Home / Benefits for children / Can a Homeowners Association Turn Off Electricity for Debts
- Connect yourself. Such an exit can be fraught with both your health and your well-being. Illegal connection threatens legal proceedings and, most likely, punishment;
- Open the shield yourself and try to connect the power. Any meter installed by electricians has a seal. For violating its integrity, you may incur serious punishment in the form of a fine. This is the best case scenario. In the worst case scenario, you will never need the light again. Electrical injuries lead to very dire consequences and can be fatal.
Does a homeowners association have the right to turn off electricity for rent arrears and in what cases?
Hello, in accordance with Russian Federation Regulation No. 307 of May 23, 2006, the contractor has the right to suspend the provision of utility services if the consumer does not pay in full (the debt must exceed 6 monthly payments, calculated in accordance with utility service standards on the date of disconnection ). In this case, you must be notified in writing at least a month in advance, and there must be no agreement (or it is not fulfilled by you) on repayment of the debt. Moreover, if the debt is completely liquidated, the contractor is obliged to resume providing the service within two days. However, if you pay for electricity directly to the energy supply organization, the HOA does not have the right to interfere in your relationship, including by limiting the supply of electricity. In this case, you have the right to go to court and demand that the supply be restored, as well as compensate you for losses caused by the unlawful actions of the HOA.
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Does housing and communal services have the right to turn off the lights?
It provides a definition of incomplete payment, which is understood as a debt on the monthly payment that has accumulated for two or more months. Its size is calculated based on consumption standards established by the legislator. In this situation, the supplier, based on this fact, has the right to limit the supply of electricity. But he must notify the user of his intention before taking action. And in conclusion, it should be noted that in any situation the lights can be turned off for non-payment of rent without a court decision, so citizens should comply with the requirements of the supplier. In addition, they need to remember that legislative norms oblige citizens to pay utility bills on time.
Restrictions are put into effect if: There is a technical possibility that makes it possible to partially limit the consumption mode, the user must be notified 15 calendar days before the measure is applied. The debt is not repaid within the period indicated in the notification, a complete restriction in the consumption mode is introduced. The supplier can turn off the electricity, but he must comply with the procedure established by the legislator for paying for utilities and supplying electricity. The measure is used to provide the user with some time to repay the debt.
Can a homeowners association turn off electricity for non-payment?
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated February 17, 2014 N 112) If the consumer does not fully pay for all types of utility services provided by the contractor to the consumer, then the contractor calculates the consumer’s debt for each type of utility service separately. (as amended by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated February 17, 2014 N 112) 122. Actions to limit or suspend the provision of utility services should not lead to: a) damage to the common property of the owners of premises in an apartment building; c) violation of the established requirements for the suitability of residential premises for permanent residence of citizens.
What can the HOA do in relation to debtors?
The measures that resource supplying organizations are legally entitled to apply in relation to debtors are enshrined in the Rules for the Provision of Public Utilities, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354. Such measures include:
- sending notification;
- restriction of service supply;
- suspension of resource supply.
The procedure for suspending or limiting the supply of resources is clearly regulated. Let's talk about this in more detail.
Notification
Restriction or suspension of the supply of utility services is impossible until six months have elapsed from the date of debt formation. However, this is not the only condition. Notice must be given to the owner or tenant.
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The debtor is notified in writing. The notice is sent by registered mail with notification of delivery to the addressee. The fact of receipt and, therefore, familiarization is recorded with the personal signature of the debtor.
From the date of receipt of the notification letter, the consumer has 20 days to pay the debt. If he does not do this, the supplier has the right to limit the supply of electricity.
Electricity limitation
If the utility customer does not take any action to pay the outstanding debt, he will be sent a second notification. The text of this notification will contain a requirement to pay the debt within three days. Otherwise, the power supply will be limited.
The restriction is imposed for a maximum of a month. If this measure does not achieve the desired result and the debtor continues to avoid paying the debt, the service provider must send a third notice. In it, the consumer is notified that the supply of the resource will be stopped until the debt is repaid.
All these measures do not mean termination of the contract for the provision of services unilaterally. If the debtor pays the debt, the supplier will again begin to fulfill its obligations under the contract within two days.
Can a homeowners association turn off electricity for non-payment?
So, for example, the Criminal Code cannot turn off the lights without the written warning mentioned above. If this happens, the actions of the Criminal Code will be considered unlawful and subject to appeal. Referring to the regulations of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a complete or partial shutdown of electricity occurs only after the parties reach an agreement or after the expiration of a specified period after receiving a notification, if no measures were taken by the defaulter.
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At what amount of debt can the power supply be cut off?
Management companies often post information about the amount of debt of a particular apartment in the entrances of apartment buildings in order to influence debtors.
These amounts sometimes exceed a couple of tens of thousands of rubles. The term of such debt is calculated in years. But this information should not be taken as a signal for action.
According to the law, electricity can be turned off for non-payment of utility bills if such payments have not been made for two or more months.
It is not necessary that such months follow each other. The very fact of two or more months of lack of payment is important. Previously, current legislation made it possible to accumulate debt by paying a small amount each month. Currently, such actions cannot be carried out.
Is it possible to do without a power outage? If the debt period has not yet exceeded two months, but the financial situation of the owner of the residential premises leaves much to be desired, the way out of the situation will be to apply for a housing subsidy.
This payment is monthly and is aimed at repaying the debt and stabilizing the debtor’s property situation.
Watch the video. Turning off the lights for non-payment:
Power cut off for non-payment and debts
- The actual formation of debt is determined not by individual and general purpose meters, but by the presence of 3 or more monthly payments, which are equated to average consumption rates.
- All punitive procedures must occur after the service provider has officially notified the debt. In this case, delivery is carried out personally from hand to hand, and the owner’s signature is placed on the notification.
- Then the owner must pay the debt in full or in part within 30 days.
- If there is no response from the debtor within a calendar month, then they send a second notification and after 3 days they have the right to turn off the lights.
Law arrears rent power outage
1. Illegal termination or restriction of the supply of electrical energy to consumers or disconnection of them from other sources of life support, committed by an official, as well as a person performing managerial functions in a commercial or other organization, if this entailed through negligence the infliction of major damage, serious harm to health or other serious consequences, -
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Intimidation techniques
As for the preventive measures themselves, in the case where harm was caused to the health of the homeowner or a member of his family , the official may be punished by imprisonment for up to two years, the imposition of a monetary penalty in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles, or restriction of freedom for up to three years.
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If thirty days have passed and no money has been received from the tenant to the partnership account, then another notification is sent , which states that the supply of electrical energy is limited. It is handed over against signature three days before the shutdown.
Is it legal to cut off electricity and other utilities if there is debt?
Nobody wants to remain without light for a long time. Therefore, the question arises: where to go and what to do to connect it. The surest way to get electricity back is to pay off the debt. In the absence of a one-time option, consumers have the right to ask for payment of the debt in installments over six months. With documents indicating payment or installment plan, you need to contact the utility service provider to connect electricity. You should know that this service is paid.
Can an HOA turn off the heat in a non-residential premises for debts?
- Energosbyt, if you do not have a single receipt and you pay separately for each housing and communal services service;
- Management company (MC) - most often, it is this structure that can turn off the lights for non-payment, and your task is to make sure whether its actions are legal in your case;
- Homeowners' Association, if such an organization is engaged in maintenance of an apartment building;
- Housing and communal services, when instead of the management company it is engaged in the provision of utility services - electricity shutdowns due to non-payment will occur in accordance with the general procedure;
- Rostekhnadzor, if a malfunction of the meter or fraud with this device is detected.
Illegal restriction of housing and communal services
Termination of the supply of resources will be unlawful if:
- The partnership does not provide utilities. That is, when the consumer enters into a direct contract with the resource supplier and pays using separate receipts.
- The debtor was not properly notified (first with a 30-day written warning, then with a written notice 3 days before the resource was terminated).
- When the defaulter was disconnected, the rights of other residents were violated, interference with utility lines led to damage to general building networks or made the premises uninhabitable.
- After payment, the provision of CG was not resumed.
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In the above cases, residents can complain to the housing inspectorate and the court to protect their rights.
The head of the HOA bears administrative or criminal liability for the consequences of illegal disconnection of the consumer.
In the first case, the official will pay a fine in the amount of 500-1000 rubles, the organization - 5000-10000 rubles.
The homeowners association has the right to use the termination of the supply of resources as a means of influencing the debtor and collecting payment. But the procedure requires double notification in writing and requires respect for the rights of other residents, and even the owner himself.
Depriving a defaulter of utility services will be legal only if all the requirements of the law are met. And after repaying the debt or signing an installment agreement, electricity, gas or water must return to the consumer within two days.
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Situations vary and citizens are not always able to pay their utility bills on time. However, often the HOA or management organization does not burden itself with peaceful attempts to “reach out” to the debtor and simply turns off the electricity. In this article, we will look into whether the HOA has the right to turn off electricity for rent arrears, whether such actions are legal, and how to deal with debtors peacefully.
