Rule 354 follows that the conditions on the grounds and procedure for suspending and limiting the provision of utility services are essential in the agreement on the provision of utility services.
Therefore, both the management organization in the management agreement and the HOA or other housing association in the agreement on the provision of utility services can change the procedure for limiting utility services.
When is notification sent?
Apartment owners who have become defaulters must receive a notice specifying the amount and deadline for full repayment of the entire debt. This is an official document in which a claim is made against the debtor or certain information is sent. The notification comes after the first month of delay.
The notification must indicate the calculation of the debt and the accrued penalty. In this case, the recipient of the notification must note that penalties should be accrued from the second and subsequent months of delay.
When a utility company sends a debt collection letter, he states that he intends to collect the debt in accordance with the service agreement that was concluded between him and the owner of the property. A month after the debts are repaid, the housing organization or other housing and communal services provider sends another notice to the apartment owner, informing them of the repayment of the debt.
How to write the answer correctly
The procedure for drawing up is not fixed at the legislative level. There are general rules for how to respond correctly to a claim for debt payment in business correspondence:
- Provide information about the recipient and sender: name and TIN of the organization, full name. management or individual, addresses and contacts for communication.
- Insert the number of the outgoing letter and the date of compilation.
- Indicate the number and date of the demand for debt collection and details of the basis agreement.
- State the debtor’s point of view in a reasonable and reasoned manner.
- Confirm guilt and determine the payment period. Or prove innocence and give reasons.
- List the accompanying documents - calculations, payments, etc.
- Sign the sender.
A competent response letter will help avoid litigation. Here is an example of a response to an unfounded claim for debt payment:
Contents of the notice
Russian legislation does not establish an official sample of notification of arrears in payment of utility services. There is a free format for writing the document, but you still need to adhere to a business style. Threats, slander and insults against the debtor are not allowed in the text. The language in which the notice is written should be simple and understandable; you should not use ambiguous phrases, slang or obscene words. The content of the document should be concise, clear and to the point.
The recipient must pay attention to the period of consumption indicated in the notification and the correctness of the accrual of penalties. It is worth keeping in mind that a penalty accrued for the first month of late payment is considered illegal.
The notice of repayment of utility debts must include the following information :
- Details of the utility company;
- Personal data of the debtor;
- Information about the residential premises at the address of which the debt was generated;
- Amount of debt;
- The period during which the debt was formed;
- Payment period;
- Information about penalties, fines, restrictions, disconnection of the supplied service, appeal to the courts or other methods of collecting debt.
The method of presenting the warning to the debtor also plays an important role. It is quite possible that in the courtroom you will need to provide evidence of compliance with the procedure established by law, according to which the owner of the apartment must be properly informed about his debt and the timing of its repayment.
Notification can be sent in the following ways :
- Sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt;
- Personal delivery against signature indicating the date of receipt;
- Courier delivery against signature on a special form;
- Sending with the help of a notarized representative.
Sample notice of debt on utility bills WORD 14.50 KB
Notice of debt for housing and communal services WORD 12.50 KB
Pre-trial notice of debt for utilities WORD 15.00 KB
The procedure for suspending or limiting public services
1. Indicate a convenient way for you to notify owners about the upcoming shutdown.
Moreover, do not limit yourself to one method, indicate all possible methods of notification and provide that notification is made by the contractor in one of the specified methods at the choice of the contractor.
When you prescribe several methods of notification in the contract, do not forget to prepare the ground for their implementation. For example, you indicated that you can notify the owner by email. In this case, it is necessary that the email address be indicated by the owner in the details.
2. Add a condition that the owner bears the risk of not receiving notifications and other incoming correspondence.
You sent a notification to the debtor by mail, he did not receive it, but the track number shows that the letter has been waiting for him for two weeks. We advise you to consider suspending utility services upon expiration of the letter's retention period.
3. If the premises are owned by several persons (joint ownership or shared ownership), stipulate in the contract the obligation of the co-owner who received the notification to notify other co-owners.
We recommend including conditions for suspending utility services or separating them into a separate section “Procedure for suspending utility services.”
How to set the price of a management contract for an apartment building
Claim for non-payment of utilities, form, sample
The form and sample of this document are established by internal local acts of management companies. The HOA may also approve the form of such a claim. A document will have legal force only if it is sealed by the organization. The head of the management company has the right to sign the claim, and in the case of an HOA, its chairman.
The seal must be of a state standard, issued in accordance with the procedure established by law.
A sample document can be found ↵
Pre-trial notification of debt: sample form
A pre-trial notice is in many ways similar to a claim for non-payment. The main difference between these acts is that pre-trial notice is sent immediately before filing a statement of claim in court. This is a kind of “last warning” to an unscrupulous defaulter.
A pre-trial order is filed in the same manner as a claim, but there are some peculiarities. This document reflects the direct intention of the management organization or HOA to apply to a judicial authority to resolve the conflict that has arisen. You can get it in a situation where the debt lasts for more than six months.
A sample notification is available. ⇐
Results
The writer of the receivables letter can be either the authorized party under the contract (most often) or the obligated party. The document should consistently reflect information about the legal basis for the debt, as well as correctly formulate wishes and intentions regarding solving the problem with existing receivables.
You can learn more about the features of working with accounts receivable in the following articles:
- "Accounts receivable are...";
- “Structure of accounts receivable in accounting policies.”
You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.
Why debt occurs
Debt obligations entail a lot of negative consequences. They can arise under various conditions, usually due to untimely fulfillment of monetary obligations.
Utility debt may arise under the following circumstances:
- late payment of housing and communal services;
- complete non-payment;
- submission of false documents regarding the right to a housing subsidy, etc.
Debt may entail other consequences in the form of depriving a citizen of the right to receive water, electricity, gas, etc. This occurs by blocking pipes, sluices, lights, etc.
A citizen is obliged to pay monthly fees for the use of housing services, for major repairs of engineering infrastructure, individual property of an apartment building, etc.
The procedure for notification and collection of debt by the management organization from residents
The organization responsible for sending payments for housing services is a management company, which is elected by citizens at a general meeting. The debtor is notified by sending him a claim for pre-trial repayment of the debt.
If the HOA was chosen as the management method, then it is he who has the right to send such a document. The notice of collection must include the name of the organization sending it, an indication of the citizen and his place of residence, the amount of debt obligations, the procedure and terms of repayment, etc. A warning about the restriction of the rights to use public services may also be indicated.
Sample notice of debt collection in court
This notice is used not only in the field of housing and communal relations, but also in other legal relations. For example, a pre-arbitration notice may be sent in the absence (not timely delivery) of the supplied goods (under a commercial supply agreement).
Within the framework of housing legal relations, such a notification is sent to a citizen in a situation where a statement of claim has already been submitted to the court for consideration. In fact, this document is very rarely used in practice. This is due to the fact that the court independently sends these documents to the defendants in the case as a notification of the need to appear in court at a specific time.
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Debt warning form
This document is executed in writing. This form must be followed. It must indicate:
- name of the managing organization;
- title of the document (for example, pre-trial claim for late utility payments);
- indication of the debtor (this includes full name, indication of the contract, residential premises, number of registered residents, etc.);
- notification of the need to repay within the prescribed period;
- date of filing the claim and signature.
A sample declaration of debt is enshrined in the local acts of the management organization.
