How to deal with debtor neighbors for housing and communal services

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, each owner of an apartment in an apartment building, which is under the jurisdiction of a management company or HOA, is obliged to pay utility bills on time. Their amount is not fixed, if there are meters, and is completely calculated based on the services consumed by the people living in the apartment. If there are no meters in the apartment, payment is made according to the established tariffs. In practice, some tenants neglect their responsibilities as responsible tenants and pay late or refuse to pay receipts at all. Therefore, there is a struggle with housing and communal services debtors. How to work with debtors in HOAs, sanctions for non-payment, ways to deal with defaulters, whether they have the right to turn off utilities for non-payment and answers to other questions will be given below.

Types of utility debts

Before you find out what causes non-payment of utility bills, you should understand what types of debt there are. The measures taken directly depend on the type of debt.

Types of utility debts:

current - debt incurred from the 1st to the 10th of the current month (according to Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, payment must be made before the 10th day of the month following the month that must be paid, unless otherwise established by the HOA or management company) - fines and sanctions are not applied, because the rights of creditors are not infringed;
overdue - a debt for which the payment deadline has already come and passed (begins on the 11th day of the next month, unless otherwise established by agreement with the company providing home maintenance).
Debt up to 3 months – work with defaulters has not yet been carried out, only pennies are accrued. Non-payment is caused, for example, by receiving a salary after the 10th.
Debt from 3 to 12 months is a deliberate evasion of payment.
Debt of 12 months or more – the amount cannot be repaid by the debtors. Non-payment is associated with unstable or low income, the inability to pay the utility bill due to legal (lack/change of the creditor’s personal account number) or practical obstacles.

Housing and communal services: methodology for dealing with debtors

Method 3. Offer to conclude an agreement on debt repayment If personal communication and work with the housing and communal services debtor is not successful, you can begin pre-trial claims practice. An official complaint can be sent by registered mail or delivered in person against signature. For many debtors, an official document becomes the decisive argument in favor of debt repayment. After such a claim is served, almost half of the debtors immediately go to pay off their debts - they fear more serious consequences. The rest give assurances that they will pay for utilities as soon as the opportunity arises. You can enter into a debt repayment agreement with them. It specifies the payment schedule and the timing of the gradual payment of certain amounts. In the future, all that remains is to monitor compliance with this schedule.

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Explain to payers that payments for housing and communal services are the direct responsibility of each tenant , and fines and penalties will be charged for late payment. The accrual of penalties begins from the second month of late payment. This is enshrined in paragraph 14 of Art. 155 Housing Code of the Russian Federation. Penalties are charged for each day of delay, their size directly depends on the number of months during which housing and communal services were not paid. So, from the second to the third month, the percentage of penalties is 1/300 of the Central Bank refinancing rate, starting from the fourth month - it rises to 1/130. (November 2020 Federal Law No. 307-FZ).

Why do citizens become defaulters on utility bills?

As you can see, the above were subjective reasons why the apartment owner cannot pay utility bills on time. In addition to them, there are also objective reasons.

Subjective reasons for non-payment:

low income;
receiving income after the 10th;
high level of seasonal expenses - New Year holidays, summer vacations, children getting ready for school, etc.;
failure to collect payers, i.e. forgetting to pay payments on time;
physical condition of the citizen - payment is impossible without outside help;
temporary absence from the locality where the apartment is located.

Objective reasons for non-payment:

high tariffs for utilities do not correspond to their quality, frequent changes in cost and payment details;
incorrect accrual of amounts - the tenant has the right to receive full information for what and how the accrual is made and, in case of disagreement, to challenge it;
weak notification system for payments - receipts did not reach the apartment owner;
long registration of various benefits and subsidies - for several months, accrual may be made at the old tariffs;
low level of public awareness about penalties for non-payment. This point is worth considering separately.

Utility shutdown

Such a measure as turning off water, electricity, gas and other benefits has a very effective effect on apartment residents. No one wants to live in a cold and dark room where even the sewage system does not work.

The law allows utilities to be disconnected for non-payers, but before doing so, notification of this measure must be given.

Notification is made no later than three days before disconnection. Problems for apartment owners arise both due to the lack of household amenities and due to the fact that many more connection issues need to be resolved later.

Ways to deal with debtors for utility services, are the actions of the management company legal?

A separate category of citizens believes that the low quality of public services provided to them allows them not to pay for them. This is not true. According to current legislation, a homeowners association or other organization responsible for housing and communal services has the right, if payment is delayed for several months, to file a claim and charge penalties.

Can they turn off the lights for non-payment of rent or put a cap on the sewer for debtors - read on.

Claim from a management company (housing association, etc.) to non-payers, sample

The management company has a claim template that can be sent out from the first day of debt formation under the CG (as mentioned above, if payment is not received before the 10th day inclusive). In practice, such a letter of claim to the debtor is printed 2-3 months after the debt is formed.

Information to be included in the claim:

from what date the payment was not received and for what months;
payment period;
responsibilities of the apartment owner;
consequences of non-payment.

Sample: claim from the management company to defaulters

Penalty charges

The standard amount of penalties for non-payment of utilities is 1% per day of the entire debt incurred.

Accordingly, every day the debt will grow exponentially, increasing significantly.

Utility shutdown

In case of long-term non-payment (for a period of 3 months), according to the law of the HOA or housing and communal services, it is legal to disconnect the apartment in which the debt from utilities has arisen: electricity, water supply, etc.

We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the disconnection should be carried out only in this apartment, and not in the entire entrance.

Power outage

Question: “Is it legal to cut off power?”

This is possible by notifying the owner of the apartment in advance, within 3 days. Those. a person is given the right to repay the debt in full. If the amount is not received or he does not appear at the HOA with a document confirming payment (cash receipt, receipt), they have the right to turn off the electricity.

Sewer plug for debtors

Question: “Is it legal to install sewer caps for non-payers?”

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Similar to electricity, they have the right to put a plug on the drainage system and on the sewer pipe for debts, having notified about it 3 days in advance.

If work is carried out without notification, the owner of the apartment can appeal such a decision in court.

Restrictions on travel abroad

Recently, all defaulters of the Customs Code are blacklisted by OVIR and the customs service. A visa is issued for such people, they are allowed to travel to the Russian border, but they will not be allowed to leave it. Departure will be permitted only after full payment of the rent arrears.

Another option is for a person to receive permission to leave the country (for example, for shopping). Upon entry back, all purchased goods are confiscated and returned after the debt is repaid.

Seizure of property

Housing and communal services have the power, through the court, to confiscate household appliances, vehicles and other things of material value. Subsequently, they will be put up for sale, and the proceeds will be used to pay off utilities.

Eviction from the apartment

Today, eviction from an apartment is extremely rare. A few cases where housing and communal services filed a claim in court against the debtor for eviction. Housing litigation can drag on for months. Even more rarely, the claim was satisfied. This is possible if the HOA side establishes that the owner of the apartment has a constant income, which is enough to repay the debt. After the completion of the trial, a writ of execution is issued to the owner of the apartment. It specifies the deadlines for vacating the premises.

More often than not, there are reasons why eviction is not possible. One of such reasons is the privatization of an apartment and the registration in it of children under 18 years of age. According to the law, it is allowed to turn off utilities, but not to evict.

Stage of enforcement proceedings

The stage of enforcement proceedings follows in the case when, during the trial, the debtor also did not want to voluntarily settle the dispute, complete the case with a settlement agreement and gradually pay off the debt. In this case, the management company turns to the bailiffs, who are obliged to execute the court’s decision to collect the debt and compensate for the delay. Neighbors of debtors can significantly help debt collection at this stage, since they often know about the debtor’s place of work and whether he has certain property (a car, other residential premises). If it is necessary to conduct a preliminary search for the debtor, neighbors can provide information about the presence of relatives and friends. Such information significantly helps to quickly execute a court decision and effectively complete the fight with debtor neighbors.

The fight against persistent defaulters

In each city or even in individual houses, debtors for utility services have to be dealt with using different methods.

Methods of dealing with persistent defaulters:

Posting lists of debtors at the entrance for everyone to see. This method is not only ineffective (the times of conscience ended in the USSR), but also gives the right to those listed on the list to file a lawsuit against the HOA for disclosing personal confidential information.
Multi-colored receipts. It has long been proven that colors have different effects on psychological perception. Regular receipts are printed on white paper, debts up to 3 months are printed on blue paper, and debts over 3 months are printed on green paper.
Notification by phone. An automatic answering machine dials the apartment owner's number every hour or two and reminds him of the outstanding debt and tells him about the consequences of non-payment.

So, failure to pay utility bills due to poor quality, low income or other subjective and objective reasons will only lead to negative consequences. The owner of the apartment will have the power supply turned off and/or a sewer cap will be installed. These are the methods of dealing with debts from organizations that provide utility services.

Thus, depriving them of favorable living conditions in the apartment. If the debt is large, it may lead to seizure of property or eviction. Also, if you want to go on vacation outside the Russian Federation, the owner of the apartment will face a ban. Therefore, if it is impossible to pay utility bills in full, you should either notify the housing and communal services and submit documents for benefits for the poor, or try to start paying for utilities partially.

The housing code norms oblige tenants and owners of apartments, houses, and dorm rooms to pay for the use of residential premises and services provided. But not everyone fulfills their duties conscientiously and the reasons for this can be very different. However, this state of affairs negatively affects a particular housing maintenance organization due to systematic losses, which requires a response to defaulters and determination of how to deal with debtors for utility services.

Stubs for debts: what lengths do utility companies go to in order to force residents to pay?

A radical method of combating debts for housing and communal services has now begun to be used en masse in the capital. Sewerage systems are blocked for malicious defaulters. Often all this leads to accidents and floods, so neighbors suffer. Moreover, they require an additional fee for removing the plug. How legal is all this?

Elena hasn’t turned on the water in her apartment for a week now: utility workers installed plugs on the sewer pipes for debts.

— I came, I wanted to put on the laundry. It’s good that I didn’t do this, because in this case I probably would have flooded the entire riser from the fifth to the first floor!

Tatyana Kryukova actually had to move in with her relatives: the other day her sewerage system was also turned off. They promise to remove the cap only when she pays the debt for electricity, gas and water.

“It was impossible to swim, the child could not eat, wash his hair, or go to the toilet. As soon as you press the toilet button, all the water is on the floor!

Previously, they sent letters to debtors, persuaded them to pay for utilities, sued, but now they simply block the sewerage system in their apartments. The chief engineer of the management says: the method works flawlessly. Residents of serviced houses on Mira Avenue alone have accumulated ten million debts for electricity.

“We put up plugs out of despair, because even the bailiffs can’t do anything with these people, they can’t legally collect money from them!”

If the debt is small, they install a grate plug that lets a little water through. Willful defaulters may have their sewer outlet completely closed. This takes 15 minutes: engineers go up to the roof, insert a manipulator into a common pipe, reach the desired floor, place a rubber ball in the debtor’s pipe and inflate it.

“We cut out a hot water connection for the debtors, connected the pipeline so that people would have water, and plugged the defaulter’s connection.

Many companies have already appeared on the capital's market: for 10 thousand rubles they will install a plug and remove it after paying off the debt. The management company itself pays the engineers, and then issues an additional invoice to the defaulter.

— Pay for the connection, within two days our clients will be connected!

Utility workers assure that they are not breaking the law: the government decree “On the provision of public services” prohibits turning off heating and cold water in residential buildings. And there’s not a word about sewerage.

But lawyers believe that management companies do not have the right to put plugs. Only the defaulter, the owner of the apartment, can limit utility services, but all the other residents are also without water. Or, as in the case of Tatyana Kryukova, who lives in a communal apartment, her neighbors are in debt, and she too is left without sewerage.

“Practice shows the following: any blockage of such communications, including plumbing, leads to an accident occurring in the entire entrance,” says lawyer Oksana Filacheva.

In the regions, apartment owners have already won several cases against management companies. In St. Petersburg, utility workers were ordered to remove the plugs, and a resident of Penza was able to sue for 100 thousand rubles in compensation. Capital lawyers also advise going to court in controversial cases. But they are strongly advised to pay for utilities - and on time.

Types of debt for which we work with debtors

Depending on the timing of fulfillment of obligations, rent arrears are differentiated into several types:

Current – unpaid debts for one billing period. Occurs even if the payment period has not yet completed. Thus, by virtue of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, monthly payments for services provided are required no later than the 10th day, and the invoice is issued for the expired calendar month. Thus, even in the case of timely payment of housing and services on the 10th, in the period from 01 to the moment the funds are received, the current debt will be recorded. Enforcement measures are not applied to citizens with current debt, because this provision does not violate the rights of the creditor.
Overdue – unfulfilled obligations for which the deadline for payment has already expired. If the management company, partnership or other housing maintenance organization has not changed the payment date, then from the 11th day of the month following the settlement month, a delay occurs. From the moment the debt is formed, not preventive and stimulating measures are applied to the defaulter, but rather enforcement measures - late fees.

To develop an effective program for getting rid of overdue debt, you need to thoroughly know the classification of debts by their maturity dates.

Mechanisms of influence on debtors

Thus, the main mechanisms of influence of the management organization on debtors are the suspension of the provision of utility services until full and actual payment and the presentation of appropriate demands in court.

Sometimes, management companies refuse to provide residents with family composition certificates and other certificates without paying the debt, but these actions are illegal.

Temporary shutdown of utilities is a fairly effective measure in debt collection.

Important!

If the debt for a certain service is more than two months, then the employees of the management company have the right to suspend the provision of the service by notifying 30 calendar days in advance in writing.

Appealing to the court with a demand to pay the debt is effective for that category of defaulters who do not actually live in the place where the debt for utilities exists. Such a requirement can be made in the form of filing a claim or in the form of filing an application for a court order.

Submitting an application to the court for a court order is a simplified form of debt collection, when the parties are not summoned to a court hearing and the deadlines are significantly shortened.

However, the debtor has the right to cancel the court order by filing an objection to it within 10 days from the date of receipt.

Methods of pre-trial work

Specifically, the obligation to pay for utility services provided by housing and communal services, housing cooperatives, HOAs and management companies is concentrated in Article 153 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. Failure to pay, resulting in an increase in debt, involves the service provider carrying out work in relation to the residents. Most often, already at the first stages of accumulation of unfulfilled obligations, penalties are charged, disconnection of all kinds of services, filing a claim with an explanation of the consequences of going to court, etc. It also happens that collectors are involved in the case.

The energy supply organization does not want to resort to more peaceful methods, although the above for the most part do not contradict the law. This is because, in the opinion of the lender, other methods are less effective and more labor-intensive, especially when life circumstances are revealed that allow the resident to qualify for a subsidy or benefit.

At the same time, pre-trial work with defaulters is a set of measures that, on the most mutually beneficial terms, would allow the debtor to pay off the debt without litigation.

Methods of dealing with defaulters and debtors for housing and communal services at the pre-trial stage also include:

Study of the financial and financial condition of the defaulter.
Dialogue between counterparties about the reasons for the accumulation of debt and an explanation of all possible consequences of further ignoring payment requirements.
Proposal of alternative calculation methods.
Providing installment plans or debt restructuring through a settlement commission.

Suppliers of housing and communal services should not neglect preventive measures aimed at preventing the accumulation of debt, first of all, this concerns improving the system for making payments for utilities, liability mechanisms and improving quality.

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Housing cooperatives, management companies and the like are required to adhere to the following sequence of activities:

Collect and analyze information on accounts receivable (accumulate them in reports, registers of accounting for enforcement proceedings, etc.).
Notify debtors (in writing or orally of the defaulter).
Personal reception. A competent employee must discuss the current situation in the form of a dialogue and offer options for exiting it. This measure is effective if the reason for the debt is a difficult financial situation and lack of funds at a particular moment (loss of job, etc.).
Concluding a debt repayment agreement. There are different versions of the essence of the agreements reached, which formed the basis of the document. This includes installment plans, transfer of debt (if the premises are sold and the buyers assume the debt), and offset (the debtor performs the work assigned by the creditor to pay off the obligations).

But residents are different. And if such an unscrupulous employer or owner is an asocial person, then such measures are most often not enough. But fortunately, the majority of residents are respectable citizens who sometimes find themselves in difficult life situations that require a helping hand.

Of course, no one is canceling the parallel accrual of penalties for each day of delay, which begins with the beginning of the next month following the billing month. Well, then utilities are turned off and most often only malicious defaulters get to this point.

Which technique is used most often?

At the same time, pre-trial work with defaulters is a set of measures that, on the most mutually beneficial terms, would allow the debtor to pay off the debt without litigation.

A citizen who is a defaulter or debtor may be considered malicious in cases established by law. To do this, he must not pay for the services provided to him for six months. Moreover, in this situation, interruption of the deadline is not allowed; the months must follow each other.

That is, the management organization receives the right to process personal data of the owners of premises in the apartment building. Based on this, there are late payments - they are delayed, but are still paid, sometimes incompletely, and then the debt still grows from month to month - and systematic non-payments, when the debt is not repaid for more than three months and up to several years.

Compulsory, through the bailiff service as part of the initiated enforcement proceedings. The appeal can be imposed on: money of the working-age population at the place of official work (a writ of execution for withholding part of the earnings through the accounting department is sent to the employer); pension and other income, if there is no decision on deprivation of legal capacity regarding the recipient of such payments.

It is also generally unclear what the mere fact of luminous windows proves. Unauthorized connection to the power grid? In my opinion this is not proof.

There is a template that is sent to everyone from the first day of late payments. Polite treatment and reminders about payments only work when a person absent-mindedly misses the payment day. Usually they do not respond to letters, and then employees of the water supply or sewerage service are sent to the home of the defaulter.

Working with debtors in court

If peaceful methods of fighting debtors for utility services during pre-trial work have no effect, it’s time to go to court, especially since no one has canceled the statute of limitations. Since June 1, 2016, the procedure for judicial collection has undergone certain changes. The process takes place within the framework of writ proceedings without calling the defendant, provided that the applicant has collected the required package of documents and the amount of the debt is not more than half a million, 100% confirming the existence of the debt. The term for issuing a ruling on a court order is 5 days. If the amount is greater, then the case is considered within the framework of the claim proceedings.

After the decision is made, you must wait until it comes into force, because the debtor has the right to appeal it. From the moment the verdict is announced, the debtor can independently execute it and pay off the debt, and if not, then the already valid decision is transferred to the bailiff for execution.

The FSSP official, by his resolution, initiates enforcement proceedings and applies sequentially and progressively the compulsory execution measures provided for by law:

Enforces penalties on property and funds, periodic payments (salaries, payments under one-time civil contracts, etc.).
Arrest and seizure of property.
Ban on leaving the country.
Eviction, etc.

How to deal with debtors

— Increase in penalties . From January 1, 2020, the amount of penalties is calculated at new rates. Previously, from the 1st day of delay, penalties were set at 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Now there is no penalty for the first month, the second and third months are considered 1/300 of the refinancing rate. Starting from 91 days of delay, the penalty increases sharply to 1/130 of the refinancing rate. Let’s say the debtor has an unpaid payment in the amount of 3,000 rubles, the payment deadline is February 10, 2020. Until March 10, no penalties will be accrued to him. From March 11 to May 10, the penalty will be 110 rubles, from May 11 to July 10 – 258 rubles. 08 kop. The total amount of penalties for 5 months of delay will be 368.08 rubles.

— Restrictions on the provision of utility services may be applied if the consumer has arrears for two billing months. You can only suspend a utility service for which there is a debt. When calculating the amount of debt, the standard and tariff are taken into account. The heating and cold water cannot be turned off. It is also unacceptable to limit the supply of resources to the entire entrance because of one or several debtors, so that bona fide payers do not suffer. As it turned out in practice, the most effective is to limit the sewerage service by installing a plug on the sewerage system in the debtor’s apartment.

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Involvement of collection agencies

On January 1, 2017, a new version of the Federal Law “On the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals when carrying out activities to repay overdue debts” came into force. The law established strict requirements for the work of collection agencies, but at the same time left a gap in the regulation of debt collection for housing and communal services.

A debt package for a communal apartment can be sold to a collection agency, or the management company has the right to hire such specialists on staff with the appropriate payment. The main tool that such collectors have in their arsenal is persuasion (conversations, advice, etc.). This establishes the law, but often such persons step over the line of the law and move from persuasion to coercion.

Despite the fact that debt for housing and communal services is a new niche for collectors, more and more agencies are buying up debt packages, and some even specialize only in this type of debt. This trend will continue in 2020, since the field, from the point of view of the work of collectors, is very promising, with a minimum of costs and a maximum of returns. When working on a debt, the collector receives a wide range of personal information, which is an effective tool in obtaining results.

How work with housing and communal services debtors should not be carried out

When trying to encourage integrity in a defaulter, it is worth knowing your boundaries. You should not post lists of debtors at the entrances of houses, as well as in other publicly accessible places in the local area, as this violates the rights of residents and can lead to litigation in court for the protection of honor and dignity. Practice shows that Themis is on the tenant’s side.

It’s not worth talking about the fact that working with debtors to pay debts for housing and communal services is possible, but not necessary, using illegal methods. Insults, threats, coercion, deception and other tricks are unacceptable. All this can lead to court, but not necessarily as a party to a civil case, but as a defendant.

What happens if you don’t pay housing and communal services - about this in the video:

Attention! Due to recent changes in legislation, the legal information in this article may be out of date!

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Current legislation obliges property owners to pay utility bills. Despite this, there are situations when contributions are not made, resulting in the accumulation of debt. We’ll talk further about how to deal with utility defaulters.

Work of the management authority with housing and communal services debtors: methods of dealing with defaulters

Management companies, homeowners' associations and housing cooperatives can also independently work with housing and communal services debtors and collect debts from them. The new law does not concern this area. The activities of collectors mean the implementation of actions to collect overdue debts from individuals, which is carried out by specialized organizations. The law on debt collectors clearly states the methods that can be used in dealing with defaulters, as well as the methods that are prohibited.

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The editors of the journal "Management of MKD" studied one of the most effective methods of influencing the debtor - a ban on leaving the Russian Federation. In the article we will tell you which debtors can be restricted from traveling abroad, how to initiate a ban, and what is the procedure for initiating enforcement proceedings. You will be able to issue a warning notice to the debtor, as well as a sample application to the bailiffs demanding that a persistent defaulter be prohibited from leaving the Russian Federation. According to statistics for 2020, thanks to this method, bailiffs collected 20.6 billion rubles from debtors.

What are utility bills and who should pay them?

Utility payments mean monthly payments for services provided by the management company and resource providers. These include:

rent;
garbage removal;
major repairs;
gas supply;
electricity;
water supply;
heating.

Each house (apartment) has its own list of utility bills. They must be paid by the official tenant or owner. For example, citizens live in a municipal apartment under a rental agreement. It clearly states the need to pay utility bills and responsibility for the accumulated debt. The tenant of municipal housing must also pay contributions for major repairs, despite the fact that he is not the owner.

In an apartment building, rent is calculated by the management company, and payment for resources is done by official suppliers. Regardless of the type of house management form, owners are required to pay for the maintenance of internal and adjacent areas. Homeowners' associations and housing cooperatives open their own accounts, to which fees are subsequently transferred.

Reasons for accumulating utility debt

Conventionally, three groups of reasons contributing to non-payment of utility bills can be distinguished:

Social. These include low income levels, which simply do not allow paying utility bills on time and in full. Similar reasons are relevant for pensioners and low-income groups of the population. In order to support them, the government introduces subsidies that reduce utility bills.
Physical. No person is immune from accidents and unforeseen situations. So, someone ends up in the hospital feeling unwell, and someone loses their permanent job. Such factors lead to the creation of utility debts.
Psychological. Some citizens refuse to pay utility bills out of their own convictions, citing poor quality of service provision or disagreement with the tariff.

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Before considering the consequences of non-payment of utility bills, it is worth immediately stipulating that the debt can be either temporary or permanent. This directly affects the type of punishment. For example, a person could simply forget to pay a bill, and the next month he will make a double payment. In fact, this is a debt, but its quick repayment removes all responsibility from the owner.

New law on utility debtors

Litigation, as a method of influence, can be used when the owner of the apartment does not pay the receipts for more than three months. The mechanism is triggered by submitting a claim to court. Rent can be called the most vulnerable type of public services. In fact, the supply of resources does not depend on it, so when debt accumulates, you cannot cut the wires or tighten the valve. In this regard, the rent debt may be taken to court. As a rule, before filing a claim, the debtor receives a notice from the management company asking for payment of the debt.

Therefore, you should not be lenient about this measure. Even the preceding shutdown of utilities will cause a lot of trouble.

There are too few laws for violation of which in this case one can be held accountable through the courts. But even if it is possible to apply them, the law on utility defaulters is on the side of the population. Debtors have strong support from social welfare authorities and, one way or another, win the case.

Some citizens manage to “accumulate” 200-250 thousand rubles. It’s scary to even think about such debt, let alone start paying it off. But sooner or later you will still have to pay - otherwise the water or electricity will be turned off.

Physical. No person is immune from accidents and unforeseen situations. So, someone ends up in the hospital feeling unwell, and someone loses their permanent job.

Ways to deal with utility defaulters

» data-medium-file=»https://i1.wp.com/law-fm.ru/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Sposoby-borby-s-neplatelshhikami-kommunalnyh-uslug.jpg?fit= 200%2C200&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i1.wp.com/law-fm.ru/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Sposoby-borby-s-neplatelshhikami-kommunalnyh-uslug .jpg?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1″ />Practice shows that it is quite difficult to deal with persistent defaulters of utility services. The fact is that the current legislation treats debtors fairly. Even going to court sometimes does not give the desired result. Defaulters are often met halfway by writing off most of the debt and spreading the remaining amount over a long period. Such situations are associated with the desire of the management company to return at least part of the funds due to it. In the case of resource suppliers, it is a little simpler, since they practice early termination of the contract and refusal to further service the consumer.

What are the consequences of having debt?

Written warning.
Accrual of penalties and fines.
Refusal to further provide the service.
Judicial proceedings.
Seizure of property.
Eviction from public housing.

We propose to consider measures to influence the debtor for certain types of services.

How do utility companies deal with defaulters?

In accordance with the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, citizens are obliged to pay for housing and communal services in a timely manner and in full within the time limits established by law - within 1 ten days of the month that follows the billing period. Not all residents of houses and apartments responsibly fulfill their obligations, which causes damage to public utilities and causes inconvenience to other residents. How do housing and communal services employees deal with malicious debtors and defaulters?

Citizens who have not paid housing and communal services for 1-2 months often become systemic defaulters. That is why work with the debtor begins with prevention: written notifications, explanatory conversations, identifying the causes of insolvency.

If the listed measures do not help and payment for utility services is carried out with long delays or is absent altogether, then the housing and communal services have the right to take drastic measures.

Sanctions for non-payment of housing and communal services include:

Accrual of penalties for late payment of housing complex services in the amount of 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation of the debt amount. This measure is applied on the basis of Art. 155 Housing Code of the Russian Federation, part 14.
Written notification to the defaulter about the upcoming restriction and suspension of housing complex services in the event that there is no payment for services for more than 2 months.
Suspension of housing and communal services until the debt is fully repaid. Resolution No. 354 of May 6, 2011 states that these measures are allowed to be applied to debtors without a court decision.
Submitting claims to the courts in cases where all the actions taken have no effect on the debtor and he does not resolve the issue of payment for services.

Through the court, the debt and late fees, as well as the costs of litigation, are collected from the citizen. The court decision is the basis for registration of enforcement proceedings, within the framework of which bailiffs have the following powers:

collect the debt from the debtor’s salary, obliging the employer to make contributions;
seize real estate, as well as dachas, garages, cars and other property of the defaulter to pay off the debt;
stop bank accounts belonging to the defaulter and write off debt amounts from them;
suspend actions aimed at registering real estate;
restrict the defaulter’s travel abroad if the amount of debt exceeds 10 thousand rubles.

It is worth noting that debts for housing and communal services become the reason for the suspension of subsidy payments. If housing was provided to the defaulter by the city, then the debt for a period of more than 6 months gives the right to file a statement of claim in order to evict the debtor from the apartment.

Information about debts for housing and communal services can be found in the regional State Public Institution IS/MFC, in the department for working with subscribers.

Consequences of rent arrears

Rent can be called the most vulnerable type of public services. In fact, the supply of resources does not depend on it, so when debt accumulates, you cannot cut the wires or tighten the valve. In this regard, the rent debt may be taken to court. As a rule, before filing a claim, the debtor receives a notice from the management company asking for payment of the debt. In case of refusal, the court will deal with the issue.

It’s a little more complicated for residents of municipal apartments. In addition to the measures described above, additional punishment may be applied to them - eviction. It is specified in the terms of the rental agreement. It is worth saying that in the future, such residents will only be able to rely on housing rented for a fee.

Non-payment of utilities

Accumulating debts is fraught with many unpleasant consequences. You can fall into rent debts due to various life circumstances, but it is still advisable not to let the matter accumulate to the point of accumulating a large amount of debt.

The reasons for delay can be very different, but the most common are the following:

layoffs or wage delays;
low income with rising utility tariffs;
long-term illness;
conflict with the management company.

However, whatever the reasons, they do not cancel the obligation to make payments. And evading this responsibility will lead to various unpleasant consequences.

How to find out the debt?

The amount that must be paid for the use of utilities is reflected in receipts that are sent monthly to apartment owners and are the basis for making regular payments.

As debt accumulates, the total amount will become larger and larger, making payment more and more ruinous.

In some cases, the receipt is sent out electronically, if such a format was previously agreed upon when creating, for example, a HOA. Such a document, just like a paper document, reflects the services that need to be paid and the amount of debt.

You can find out about your debts through a number of online resources.

This service is provided by many utility service providers, as well as ERCC. A number of banks provide this opportunity to clients via Internet banking.

You can find out more from your management company, where there is a list of rent debtors.

Debts for major repairs

Contributions for capital repairs were introduced relatively recently. They caused a lot of discontent from citizens. Many are reluctant to pay into the general fund, citing a lack of actual services. However, the obligation to pay for major repairs is stipulated in the current legislation, so it will not be possible to avoid it legally.

Debts for major repairs will lead to the same consequences as debts for rent. Several warnings will be sent to the property owner. After they are ignored, a lawsuit is filed. By a court decision, the debtor is obliged to repay the accumulated debt with penalties, otherwise his accounts or real estate may be seized.

It is worth mentioning separately that various regions have introduced their own measures to suppress debts in the form of penalties. It begins to accrue when the debt accumulates for two to three months. The penalty rate depends solely on the location of the property.

Debt collection by resource providers

In this case, resource suppliers refer to gas, electricity and water supply companies. As in the cases described above, when a large debt accumulates, they have the right to file a lawsuit to collect it.

Debts for supplied resources are quite rare. This is due to the fact that when a small amount accumulates, the supplier has the right to stop supplying resources (gas, electricity, water). Their renewal occurs only after full payment of the debt and the cost of reconnection. The latter is also required to be paid; it can range from 5 to 10 thousand rubles.

The owner or tenant of the property can enter into an agreement with a resource supplier, under the terms of which the debt will be divided into equal parts, and the connection will be made in advance.

It is worth saying that the entire riser in the entrance of an apartment building may suffer from the actions of the debtor. This mainly applies to water supply and gas supply. If there is no access to the pipe in the apartment, the supplier has the right to turn off the entire riser. This in turn will help pay off the debt. In the case of resource supplies, one cannot fail to mention the situation associated with the accumulation of debt due to long-term departure. This can be avoided by contacting the resource supplier in advance with a corresponding application.

Ban on traveling abroad

After the trial, the bailiffs have the right to file an application prohibiting the debtor from traveling abroad until the debt is fully repaid. This is a great incentive for the debtor.

The amount of debt must exceed 30 thousand rubles. If it is less, the bailiffs no longer have the right to prohibit leaving the country. Since the payment may take several days, and the trip is planned for the near future. The owner should visit the bailiff service and provide a receipt confirming full payment of the debt. Such actions will speed up the procedure.