What is the legal deadline for responding to a claim?

Communication with residents of apartment buildings, supervisory authorities, and contracting companies is one of the important areas in the work of management organizations. The response time depends on the topic of the request received. We have collected the topics of statements and the deadlines for providing a response to them in accordance with current regulations.

What information is the management company not obliged to provide to the owners?
52344

9

Time limit for consideration of a claim by law: sources of legal regulation

The legally established period for consideration of a claim or its satisfaction follows from the regulatory documents:

• Civil Code (Art. 452, Art. 810, Art. 837) regarding changes and termination of contracts, loan repayment, deposit issuance, etc.;
• Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” dated 02/07/1992 No. 2300-1 (hereinafter referred to as the Law) in terms of regulating the consideration of citizens’ claims to business entities in relation to completed and provided (or to be performed) work and services, as well as purchased goods;
• Inland Water Transport Code (Article 163), regulating the time frame for consideration of a claim by a carrier or towing company;
• Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” dated April 25, 2002 No. 40-FZ, which contains the deadlines for consideration of claims by insurance organizations.

There are other regulatory documents regulating the procedure (including timing) for considering applicants’ claims in specific areas of civil legal relations. Judicial practice, although it does not establish legal deadlines, does clarify some issues regarding the procedure for calculating them.

What to do if your request is not answered within the allotted time period

Expert opinion

Mironova Anna Sergeevna

Generalist lawyer. Specializes in family issues, civil, criminal and housing law

If the established deadlines for consideration of complaints in the housing and communal services are violated and the management company does not receive a response, citizens can file a complaint with the Housing Inspectorate or file a claim in court.

You should contact the supervisory authorities if the management company fulfills its obligations in bad faith, increases utility tariffs in violation of the law, and does not respond to applications in a timely manner.

The reasons for complaints against the management company may be different, but the main criterion is whether it is to blame for the problem.

The period for consideration of appeals by the Housing Inspectorate is 30 working days from the date of receipt of your complaint. If this condition is not met, you can file a statement about the inaction of the housing estate to the court.

The period for consideration of applications in court is 2 months - this time is allotted to the judge to make a decision. The plaintiff(s) and a representative of the management organization are invited to the meetings.

The legal period for consideration of a claim is 30 days: in what cases? Deadline for responding to a pre-trial claim

By virtue of clause 2 of Art. 314 of the Civil Code, the creditor’s claim must be presented within a reasonable time. Consideration of this requirement is carried out within a time period consistent with business customs.

The concept of custom is given in paragraph 2 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court “On the application by courts of certain provisions of Section I of Part 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation” dated June 23, 2015 No. 25. It should be understood as an established rule that has been established over time, which, however, is not enshrined in the norms current legislation.

In paragraph 2 of Art. 452 of the Civil Code contains a provision that if the deadline for responding to a proposal to amend or terminate the contract is not indicated in the claim itself, or does not follow from the law or the contract, then it should be taken equal to 1 calendar month.

Based on this norm and business customs, the period allotted for consideration of a claim is considered reasonable if it does not exceed 1 month. The deadline for responding to a claim by law is set at 30 days only in relation to a proposal by one of the parties to the transaction (claim) to amend a civil contract or to terminate it.

Will a claim be considered if it is filed before the deadline for responding to the claim and receiving this response from the counterparty has expired? Find out the answer to your question in ConsultantPlus. Get trial access to the system and start learning the material for free.

When submitting a pre-trial claim in cases where the pre-trial procedure for resolving a dispute is mandatory, it is also necessary to proceed from a reasonable period for its consideration, if the legally established time limits for providing a written response to the applicant in such cases are not provided. Since these deadlines are established by the APC (Part 5, Article 4), this rule applies only to certain types of civil law relations with the participation of an individual.

Written appeal

Citizens can contact the Criminal Code with applications and complaints in person or by mail. Most often this happens in the following situations:

1. A flooding report is required. It is recommended to immediately contact the Criminal Code in person, because delivery of letters by Russian Post takes a long time, and the deadline for submitting a report by the company will be from the moment the application is received.
2. Complaint about poor quality services. Here it is worth considering that the deadlines can be extended, because the participation of a third party is required - a resource-providing organization (water utility, gas service, heating network company, etc.).

Requirements for a written application

The main criterion when drawing up an application or claim is the completeness and accuracy of the information. It must contain the following information:

• Full name, address of the applicant;
• FULL NAME. director of the management company, its name and address;
• telephone number, email address of the applicant;
• the essence of the problem: a leak in the apartment as a result of melting snow, a leak due to the fault of neighbors above, etc.;
• requirement to draw up a corresponding act and conduct an inspection of the house at the specified address;
• the method of providing the answer;
• date of compilation and signature.

What is the deadline for responding to a claim under the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”?

The deadline for a written response to a consumer’s application is not established either by the Civil Code or by specialized legislation on the protection of consumer rights. In this regard, the practice of civil law relations develops in such a way that their participants use the deadline for responding to proposals to amend and terminate the contract, as well as the general rule on the deadline for responding to a citizen’s appeal, provided for by the law “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” dated 02.05.2006 No. 59-FZ. The period fixed by these regulations is 30 calendar days, i.e. a month.

Special deadlines are established for consideration of appeals in the form of claims from consumers - individuals. For example, such a period is established by the Rules for the provision of services for the transportation of passengers by rail, as well as cargo, luggage and cargo luggage for personal, family, household and other needs not related to business activities (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 2, 2005 No. 111 ).

At the same time, the Law provides for a number of deadlines during which the business entity must satisfy the consumer’s requirement. On the one hand, these rules for the consideration of claims do not provide for the provision of a written response, but on the other hand, they should actually contribute to a comprehensive resolution of the dispute. Thus, the claim is considered on its merits.

In what time frame must the housing and communal services provider provide answers to consumers?

In what time frame must the housing and communal services provider provide answers to consumers?

Many contractors and consumers of housing and communal services are confident that the contractor must respond to consumer requests within 30 days. This stereotype has developed due to the fact that Article 12 of the Federal Law of May 2, 2006 No. 59-FZ “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” sets exactly 30 days as the period for considering citizens’ appeals.

Part 1 of Article 12 of Federal Law No. 59-FZ dated 02.05.2006 does establish a period for consideration of citizens' appeals of 30 days, however, within the specified period, a written appeal received by a state body, local government body or official

in accordance with their competence
." At the same time, Part 1 of Article 1 of the same Federal Law dated May 2, 2006 No. 59-FZ establishes that this law “ regulates legal relations related to the exercise by a citizen of the Russian Federation (hereinafter also referred to as a citizen) of the right assigned to him by the Constitution of the Russian Federation to appeal to
state bodies and local governments ."

Thus, 30 days is the period for consideration of citizens’ appeals to state bodies and local governments, and not at all the period for consideration of appeals of any persons to any other persons.

Providers of housing and communal services are neither state bodies nor local governments, and Federal Law No. 59-FZ of May 2, 2006 does not apply to their relations with consumers. However, this does not mean that the time frame for considering consumer appeals is not regulated by law.

Such deadlines are approved by several regulatory legal acts (hereinafter referred to as NLA), including:

— Housing Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);

— Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved. RF PP dated 05/06/2011 N 354 (hereinafter referred to as Rules 354);

— Rules for the implementation of activities for the management of apartment buildings, approved. RF PP dated May 15, 2013 N 416 (hereinafter referred to as Rules 416);

— Rules for maintaining common property in an apartment building, approved. RF PP dated August 13, 2006 N 491 (hereinafter referred to as Rules 491);

— Law of the Russian Federation dated 02/07/1992 N 2300-1 “On the protection of consumer rights.”

Deadlines for responding to consumer requests

The previously cited regulations establish different deadlines for considering citizens’ appeals depending on the content of these appeals. And it should be noted that the deadlines established by these legal acts are much less than the notorious 30 days, which are often considered the approved response period.

The provider of housing and communal services is obliged to consider requests from owners and tenants of residential premises and other consumers of housing and communal services and send responses and fulfill the requirements for the following requests within the following deadlines:

1) a request for a list, volume, quality, frequency of services provided and (or) work performed for the maintenance of residential premises - no later than five working days from the date of application (paragraph “a”, paragraph 40 of Rules 491);

2) the requirement to verify the correctness of the calculation of the amount of payment, debt or overpayment for utilities, stated at a personal reception - immediately (paragraph “e”, paragraph 31 of Rules 354). Based on the results of the inspection, the Contractor is obliged to issue the applicant documents containing correctly accrued payments, certified at the request of the applicant with the signature of the manager and the seal of the Contractor;

3) an application for payment of a fine in favor of the consumer for violating the procedure for calculating fees for the maintenance of residential premises - no later than 30 days from the date of receipt of the application, the calculation must be checked and a response must be given about the decision made (Part 12 of Article 156 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);

4) an application for payment of a fine in favor of the consumer for violating the procedure for calculating fees for utility services - no later than 30 days from the date of receipt of the application, the calculation must be checked and a response must be given to the applicant (Part 6 of Article 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);

5) an application to check the condition of individual metering devices, as well as distributors - no more than ten working days from the date of receipt of the application (clause “e(2)”, clause 31 of Rules 354);

6) an application for familiarization with information about the readings of a common house meter - within one working day from the date of application (clause “e”, paragraph 31 of Rules 354);

7) request for information on the readings of common house metering devices for a period of no more than three years - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (paragraph 4, clause 34 of Rules 416);

complaint about the quality of public services - within three working days from the date of receipt of the complaint (subparagraph “k”, paragraph 31 of Rules 354);

9) requests for information for the requested billing periods on the monthly volumes of consumption of utility resources according to the readings of common house metering devices; on the total volumes of utility resources consumed in residential and non-residential premises of the house; on the volumes of utility resources calculated using utility consumption standards - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (paragraph 3, paragraph 34 of Rules 416, paragraph “r”, paragraph 31 of Rules 354);

10) request for a copy of the Act on damage to life, health and property of the owner/user of the apartment building, common property of the owners (description of the damage caused and the circumstances under which such damage was caused) - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (para. .5 clause 34 of Rule 416);

11) request for a copy of the Certificate of violation of quality or exceeding the established duration of the break in the provision of services/performance of work on the maintenance of common property, drawn up in accordance with Rules 491 - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (paragraph 6, clause 34 of Rules 416 );

12) requests for any information posted by the management organization on signs, bulletin boards in an apartment building, on stands on the premises of the management organization (including: name (company name) of the management organization; license number, license validity period, information about the body that issued the said license ; address of the location of the management authority and its representative office; operating hours, information about days and hours of reception; address of the official website on the Internet (if available); address of the official website of the State Information System of Housing and Public Utilities; contact numbers of the management organization, its representative office, email address; emergency contact numbers dispatch service; contact numbers of emergency services of resource supplying organizations; notifications about upcoming work, other events that may lead to inconvenience for owners/tenants/users of the premises of the house; notifications about changes in the amount of payment for residential premises and (or) utilities; step-by-step instructions on the procedure installation of individual metering devices; information on the deadlines for paying fees for residential premises and (or) utilities, the consequences of late and (or) incomplete payment of such fees, on the mandatory and (or) recommended deadlines for transferring readings from individual metering devices to the utility service provider; information about the State Housing Supervision body (functions, name, address, contact phone number, last name, first name and patronymic (if any) of the head); information on the sizes of prices (tariffs) to be applied when determining the amount of payment for residential premises and (or) utilities, and on the details of regulatory legal acts, decisions of general meetings of owners (if any), by which they are established; information on standards for the consumption of utility services and standards for the consumption of utility resources for the purpose of maintaining common property; information on the value of the established social norm for the consumption of electrical energy (power) for groups of households and types of residential premises if such a decision is made in a constituent entity of the Russian Federation; information leaflet on the rules for the safe use of gas at home, information on the consumer’s obligation to conclude an agreement on the maintenance and repair of indoor gas equipment) - no later than the day following the day the request was received (paragraph 2, clause 34 of Rules 416);

13) request for a copy of the Inspection Report for the provision of utility services of inadequate quality and (or) with interruptions exceeding the established duration, provided for by Rules 354 - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (paragraph 7, clause 34 of Rules 416);

14) the owner’s demands for a reduction in the cost of work performed (application for recalculation), for reimbursement of expenses to eliminate deficiencies in the work performed (service provided) on their own or by third parties, for the return of the amount of money paid for the work (service) and compensation for losses caused in connection with with refusal to fulfill the contract - within ten days from the date of receipt of the request (Article 31 of the Law of the Russian Federation of 02/07/1992 N 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”);

15) an application from the owner or another person, on whose initiative a general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building is convened, to provide a register of owners of premises in an apartment building - the register is provided within 5 days from the date of receipt of the application (Part 3.1 of Article 45 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);

16) the period for responding to other requests (applications) of owners or users of premises in apartment buildings is no more than 10 working days from the date of receipt of the corresponding request (application) (clause 36 of Rules 416);

17) a response to requests (applications) from persons who are not owners or users of premises in an apartment building is sent to the applicant within 30 calendar days from the date of registration of the request (application). The management office/homeowners association/housing cooperative may extend the period for consideration of a request (application) by no more than 30 calendar days if preparing a response requires obtaining information from other persons, notifying the applicant of the extension of the period for consideration. The notification is sent to the applicant before the expiration of the 30-day period for consideration of the request (clause 37 of Rules 416).

conclusions

As can be seen from the presented list of types of requests, the processing time for the vast majority of requests is significantly less than 30 days. It is the listed deadlines that must be observed by the contractor when considering consumer requests (requests), and not the deadline established by Federal Law No. 59-FZ of May 2, 2006.

Additionally, it is worth recalling that in accordance with paragraph 38 of Rules 416, the management organization, partnership or cooperative is required to store the request (appeal) and a copy of the response to it for 3 years

from the date of its registration.

Time limit for responding to a consumer complaint by satisfying it

The law provides the following deadlines for satisfying claims of individuals who purchase goods:

• Defects discovered after purchase must be eliminated immediately or within a period not exceeding 45 days (by mutual agreement of both parties) - clause 1 of Art. 20;
• 7 days is the period for replacing goods with defects - para. 1 clause 1 art. 21;
• within 20 days, goods with defects must be replaced if additional verification of its quality and condition is required - para. 1 clause 1 art. 21;
• Goods of inadequate quality must be replaced within 1 month, if the seller does not have the goods required for replacement - para. 2 p. 1 art. 21;
• the period required for delivery of goods to the regions of the Far North in order to replace low-quality goods - para. 3 p. 1 art. 21;
• A 10-day period is established to satisfy such consumer demands as price reduction due to product defects, return of the cost of goods, compensation for losses, etc. - Art. 22.

For failure to comply with the specified deadlines, the seller bears liability established by law, which is additional evidence of the imperative nature of compliance with the specified deadlines.

An analysis of legislative norms in a dispute between counterparties and the absence of a response to a claim was carried out by the Consultant of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Yu. Lermontov. Get free trial access to the ConsultantPlus system and get acquainted with the expert’s point of view.

Oral appeal

In emergency situations, owners or tenants can call the management company to resolve problems. It is worth considering that the company is only responsible for common property located outside the apartments.

If a faucet leaks in an apartment or the meter needs to be replaced, citizens can contact the Criminal Code or resolve the issue themselves. Installation of indoor equipment is not the responsibility of the company; the service is provided for a fee.

Expert opinion

Mironova Anna Sergeevna

Generalist lawyer. Specializes in family issues, civil, criminal and housing law

You can find out your management company number via the Internet or a help desk. If an emergency situation occurs at night and the company does not work around the clock, in this case the call is transferred to the city emergency service, which has an agreement with the management company.

The dispatcher must respond to an oral request within 5 minutes if the issue is within the competence of the management company.

Results

Thus, in most cases the legislator does not establish a time limit for sending a written response to the applicant’s claim, in connection with which business customs may be applied, according to which a period of 1 month is considered reasonable. At the same time, the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” establishes specific deadlines for satisfying the demands of applicants, which are mandatory for compliance.

Sources:

• Civil Code of the Russian Federation
• Law of the Russian Federation dated 02/07/1992 N 2300-1 “On the protection of consumer rights”
• Federal Law of April 25, 2002 N 40-FZ “On compulsory insurance of civil liability of vehicle owners”
• Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 23, 2015 N 25
• Federal Law of May 2, 2006 N 59-FZ “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation”

You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

Algorithm for sending a request to the management company

In general, the procedure for contacting a management company can be represented as the following sequence of actions:

1. Preparation of documents on which the applicant bases his claim (certificates, papers confirming his location in another place, if we are talking about recalculating fees for housing and communal services, etc.).
2. Preparation of a written application (if necessary).
3. Submitting a package of papers to the Criminal Code. A representative of the management company will have to register the appeal in a special journal, indicating the date of its receipt.
4. Waiting for the results of the application review.
5. It is mandatory to save copies of all documents (they will be useful in case of a complaint to higher authorities).