A homeowners' association is one of the methods of self-government provided for by housing legislation for owners of apartments and commercial premises of a multi-storey building.
This is a non-profit organization whose main purpose is to maintain common premises in the required sanitary and technical condition and manage common property. In other words, an HOA is created with the aim of making it easier for residents of the house to maintain engineering systems and the territory. However, as in any collective endeavor, conflicts between the HOA and its members are inevitable. And then the question arises: where to complain about the HOA? Most often, this happens if, contrary to the goals stated in the charter, the HOA board directs its efforts not to protecting the interests of residents, but to violating them. In this case, apartment owners are left to write complaints in order to achieve justice.
However, what we try most often is that the chairman of the HOA and the board as a whole have a full understanding of their capabilities, and the residents of the house are often little familiar with their rights. There are three ways to solve this:
- Study housing legislation on your own and find a way to get the HOA to fully fulfill all obligations. Knowing where to write a complaint will certainly be useful, but searching for information will take a lot of time, during which time the issue will not be resolved.
- Use the services of a professional lawyer. He will not only delve into the essence of the problem, but will also take full responsibility for drawing up a complaint and communicating with government agencies. This will take a minimum of time, but will require significant financial costs to pay for services.
- Get a free consultation on our website. It won't take long. It is enough to state the essence of the conflict in a special form and send it. Within a few minutes, one of the experienced lawyers will give a detailed answer to the question of who to complain about the HOA and offer a rough plan of action. Armed with the necessary information, you can confidently write a statement or complaint to the most appropriate authority.
Where to complain about the HOA
If you do not have time to submit an application in person, it can be sent electronically through the State Services portal, which has a convenient GIS housing and communal services system. To do this, you must first obtain an access code from the nearest housing and communal services office. The following steps are performed: Introductory part In the upper right corner of the application with a complaint against the HOA, the full name of the organization to which the appeal is sent is indicated. Complete information about the applicant must be provided, including full name, residence address and contact telephone number. Main part The following text reflects the essence of the complaint against the HOA. It is important to present information consistently, clearly and concisely. It is advisable to provide links to specific regulations that indicate a violation of rights by the HOA. Requirements section The requirement to correct the current situation is stated, setting a specific deadline. Wishes Indicates the desire to receive a response - by mail or in person. List of attachments A list of attached copies of documents confirming the violation is provided. Signature and date The date of the application is indicated and the applicant’s personal signature is affixed. The collective complaint against the HOA must include the names of all applicants and all their signatures. IMPORTANT
If they don't accept
What to do if your application was refused? In this case, you need to file a complaint with higher authorities:
Housing inspection . This organization must be contacted regarding violations in the work of the HOA and its failure to fulfill its direct responsibilities.- Prosecutor's office . It makes sense to complain about the HOA if we are talking about financial fraud and gross violation of the laws of the Russian Federation.
- Court . Filing a complaint to court is then appropriate. when appeals to previous authorities did not give a positive result.
A well-written statement does not guarantee a solution to the problem , but it increases the chances of obtaining the desired effect. If the request is not satisfied, the applicant must receive a written response from the chairman regarding the refusal.
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Residents of apartment complexes may encounter absolutely any situation for which they will need the help of the HOA.
In order for the association to quickly respond to an appeal, the tenant must formalize his request or demand in writing, in the form of an application.
In the article we will tell you the general rules of how to write such statements correctly, and also look at specific examples when a tenant may need to write a statement - flooding an apartment, lack of heating and other common situations.
Dear readers! Our articles talk about typical ways to resolve legal issues, but each case is unique.
If you want to find out how to solve your particular problem, please use the online consultant form on the right or call. It's fast and free!
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A very important point is that you should contact different authorities only in writing. Calls, conversations, personal visits are useless, a waste of time. At best, they will listen to you, at worst, they will be rude to you. But do not apply several times to places where they do nothing or refuse. Believe me, if you write in your application that for several days (weeks, years) they have not paid attention to your complaints, and again bring it to the place where they “beat you up” for so long, nothing will change. Why apply again, and even more than once? It is more correct to move consistently upward. Start with the performer (for example, GUZHA). If you haven’t responded, contact the Housing Committee above. Again there is no answer or result, go higher - contact Vice Governor Polukeev. Didn't help again? Write to the governor! You can even send a complaint to the presidential representative for the Northwestern Federal District, Klebanov. And so on.
Where to complain about the HOA and the procedure for resolving complaints
The prosecutor's office cannot refuse to accept a complaint. They are obliged to consider the case, check the circumstances and make a decision. However, in reality, you should only file a complaint with the attorney general after the HOA has rejected one or more applications. The HOA independently develops rules for gaining access. However, the owners still have the right to view the documents. Here, the legality of the situation largely depends on the purpose of the papers. If these are minutes of a meeting or constituent documentation, such papers are issued without problems.
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Procedure
The procedure is standard and includes the following steps:
- drawing up an application addressed to the chairman;
- preparation of title documents for the apartment;
- submission of papers to the board;
- if a candidate for membership is approved, an agreement is concluded.
Documents required:
- certificate of ownership;
- justification for ownership of the property (example - purchase and sale agreement);
- extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate.
Complaint about HOA Petersburg - how and where to write
We offer you our sample statement of claim for an HOA. In it, we tried to take into account the most likely and common cases and points, but do not forget that you can always supplement it, correct it, change it, because there is no strictly defined complaint form. which violated the terms of the contract, the provisions of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 04/03/2013 No. 290 “On the minimum list of services and work necessary to ensure the proper maintenance of common property in an apartment building, and the procedure for their provision and implementation” and my right, enshrined in Article 161 of the Housing Code RF for favorable and safe living in a residential building, the owner (tenant, tenant) of which I am, and caused me material damage (indicate, if any, for example, you were forced to overpay for electricity to heat water, the provision of which ceased due to failure to eliminate the HOA consequences of an accident, or you spent money on heaters to keep the apartment warm due to the heating being turned off, etc.). The indicated HOA employees (representatives) do not respond to my repeated requests and requests from other residents of building No. ___.
What is this and whose name should I include?
The staff of a partnership can amount to dozens of employees. To whom should you send your application and in whose name should you write it? The document is written in the name of the chairman of the HOA, since he is the head of the partnership and is responsible for the work of the organization. You can hand over the paper to the secretary or chairman personally.
On what issues can I contact the partnership with applications?
Typically, an appeal is drawn up in order to eliminate any problems in the house or to draw the attention of the chairman to a problem that has suddenly arisen.
Since conflicts between owners and HOAs arise quite often, we can identify the main problems in which apartment owners make statements to the chairman:
- The roof is leaking . The text of the application must indicate the location of the leak, the causes, if known, and also propose options for eliminating the accident. The complaint should end with a request to take action.
- Flooding of the apartment . The application is drawn up indicating the reasons, apartment number and nature of the accident (it is important to describe all damage and consequences of the flood). If the flood occurred due to the fault of neighbors, then you need to write down their apartment number.
- Installation of seals on metering devices . The responsibility of the HOA is to seal the meters. The installation of seals is not always carried out in a timely manner. To achieve a result, it is advisable to write a collective statement, which outlines the essence of the problem and indicates the details of the owners.
- Rearranging trash cans . One of the common problems with apartment buildings is the location of containers too close to apartment windows. Because of this, residents suffer from an unpleasant odor. The application will need to clearly state the requirements and reasons why the tanks need to be moved.
- No heating . If the lack of heat in the house is not related to repair work or the end of the season, then a collective complaint must be filed. It is advisable not only to state the essence of the problem, but also to demand compensation due to the lack of heat supply.
The government of St. Petersburg explained where to complain about housing and communal services and management companies
I received another payment for my utility bill. I don’t know how to react - either laugh or cry. I occupy two rooms in a communal apartment at Iskrovsky Prospect, 6, building 3, Nevsky District. In the column for electricity supply (individual consumption) the amount payable is 510.88 rubles (for 124 kW), and for electricity supply (general household needs) - 505.12 rubles. (for 98.04 kW). I wonder who is eating so daringly at our expense?... Hello. I have the following question. I live in a shared apartment, with a bathroom. There are no water meters, the neighbors are against it. Why should I suffer because of them, overpaying. Is it possible to install meters in communal apartments, finding out who used the most water? And the standards simply fabulous. Registered 2 people, residential area 13 sq.m. bill without heating and light 3500. It’s mind boggling.
Where to complain about the HOA
However, it should be borne in mind that the partnership pays fines for violations of the law from general funds contributed by the owners as payment for the services of the partnership and has the right to “spread” the amount among all owners in the house. In practice this happens quite often. However, the legality of such actions of the partnership is questionable and the courts have ambivalent views on such actions. HOA is a special form of house management, in which the owners of premises in the house independently elect a board from among other owners of premises in the house, they themselves have the right to control the work of the HOA, and the latter annually submits reports to the owners on its activities at a general meeting.
HOA management
As practice shows, contacting members of a homeowners' association directly rarely brings positive results. However, this option should not be ruled out.
When contacting the management of the HOA, the resident will need to draw up a complaint statement in two copies, one of which is handed over to the chairman of the board, and the other remains in the hands of the applicant. The applicant's copy must be certified by a personal signature of a member of the HOA, as a sign of confirmation of familiarization with it. In addition, the copy of the tenant’s application must be marked with the date it was submitted for consideration.
The applicant can submit the completed complaint:
As for the content of the complaint, a prerequisite for its preparation is to indicate the requirement to provide a response to the submitted petition. You can draw up a document in accordance with all the rules by downloading a sample application to the management of the HOA freely available on the Internet.
Where can you complain about housing and communal services in 2020?
- that housing and communal services are provided at an inadequate level or not systematically;
- that the house is not properly prepared for the provision of services, especially regarding the heating season;
- that no interim or final report on the company’s work is provided;
- that there is a procedural violation when holding meetings of owners or such a meeting is not held at all;
- that other conditions stipulated by the contract are not met.
- for the supply of electricity;
- for water supply (supply of both hot and cold water);
- for gas supply;
- for water disposal (repairs, water intake, water purification, including);
- for the safety of the digital city map, which shows the network of utility resources;
- for taking into account how the resource is consumed;
- for ventilation;
- for providing elevators;
- for cleanliness in the entrances and surrounding areas, garbage removal;
- lightning protection;
- for improvement of the local area, etc.
Reasons for complaints
Bay apartments
A statement that your apartment has been flooded is drawn up using a general form.
If the flood was the fault of your neighbors, provide information about them - full name and apartment number.
No heating
If the heating season has begun, and there is no heating in your apartment, or the air temperature is below the permissible level, you have every right to contact the HOA with a corresponding application.
When writing, focus on exactly how you were violated in your rights , what reasons you assume caused the delay in the supply of heat.
If the entire house does not have heating, the application may specify authorized measures in response to delays in supplying heat or carrying out repairs.
Roof leak
A statement can be written regarding the problem of a roof leak, demanding its immediate repair. If possible, it is necessary to indicate in which specific location the roof is broken. If the apartment was flooded due to a roof leak, you need to describe in detail what losses were caused to the owner.
Container transfer
Such a statement is drawn up when it is necessary to move a garbage container. Often, in the courtyards of new apartment buildings, garbage cans are placed in close proximity to the house, which prevents people from enjoying life, because an unpleasant smell can ruin their mood.
It is necessary to provide arguments why the containers need to be moved. The application can be signed by either one specific person or several.
Sealing of individual metering devices
In a new house, after all communications have been installed, those interested can install meters. As you know, they must be sealed. To do this, you can write both an individual and a collective statement on behalf of the residents.
In the case of a collective appeal, it is necessary to list the initials of all applicants, their places of residence, and only then make a request for sealing, which the chairman is simply obliged to fulfill properly.
How and where to write a complaint about the HOA
A complaint to the HOA should be written to the regulatory authorities. If the claim procedure is not a way out of a difficult situation, then you will have to turn to the courts. There is no strictly established complaint form. Experts recommend fighting an unscrupulous HOA and its chairman with joint forces.
- Inflated tariffs for housing and communal services, if the HOA is authorized to provide utilities directly.
- Failure to comply with the rules and regulations for the maintenance of common household property and the operation of an apartment building. For example, when the chairman of the HOA initiates the redevelopment of premises, illegal construction and sale of garages in the local area.
- Use of house property for personal purposes - when HOA employees rent out common house property to their friends and relatives for a symbolic price.
- Distribution of debts of persistent defaulters of utility services among respectable residents. The board may decide to distribute debts for utilities across apartments, which can cause serious disagreements.
- Making illegal decisions by the HOA, falsifying documents.
- Unreasonable waste of funds allocated for the maintenance of the house, including subsidies from the state. Forgery of accounting and financial documentation.
- Illegal change of chairman, seizure of HOA premises by dubious persons.
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Contents and sample statements
The application for joining the HOA must contain the following information:
- name of the partnership;
- address and bank details;
- Owner's full name and residential address;
- grounds for joining the HOA;
- date and signature.
The basis for entry is the emergence of ownership of the living space. To confirm this reason, you must indicate the extract number from the Unified State Register and the start date of ownership of the apartment.
The application for withdrawal contains only the details of the partnership, the applicant and the notice of withdrawal. It is important to take into account that when leaving the partnership, the owner must enter into an agreement with the HOA for maintenance and provision of utility resources in order to fulfill his responsibilities for maintaining the house (Clause 1 of Article 153 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation). To avoid claims in the future, the request to conclude such agreements should be stated in the application.
In your resignation letter from the board you must indicate:
- name and address of the HOA;
- Applicant's full name and position;
- reason for leaving the board;
- recommended replacement;
- date and signature.
It is not necessary to indicate the reason for leaving the board , since participation in the elected leadership of the HOA is voluntary, but indicating such a reason can protect the owner in the future if inspections carried out by the housing inspectorate reveal violations - the lack of clarity of the reason for the unexpected departure can lead to suspicions of illegal actions.
An application for joining the TSN is written in the same way as for joining a HOA, indicating the basis for owning a residential building (details of an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate) and information about the partnership.
In a statement to the chairman of the HOA that is not related to entry or exit from the organization, you must indicate:
- name, address and details of the HOA;
- Full name of the chairman;
- Full name and residential address of the applicant;
- right to use living space;
- the essence of the appeal;
- request or demand;
- attached documents (if available);
- date and signature.
In the text after the submission, you need to state in detail the problem or situation that has arisen, if possible supporting the explanation with evidence, followed by a request to eliminate the violation or take other measures.
Joining a housing association, as well as leaving the HOA or its board, is of a declarative nature. Applications are written in free form, but must allow one to clearly identify the identity of the applicant and the place where the paper was submitted. All applications must be submitted in two copies, one of which remains with the HOA, and the other is returned to the applicant with a mark of acceptance.
Where to complain about the management company in St. Petersburg
- quality of maintenance of the common property of apartment buildings;
- timely provision of utilities;
- the procedure for collecting funds from residents and distributing these funds;
- department reporting;
- the effectiveness of the emergency service, which must function continuously;
- the quality of measures taken to ensure the safety of common property.
Residents of the house, concluding an agreement with the management company, acquire certain rights and obligations. And if the other party does not fulfill the obligations assigned to it, or if they are fulfilled improperly, residents can file a complaint against the organization.
Nuances and pitfalls
Before contacting the prosecutor's office or housing inspection, you must obtain proof that the chairman was informed about the problem , otherwise, when initiating inspections, he may claim that he was not aware of the problem.
IMPORTANT! An application to any authorities and authorities will not be considered if it is impossible to read, or if it contains insults and/or threats against the chairman, in accordance with paragraphs 3.4 of Art. 11 of Law No. 59 “On the procedure for considering appeals...”.
If the problem concerns common property (the condition of entrances, basements or adjacent areas), you should enlist the support of neighboring members of the HOA and draw up a collective complaint, as they are considered better.
So, if the chairman of the HOA violates the rights of the residents, you can complain about him to the housing supervision authority, the prosecutor's office or the court, collecting evidence of the offenses in the form of acts and testimony.
A timely response from authorities depends on a well-written appeal and the weight of the evidence base.
Where to complain about the HOA
- Go to the “Reception of Citizens’ Appeals” section. In the window that opens, the requirements for writing an appeal will appear. The electronic complaint must not exceed 2000 characters. A large message can be attached in doc or other format.
- Choose the method of filing a complaint: with or without authorization in the ESIA. In the first case, the appeal may serve as the basis for an unscheduled inspection. In the second, the complaint is considered, but no verification is carried out.
- Click on the active link at the bottom of the page indicating that you have read the rules. Then the transition to the complaint occurs automatically.
- Fill out the form provided.
- Click "Submit".
- Financial activities. For example, checking utility tariffs, disposing of additional funds received from the use of common property.
- Management sphere. For example, unreasonable shutdowns of light and water, excessive noise levels, etc.
Possible problems with the chairman
The main problem that HOA members face is the unprofessionalism of the chairman, because it is his candidacy that will largely determine whether the partnership will be able to perform all the functions assigned to it. In order to manage an HOA, its chairman and board members must have certain knowledge in the field of legislation, economics and finance .
By the way, according to the latest edition of the Housing Code, provision of assistance, training and introduction to the chairmen of partnerships is entrusted to municipalities.
Often, residents, desperate to find a competent person among the owners of housing in an apartment building who understands all the intricacies of housing and communal services, resolve the issue by hiring an outside manager. This solution to the problem is, first of all, dangerous because outside managers are not too interested in the well-being of property owners.
To whom and where should I complain?
Homeowners' associations are not always able to effectively cope with the functions assigned to them. Untimely cleaning of entrances, non-functioning locks and a constantly breaking elevator - all this quite naturally causes dissatisfaction among apartment owners and poses a logical question to them - how to deal with the chairman of the HOA and how to punish him?
the HOA board directly . It is best to file a collective complaint that clearly and to the point describes the issue causing grievances.
If the management of the partnership ignored the complaint, then you can contact Rospotrebnadzor . After receiving an application from members of the HOA, Rospotrebnadzor employees will have to conduct an inspection and verify all the circumstances specified in the complaint.
You can also complain about the chairman of the HOA to the state housing inspection . This body can also conduct an investigation and issue an order to the chairman of the HOA to eliminate the identified deficiencies.
In addition, homeowners can file a corresponding application with the court or the prosecutor's office , but it is best to leave these authorities as a last resort.
If they do not provide documents
The current legislation does not in any way regulate the procedure for familiarizing the owners of residential premises with the internal documentation of the HOA. The partnership has the right to independently develop rules for providing access to information, which must be approved by the general meeting of owners.
In general, it can be noted that members of the HOA have much broader rights to familiarize themselves with all the documentation that interests them than homeowners who have not joined the partnership. Access to partnership documentation largely depends on what exactly the owner is interested in. For example, documents directly related to homeowners are publicly available - minutes of general meetings of the HOA, the charter of the HOA, lease agreements for the common property of the owners, etc.
It’s another matter if the owner tries to request access to accounting documents, tax reporting, business agreements with third-party organizations, etc. – it is basically impossible to get acquainted with them. Moreover, if a member of the partnership can obtain the information he is interested in from the reports of the audit commission, then even this source of data will not be available to ordinary homeowners in an apartment building.
Here's an example:
If the chairman is not the owner
As mentioned above, for the effective functioning of a homeowners’ association, its chairman must have certain personal and business qualities that will allow him to most effectively contact officials at various levels.
If among the owners of an apartment building there is no suitable candidate for the position of chairman of the board of the partnership, his functions are transferred to a third party - the building manager, who may not be the owner of the premises. To hire a third-party manager, an additional agreement is concluded between him and the HOA. In this case, the chairman of the board of the HOA will have a purely nominal role, and his powers will be limited only to regularly convening meetings of members of the partnership.
How to file a complaint against housing and communal services? Where to call and contact citizens
An active citizen also files complaints about housing and communal services to other structures. For example, the consumer society provides advice on accepted applications and provides practical assistance in exercising your rights. Thus, in St. Petersburg, the consumer society runs a special public reception for housing and communal services. Complaints from the population regarding housing and communal services are also received on the Internet, for example, through the RosZhKH resource. There, to send a complaint, you only need to fill out a short form, and the detailed text of the application with links to regulatory documents is already contained in the site’s database.
21 Dec 2020 marketur 90
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Termination of powers of the chairman of the HOA
The period for registering changes is 3 days (clause
5 tbsp. 5 Federal Law dated 08.08.2001 No. 129-FZ).
To change the chairman, you need to fill out the application form P14001. The head of an organization has a special legal status. In this regard, when determining the notice period for dismissal, it is necessary to be guided not by Article 292 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for the possibility of three days’ notice of dismissal in short-term employment relationships, but by the rules of Article 280 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
That is, the manager must notify of dismissal at least one month in advance, since this rule is special in relation to him. The extended notice period is explained by the need to make a decision on changing the head of the organization by the competent body (general meeting, board of directors, property owner, etc.). The courts also point to this (see, for example, the appeal ruling of the Belgorod Regional Court dated June 26, 2012.
in case No. 33-1744, appeal ruling of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan dated June 25, 2012 in case No. 33-5932/2012). Thus, the minimum notice period for holding a general meeting of LLC participants authorized to consider the issue of dismissal of the manager is 30 days (Article 36 of the Law of February 8, 1998
No. 14-FZ). In this regard, it is impossible to apply the rules of Article 292 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation on a shortened warning period in short-term relationships.
A similar opinion is expressed by Rostrud specialists in a letter dated March 6, 2013 No. PG/1063-6-1.” Please explain how the chairman of TSN can resign at his own request?
The chairman works, his job at TSN is part-time, he has not made any notes in his work book (and is not expected to make them).
What is the procedure and how - on what basis - to submit an application to the tax office to delete the record of the already former chairman. The Chairman of the Board of TSN may submit a letter of resignation. The decision to dismiss him and appoint a new one must be made in the manner prescribed by the TSN charter.