In the era of digital technology, when humanity has automated most processes, dependence on electricity, willy-nilly, has become very noticeable.
At the same time, the uninterrupted availability of electrical energy is very important both for enterprises and organizations, regardless of their form of ownership, and for ordinary citizens. After all, preparing food, washing clothes or getting home without electricity and, accordingly, without a stove, washing machine or elevator is not so easy for a modern person, and if we talk about people with special needs, then it is completely impossible.
If you have become a victim of illegal power switching off or simply want to find out as much as possible about why, other than non-payment, your electricity may be switched off, you can always contact our specialists. Our consultants work online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which means that you can get answers to your questions around the clock, and you won’t need to go anywhere for legal help!
You can get an answer to any of your questions without leaving your home or office, simply by using a special online chat form. Moreover, our lawyers will provide you with consultations absolutely free of charge!
Contact our specialists, and they will be happy to tell you for what reasons you can legally turn off the supply of electrical energy, where you can familiarize yourself with a sample warning form about a power outage, a power outage act or a notification form about an upcoming power outage.
Notification when resources are disabled
Notification when resources are disabled
Reasons for reducing services
Article 153 of the Housing Code obliges Russian citizens to pay their bills in full on time.
According to the agreement, the HOA is considered the contractor when providing utilities to the consumer with the right to suspend services. A reduction in supplies or a complete shutdown due to debts exceeding the two-month standard fee for one service is provided for by the head of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354.
Reference. A temporary reduction in supplies does not imply early termination of the agreement between counterparties, unless this is determined by special provisions.
Does the HOA have the right to turn off the lights for non-payment? The incomplete shutdown of resource supplies provided for by law is permitted if it is technically possible to regulate the supply from utility networks to a specific consumer. Actions that lead to infringement of bona fide subscribers are unacceptable.
The restriction period is 10 days.
Accrual of penalties
Does the partnership have the right to charge penalties?
Penalties for late payment are accrued in the amount of 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation daily (Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).
If the non-refundable loan is not repaid within 90 days, from 91 days the penalties increase to 1/130 of the rate (Note: according to the instructions of the Chairman of the Central Bank E. Nabiullina, from January 1, 2016, the refinancing rate is equal to the value of the key rate of the Bank of Russia; in August 2021 it is 10.5%).
Notification of defaulter
Does he have the right to post lists of debtors by number? The management of the partnership is obliged to inform the debtor about the application of forced sanctions. The written notice of the standard form indicates the address of the apartment, the name of the owner, the categories of unpaid services, and the amount of the resulting debt.
The requirements of the Rules for the Provision of Services allow 20 days to agree with the supplier on individual conditions for canceling an unwanted procedure or repaying a debt. A warning about the reduction or blocking of housing services with an indication of the deadlines is issued once.
The methods for delivering prescriptions have been expanded by the additions to paragraph 119 introduced by Resolution No. 1498 in December 2021. Information methods specified by law:
- Personal delivery of the notice to the consumer against signature.
- Send the warning by registered mail with confirmation of delivery.
- Adding text to the payment receipt warning about service restrictions.
- During a telephone conversation with a recording of the dialogue.
- Message via mobile network to the defaulter’s devices.
- Automated voice distribution of stationary telephone exchanges.
- E-mail, other Internet resources.
The length of the first warning period is 20 days , calculated from the day the warning was served.
Attention. Public display of an address list of debtors without the consent of the citizens mentioned in the list is referred to by law as unlawful disclosure of personal information.
Types of debt and reasons for its occurrence
Conventionally, the following types of debt can be distinguished:
- Current – formed from the 1st to the 10th of the current month. In this case, no penalties are applied.
- Overdue – begins on the 11th day of the month following the reporting month.
- Up to three months – may be caused by unforeseen financial difficulties. No work is carried out with the defaulter at this stage, but penalties are charged.
- Up to a year – deliberate evasion of payment; a notification letter is sent to the defaulter.
- More than a year - it becomes problematic to repay the accumulated amount. The service provider may apply measures provided by law.
Citizens become debtors for various reasons. This may be a disproportionately low level of income, simple forgetfulness, incorrect calculation of payments, or a low level of awareness about the consequences of non-payment.
Suspension of public utilities
The inaction of the indebted tenant within the provided 30-day period gives the executor the right to stop providing utilities to the premises owned by the chronic debtor for unpaid categories.
What can you turn off?
Does he have the right to turn off electricity and close the sewer system? It is practiced to individually disconnect an apartment from the gas supply to kitchen stoves and electrical networks, to exclude the discharge of domestic wastewater from the debtor’s home into the sewer system, if this does not violate the rights of neighboring residents, and preserves the functionality of the general engineering system.
Termination of cold water supply to apartment buildings and heating of any type of housing is prohibited by law (Chapter XI, paragraph 119, subparagraph “c” of Resolution No. 354).
Resumption of cooperation
Access to a civilized service is possible after making accrued payments confirmed by financial documents. Restoration of contractual service occurs within 2 calendar days.
The expenses of the HOA incurred when informing the owner about the limitation of service, work to reduce, interrupt and subsequently restore the supply of resources are reimbursed by the consumer who violated the established financial order.
Debt collection options
Along with reducing or terminating service, there are two effective ways to achieve mutual understanding on the issue of canceling arrears:
- Drawing up an agreement between the debtor and the administration of the housing association on the terms, methods and conditions of debt liquidation.
- Appeal to the court.
When choosing methods, the size of the debt, the amount of expected costs, and the time period for fulfilling obligations are assessed.
Mutual compromise
An additional target obligation may contain options convenient for counterparties:
- Full repayment of the debt in one payment.
- Installment plan is an even distribution of payments over a period agreed upon by the parties.
Reference. Government Decree No. 354, paragraphs 72, 75, allows for an annual monthly uniform distribution of contributed amounts.
The accrual of penalties is mandatory for both situations.
Judicial review
From June 2021, the procedure for considering claims for housing and utility debts has been simplified. Law No. 45, adopted in March, allows courts to consider disputes without hearing the parties if the capital under jurisdiction does not exceed 0.5 million rubles. The deadline for issuing a decision is 5 days.
The statement of claim informs the assessors about the powers of the submitter, the details of the organization, the details of the defendant and the parameters of the apartment for which the debt is registered. The total debt and the distribution of amounts for each category of household services are indicated.
Having familiarized itself with the statement of claim of the HOA, the court obliges the defaulter to repay the debt with accrued interest penalties, supplementing the amount of the debt with state duty and organizational costs.
Statement of claim
The homeowners association is filing a claim with the magistrate court against the owner to recover funds from the receipts.
The claim specifies the amount of debt, current tariffs and standards according to which CG payments are calculated.
Additionally, the partnership submits to the court documents confirming its authority to provide housing and communal services resources to owners (minutes of the meeting, certificate of an officially registered legal entity, tax registration document, etc.).
The court makes a decision on debt collection, taking into account penalties, as well as state fees and court costs .
Does an organization have the right to post lists of non-payers by apartment numbers? Often the board resorts to such a measure of influence as publishing lists of debtors. The surname, exact address, and amount of non-payment of the tenant are indicated.
This information is personal data; Federal Law No. 359-FZ prohibits the disclosure of such data about a person.
Find out whether it is possible to leave the HOA from our article.
Unlawful imposition of restrictions
Can an HOA charge penalties? Forcing an unscrupulous payer to fulfill contractual payment obligations is legally justified. Failure to comply with legal regulations in preparation for planned enforcement measures provides grounds for appealing the actions of the service provider’s employees. The procedure is contested in the following cases:
- The owner of the apartment has entered into direct contracts with utility organizations, bypassing the administration of the housing association, and makes payments according to individual requirements from suppliers.
- The contractor cannot confirm the fact of prior notification of the debtor about the impending restriction of service with the subsequent termination of cooperation.
- The outage led to a disruption of the building's utility networks.
- Service is not resumed after debt repayment.
The analysis of controversial situations falls within the competence of district judges after registering a statement of claim from an injured citizen.
Does the HOA have the right to post lists of debtors?
In accordance with the Federal Law “On Personal Data”, as well as Art. 23 and art. 24 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, any dissemination by third parties and organizations of information about a private person is a violation of the law.
Despite this, the legislation does not clarify the situation when the HOA posts a list indicating only apartment numbers and debt amounts. In this case, the personal data of the debtors or the involvement of specific individuals in the formation of debt is not publicly displayed.
Penalties for unjustified action
The Code of Administrative Violations calls the exercise of the right to impose restrictions without complying with the normative order arbitrariness. If significant harm is not caused to people, Article 19.1 establishes a warning or a fine of 300–500 rubles to the official.
According to Article 215.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a monetary penalty of up to 200 thousand rubles is imposed for unlawful restriction or disconnection from sources of life support, leading to major damage. or two years of forced labor; resulting in human death - imprisonment for up to 5 years, a three-year ban on leadership positions.
Restricting or suspending public services is a method of dealing with persistent defaulters that is justified by its effectiveness. Compliance with legal norms of procedure is a guarantee of the validity of coercive measures.
The Homeowners Association is designed to facilitate the management of joint home property and relations with management companies. Read our articles about what a HOA is and how it works, what are its rights and obligations to residents and the taxation system, membership, insurance and target fees and why accounting is needed, and also learn what accounting, legal and technical services, audit the commission and how the audit of financial and economic activities is carried out, how to correctly draw up an estimate of income and expenses and why a register of members of the partnership is needed.
Disconnection procedure
The stakeholder's basic knowledge is to consider the need to follow a specific sequence of steps in the power outage process. Failure to comply with or complete at least one of them automatically makes the entire procedure illegal . In this case, the interested party has the right to go to court and challenge the decision of the management company, as well as demand compensation for damage caused due to a power outage.
