Application to the Housing Office about apartment flooding: sample

Flood claim form

The application is an appeal from a flood victim. When compiling it, the homeowner asks to understand the reasons for what happened. The housing office employee has no right to refuse this. However, the law does not contain any indication of a rigid form. The application is drawn up in free form.

When contacting the housing office regarding the flood, the owner will receive a piece of paper, and an employee will help draw up a complaint.

Perhaps the form already has a heading indicating the person in whose name the application is being submitted. For the rest, the owner of the apartment independently and in free form sets out the circumstances of the case.

Attention! Although the document does not provide a rigid form, when drawing it up it is necessary to comply with the rules of business turnover.

Among them are required:

compose text in Russian,
errors and corrections, blots are unacceptable,
succinctly and completely state the circumstances of the case,
The document is signed by the originator and dated.

An application is submitted to the Housing Office. One copy is sufficient for acceptance. If the owner fears that his appeal will be lost or ignored, he can make a second copy and ask the receiving housing office employee to sign and date the registration.

Why is this paper needed – and who should write it?

An application for flooding or flooding of an apartment is a document drawn up by a person who has the right to use residential premises. The applicant can be both the owner of the property and the tenant (if the apartment is rented to an organization or individual entrepreneur) or the tenant (if the apartment is rented by an ordinary citizen).

This document is required for the following:

To confirm the fact of flooding of the premises. Having received the application, the management company (MC) must form a commission and check the facts stated in it.
The inspection protocol drawn up by the commission, in this case, will act as one of the pieces of evidence allowing, if necessary, to demand compensation for damage caused from the owner or tenant of the apartment, if the flooding occurred due to neighbors above, or from the management company itself, if the flooding occurred due to the fault of the management company and was associated with an accident on that part of the internal communications, for which the management company is responsible.
To subsequently file a claim. In this case, the refusal of the management company to accept the application will be additional evidence that the breakthrough occurred through the fault of the company - and it is the company that must compensate for the damage caused.

The following persons can write a flood claim:

Owner of the apartment. This usually happens if a specific residential property is used by the person indicated in the Unified State Register of Real Estate as the owner of the property.
Housing user. Here it is necessary that between the legal owner indicated in the Unified State Register and registered in Rosreest, and the user (he can be either an ordinary citizen under a housing lease agreement or an individual entrepreneur or legal entity using the apartment for accommodation of their employees or other persons under a lease agreement) there should be a corresponding agreement has been concluded, providing, among other things, the right to demand compensation for damage caused to the apartment as a result of the actions or inaction of third parties.

The need to submit an application is related to the content of Article 30 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for the owner’s obligation to maintain housing in proper order (and in this case, the application will confirm the fact that the owner fulfilled his duties, and the flood is not associated with its violations), Article 67 of the Housing Code RF (if the apartment was not privatized and was rented out under a social tenancy agreement), Article 671 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (if we are talking about commercial rental), etc.

If the application is not submitted on time, the following difficulties may arise:

The management company or the owner of the premises from which the leak occurred may dispute the causal connection between the flood and the damage caused. In this case, the owner, tenant or tenant is required to prove that the damage to his property was caused precisely during the flooding.
A commission will not be formed to draw up a protocol on the flooding and the damage caused as a result. This document itself is not mandatory from a civil law point of view, but its absence will mean that if a claim for flooding is filed in court, the plaintiff will have one less piece of evidence.

In the event that the amount of damage was determined on the basis of the opinion of an independent appraiser, drawing up both an act and a statement is not mandatory. However, in this case, the Criminal Code will be able to challenge this document, pointing out that their representative was not present at the time of the inspection and independent assessment of the damage. In some cases, courts listen to these arguments.

Contents of the Bay Statement

The content of the document may vary greatly, as it sets out the circumstances of a particular case. It will contain mandatory common elements:

Name of the organization to which the application is submitted,
The name of the manager to whom the application is being made
From whom the application is submitted,
Address of the apartment where the owner or tenant of the property lives,
A detailed description of the circumstances of the incident, indicating the time and place of discovery,
Description of the damage caused,
Please assemble a commission to inspect the premises,
Please file a flood report.

The application is signed by the person who compiled it and the date is indicated.

How is damage assessed when housing is flooded?

Despite the normative act (PP No. 354), which establishes obligated persons (MC, HOA, housing office, etc.) to assess the amount of compensation, organizations shift responsibility to a third party. Often redirection is made to independent experts.

When choosing such a company, you must be guided by the following criteria:

are part of the SRO;
availability of higher specialized education or retraining courses;
insurance for at least 300 thousand rubles;
permission to carry out the relevant work.

Step-by-step algorithm for flooding an apartment.

An employee of the organization will assess the damage incurred according to established standards. For example, if neighbors flooded the apartment, then the ceiling and walls are subject to inventory. The cost of damaged furniture and household items is calculated at average market prices, taking into account wear and tear. Experts recommend that owners provide purchase receipts.

To receive compensation when your apartment is flooded, you must contact the judicial authorities as soon as possible. However, in a number of situations, the culprit of the flood goes to peace, offering to compensate for the damage caused.

If a refusal follows, then you need to file a claim containing the following information:

Information about the victim - full name, registration address, contact information.
Information about the defendant who is being asked to compensate for the flooding of the apartment.
The amount of the claim consists of moral and material damage. If the application is satisfied, the specified amount will be collected from the perpetrator.
Circumstances of the case - a list of claims, additional factors related to the accident.
Links to current legislative norms confirming the validity of the victim’s position.

The claim template is available for download here.

What to do if your document is rejected?

If the Criminal Code refuses to accept the application, the victim should take the following steps:

Submit your application via registered mail with notification. This submission option almost always does not allow you to avoid accepting the document.
Draw up not an application, but a claim - and submit it in the same way. This will be the first step towards legal recovery of damages.

A flood statement is not a mandatory document, but its execution allows you to protect the rights of the owner or user of the property. The main thing is to follow the rules for drawing up this paper.

Who is it served to?

The addressee for submitting the application is determined in accordance with the contract for the maintenance of general building communications. As a general rule, an application for flooding is submitted to the company through which housing and communal services are provided, as well as other services, as a result of improper execution of which flooding could occur - this could be a housing office, management company, homeowners' association, etc.

For example, if a flood occurred due to rain due to leaks from the roof, the application must be submitted to the organization that is responsible for repairing and maintaining the roof of an apartment building in proper order.

How does the assessment work?

If flooding occurs, you do not need to immediately call an independent expert, since traces of the accident may appear after drying. When a company has been selected to carry out the inspection, all details must be agreed upon with the appraiser, including the date for the procedure.

The party that is at fault receives notice of the assigned expert review. The notice will be sent by mail.

It is important to understand that until a specialist appears on site, you are not allowed to eliminate the consequences of the accident on your own. An appraiser must come and record all damage to the home.

You will need to prepare some papers in advance:

personal passport;
a document confirming ownership of the apartment;
a report drawn up with the participation of the operational commission;
extract from the BTI (indicating the technical characteristics of the flooded premises);
written confirmation that the culprit was notified of the examination.

In order to most accurately determine the cost of the damage received, it is better to present all the receipts, which can be used to indicate the value of the damaged property.

For example, these could be receipts for the purchase of a TV that was damaged due to flooding. Once you have the appraiser's conclusion in hand, you can expect to receive compensation from the housing company. If the issue cannot be resolved peacefully, then you can go to court, where compensation will be recovered from the culprit.

Procedure for flooding neighbors from above

Flooding of an apartment is characterized by the penetration of moisture into the home, causing damage to property. When thinking about what to do if your neighbors flood your apartment, you should take the following steps:

recording a flooding event to file claims against potential culprits;
filling out an application;
sending a document to the operating organization to find out the reasons for the incident and make an appropriate decision.

The management committee is elected by the general meeting of all residents. It hires specialists for technical and engineering maintenance of apartment buildings.

Where to contact

An application for flooding an apartment to the management company can be submitted in person to the management company’s office, or sent by mail. The company's address is published on invoices payable for housing and communal services, information can also be found on the Internet. There is an option for a free call to the Flood Assistance Center. Available for residents of 10 cities of the Russian Federation, the phone number can be found on the website https://zaliv-help.ru. His staff will tell you what steps to take.

If moisture penetrates into the attic space of an apartment building, accompanied by the appearance of fungus, mold, and possible short circuits in the electrical network, you need to write a statement to the management company about a roof leak. Damage or wear of the roof, as a rule, is the cause of these problems.

What should be attached to the document?

The legislation does not provide for mandatory requirements regarding attachments to the document on flooding submitted to the management company. However, in practice it is considered necessary to attach the following documents (in the form of originals or copies) to the application:

Calculation of the amount of damage.
Explanations from stakeholders.
The conclusion of an appraiser's expert (in the form of a copy - the original is presented only in court), if this specialist was involved in the case.

Carrying out an examination

Independent elimination of the consequences of moisture penetration into the home is not recommended. Since an important point in establishing damage is the official assessment of damage from the flooding of the apartment. In order to fully compensate for the damage caused, you should evaluate:

what repairs will be required to bring the apartment to its original condition;
what is the total value of the property that was damaged during the flooding process.

For this purpose, an examination is initiated. An independent appraiser forms a conclusion based on the damage caused. In it, taking into account market prices, he determines the amount to be recovered from the defendant. The expert opinion is intended to compensate the guilty party for damages and is evidence of claims in the event of a dispute being resolved in court. All parties have the right to be present during the assessment process: the injured person, employees of the management company or a potential defendant.

How is it different from a complaint or claim?

The key difference between a complaint (claim) and a flood claim is the following:

If an application is submitted, the owner or user of the premises only records the fact that flooding occurred, as a result of which damage was caused to the property.
When filing a claim or complaint, in addition to the fact, it is indicated who is guilty of causing the damage. For example, the paper indicates that it was the neighbors who flooded the living space. In this case, we are talking not so much about the fact, but about the procedure for compensation.

In addition, a complaint or claim already acts as the first stage in bringing the perpetrators to justice. The statement itself does not entail any legal consequences.

From our articles you can find out what to do if the basement or entrance is flooded and the roof is leaking, if you are the culprit of the “flood” of the neighbors below, as well as how to draw up an inspection report for real estate after flooding, including non-residential premises.