Sample application for major home repairs

Sample applications for submission to the fund

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To pay or not to pay – that is the question

Even before 2014, the population paid for utilities, despite their systematic increase. However, the housing and communal services reform in 2019 caused these tariffs to increase by a quarter (according to average statistical data). And this happened in conjunction with rising unemployment. It was these factors, plus the unstable economic situation in the country, and in the world, that led to the fact that people began to count every penny. The issues of contributions for major repairs and high tariffs “came out of the kitchen” to the public. And now they are discussed in the media as one of the most exciting topics for the people.

However, despite the unrest of the masses, applications are coming to our portal with a request to clarify whether they can recover from the owner if he does not pay to the capital repair fund?

The law gives a clear and definite answer on this matter.

Owners of apartments located in apartment buildings are required to make contributions to pay for utilities. And contributions for major repairs are an integral part of it.

This is indicated in the Housing Code of Russia in articles No. 153, part 1, No. 154, paragraph 2, part 2.

Based on this, non-payers of such contributions may be held liable:

• The accrual of penalties, which is regulated by the Housing Code of Russia, namely Article No. 155, Part 14.1.
• Debt collection through judicial authorities, as specified in the Code of Civil Procedure of Russia in Articles No. 122 and No. 131.
• Imposing a ban on leaving the country if the amount of debt exceeds 10,000 rubles - this is regulated by Federal Law No. 229 of 09/02/07.

Of course, not every Russian expert will approve of such penalties. For example, Elena Mogilevskaya says about major repairs: “It is necessary to use the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, namely Article No. 702, because concluding a contract for major repairs is a voluntary action. But you can’t demand monthly contributions.” Here Elena means a public contract and if, on the basis of it, the owner pays once according to the receipt, then this means that he agrees with these conditions. And then he will be obliged to pay every month.

But, despite this opinion, the owners do not have the right to be guided by it, i.e. there is no legal support.

Statement of claim to the court for major repairs

Now we will look at an example when a statement of claim is drawn up in court.

The plaintiff, that is, the person filing the application, goes to court because he was charged for major repairs.

At the same time, he was not provided with a contract for the provision of services, and the estimate for the repairs was not agreed upon with him.

Such cases can be observed regularly.

When the process is carried out in this way, citizens are clearly infringed on their rights and can go to court or the prosecutor's office, based, for example, on the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights.

Remember the structure of the application, regulations to which you should refer:

1. First of all, indicate that you are submitting an application wishing to restore the violated, limited rights of consumers, as well as compensate for the moral and physical harm caused by these actions.
2. Next, write that you are guided by the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, namely paragraphs. 4 and 2 tbsp. 333.36 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 3 of article 17, ask not to charge you a fee.
3. Indicate your first name, last name, patronymic. Please note that you are the owner of the apartment and write the address.
4. Write that you were forced to pay for services, although no official contract was concluded with you, you do not know the conditions, and the services were not actually provided.
   It is worth noting that a claim to court has a greater chance of being considered positively if the plaintiff still made payments, and now

   demands their return, explaining that the collection of these payments is illegal.

   When a citizen has not paid any fees at all, and then only tries to prove the legality of his actions, he has less chance in court.

5. The most important moment! If they refused to provide you with an official contract, this will be your main advantage when considering the case in the Magistrates' Court. You need to refer to the Consumer Protection Law, namely Article 37.
   It is reflected there that:

   The consumer is obliged to pay for services that have already been provided within the appropriate time frame, in the required order, which should be reflected in detail in the contract between the contractor and the consumer.

   It also emphasizes that the consumer is obliged to pay for the work after he has already accepted it in full.

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   During the conclusion of the contract, the work can also be paid for, or an advance may be issued, but this only happens with the consent of the consumer.

6. Emphasize that they did not provide you with a contract and refused to agree with you personally on an estimate for major repairs. Surely you will be able to point out the fact that the work was not carried out.
7. Note that the defendant deliberately refuses to formally enter into an agreement with the plaintiff, providing him with the full text of the agreement.
   This is due to the fact that, according to the law, contract terms that infringe on the interests of the consumer can be recognized as invalid.

   In addition, from a legal point of view, payment for services itself confirms the fact that the terms of the contract have been fulfilled and the consumer is satisfied with the work.

8. Thus, the defendant has no interest in fulfilling the contract at all.
9. Pay attention to another important point! The Housing Code of the Russian Federation, namely Article 169, clearly states that the obligation to pay contributions begins 8 months after the regional capital repair program is approved.
   If your house is new, it is too early to renovate it, it is not included in the program, you have every right to manage the funds yourself.

   Payments are recognized as illegally seized, since practically no services were provided, there is no need to carry out major repairs.

10. Important! Major repairs are not included in the list of mandatory utilities. It is required to be carried out only once every 15-25 years (read more about the timing of major repairs and its frequency).
11. Draw a conclusion: payment for services that are not actually provided for in the contract and will not be provided in the coming years cannot be mandatory. This is a gross violation of consumer rights and property owners' rights.
12. Additionally, refer to the following legislative acts: p. 19, 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Art. Art. 6, 8, 12, Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, Art. 3 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, clause 3 art. 169 Housing Code of the Russian Federation.
13. Ask the court to fully recover in your favor the amount that you managed to pay for major repairs.
14. Also ask for compensation for moral damages in your favor. Refer to Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

You must attach to your application to the court:

• certificate of ownership;
• receipts confirming the deposit of funds;
• a copy of the personal account;
• a copy of the statement of claim to the defendant in two copies.

This statement is the most difficult to write. It will be much easier for you with others.

Sample application for change of owner of an apartment

The management company is obliged to provide you with receipts “from scratch” without the debts of the previous owner. I recommend demanding that the management company pay a fine in your favor in the amount of 50% of the excessively billed utility debts of the previous owner, and if your request is ignored, go to court.

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From the provisions of the above-mentioned norms of law it follows that Tagirova T.I. to pay for residential premises and utilities arose from the moment she acquired the right of ownership of the residential premises and she is not the legal successor of the legal relations that previously arose between the former owner and JSC Management Company of the Zavolzhsky District for making obligatory payments for the apartment.

On refusal to pay contributions for major repairs

Here are the reasons you can indicate, in addition to the already known basic data, when writing an appeal for refusal to pay for major repairs.

• It is illegal to force advance payments for services that have not yet been provided.
• No decision was made at the general meeting of the building's residents, and no minutes were provided.
• Common property was not officially registered as property.
• You want to pay for services only after concluding a formal contract, when you can personally familiarize yourself with all the conditions.
• You want to pay for services upon completion of them in proper form.

Appeal about reluctance to enter into a contract for major repairs

In many ways, the application will resemble the considered appeal to the court.

Here you can first of all refer to the fact that you are not officially assigned a share of the common property.

Also, some lawyers recommend referring to Articles 54-56 of the Constitution, which state that human rights should not be infringed, that is, the citizen’s position should not worsen.

Statement of refusal to enter into an agreement with the capital repair fund

Other contact options

It will not be difficult for you to write these appeals by downloading ready-made forms on the website of your capital repair fund for apartment buildings or any other. Then you only have to change the “cap”.

For example, citizens make the following requests:

• provide installments to pay for major repairs;
• reduce the amount of the contribution for major repairs;
• revise the estimate;
• carry out major repairs (learn about the procedure for carrying out major repairs from this article);
• change the information about the owner in the contract (for example, when changing the last name).

What could be the consequences of failure to pay for major repairs - court?

A major overhaul is a specific set of works aimed at ensuring a normal condition, from the point of view of legislation and building codes. It includes various extensive works that provide the residents of the house with comfort and safety.

The Civil Code also obliges apartment owners to maintain their acceptable condition. This is stated in Article 210. In real life the situation is different.

Refusal of payments

After mandatory payments to the capital repair fund were introduced by law, many homeowners in new buildings simply began to refuse to make payments to such a fund.

They motivated this by the fact that their housing is in excellent technical condition and does not require any repairs, especially major ones.

Such people are divided into three categories:

1. A person who is accustomed to eliminating problems related to the technical condition of the premises at his own expense;
2. People who do not trust the management company;
3. Residents who simply do not want to pay bills, without motivating their decisions.

The refusal of citizens to make mandatory payments is mainly motivated by distrust of management organizations or persons who are responsible for collecting funds and carrying out major repairs.

On the other hand, Federal Law No. 271 forces all homeowners to make monthly payments to the capital repair fund. exceptions to stopping or deferring payments:

• Emergency condition of the house;
• Ownership of housing construction by municipal authorities;
• Non-privatized property;
• Local government decision to defer.

In all other cases, the law obliges apartment owners to pay monthly.

IMPORTANT! Refusal to pay for major repairs may entail certain sanctions from the state.

What to do if you have a debt for major repairs?

In the event that the owner of an apartment has arrears for one reason or another to pay for major repairs, the state has several legal levers of influence over its citizens . Such levers include:

• Penalty;
• Court decision plus legal fees;
• Debt collection with the help of the enforcement service;
• Sale of rights to claim debt to collection organizations;
• When the amount of debt exceeds 10 thousand rubles , bailiffs have the right to restrict a citizen’s rights to travel abroad;
• Additionally, bans may be imposed on the sale of movable and immovable property.

In this regard, the state has a fairly large toolkit to oblige a citizen to pay utility bills, to the point that the defaulter of contributions for major repairs is sued.

Legal nuances

Can they sue for major repairs if there is a debt? In the process of clarifying the situation regarding payment of bills for major repairs, the opinions of specialists vary significantly. The difference in opinion depends significantly on which side the lawyer or advocate takes.

If a lawyer defends the interests of the municipality, then his clear conclusion will be the need to fully and unconditionally follow the requirements of the Housing Code.

The Code obliges owners of both apartments in new buildings and apartments on the secondary market to pay contributions to the capital repair fund.

IMPORTANT! Failure to pay contributions for major repairs may result in fines.

From the point of view of a specialist who objectively examines the current legislation, the situation is not so clear-cut. The first disagreement between the laws is that the process of paying for capital repairs itself contradicts the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The authorities have chosen the legal form of operators that accumulate funds for capital repairs in such a way that they can accumulate funds only on a voluntary basis. This applies to payments from both individuals and legal entities.

The formulation of the concept of “fund”, which is described in Article 7 of the Law “On Non-Profit Organizations”, makes sense in the fact that such a non-profit organization can be created by citizens or legal entities.

It will be based on voluntary property contributions and will be aimed at achieving goals related to cultural, charitable or other activities.

Article 26 of this law regulates the process of receiving funds and allows for the possibility of using fundraising both one-time and monthly .

The fund can also be replenished through the sale of goods, performance of certain works and through various types of income, for example, dividends from stocks or bonds.

In language accessible to the average person, the foundation can accumulate funds exclusively from charitable contributions that the owners can make.

The Housing Code and Article 153 in particular obliges apartment owners to pay all utility bills, including for residential premises. The fee for major repairs also applies to such mandatory payments.

INTERESTING! Based on the contradictions in the current legislation, a certain legislative conflict is clearly monitored. It lies in the fact that the mandatory collection of funds for the capital construction fund is contrary to the Civil Code and the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Since the owner of the premises is obliged to maintain his property. But officials have the opportunity to use the collected funds from the owners of one house for the needs of another house , based on the schedule of repair work.

Agreement on the intention to carry out major repairs of property that is in common ownership can be made on the basis of a decision of the general meeting of residents of the housing construction .

This procedure is regulated by article number 44 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

From a legal point of view, apartment owners begin to pay for major repairs of their houses only after a general meeting held by the municipal authorities.

Arbitrage practice

Payment of contributions to the capital repair fund is one of the most common disputes in the field of disputes regarding utility payments. The owner needs to know his rights if he is sued for failure to pay for major repairs.

According to lawyers , as long as this process is regulated by regional laws, which are collected in the Housing Code, judicial practice will not undergo any significant changes.

Specialists in this field conducted a special study. It was carried out using the example of one of the regions of the Russian Federation. Statistics at the end of 2020 in percentage terms were as follows:

1. The capital improvement fund received about 82% positive decisions;
2. Just over 18% were under review;
3. Only one solution was published.

What might this information indicate?

Judging by the high percentage of decisions in favor of the Capital Repair Fund and the absence of court decisions, with the exception of one, for capital repairs the court has the ability to collect debts from citizens without hindrance .

The vast majority of collections of unpaid payments for major repairs through the court took place in a simplified manner. This means that the court for payment of capital repairs issues not a decision, but a court order that must be executed.

IMPORTANT! Collection of fees through the court for non-payment for major repairs increases the amount of debt by at least 1,500 rubles.

Payment of debt and penalties

For a long time, the housing and communal services sector did not use such leverage over citizens as a fine. Such methods were mainly the prerogative of banks and regulatory authorities.

The process of collecting contributions for major repairs is very important for the management organization and is subject to priority payment. Failure to pay this type of payment may result in penalties. The court collects contributions for major repairs.

ATTENTION! If, according to the purchase and sale agreement, you received an apartment with debts for major repairs, you will be obliged to pay them! Therefore, make sure that there are no claims against the previous owner regarding utility bills!

One of the important problems that the owner experiences is the lack of a clear understanding of payment terms .

The lack of a normal process of informing about possible financial problems on the part of the service organization also does not benefit the apartment owner.

A fairly common practice is to inform the homeowner about the delay and the accrual of penalties upon completion of the action with an offer to pay the debt for major repairs on a personal account.

The mechanism for calculating penalties on contributions for major repairs is very simple. If the monthly payment is not received into the account of the management organization one day after the deadline of the billing period, such payment is considered overdue.

In this case, a penalty is charged, which is comparable to the amount of the debt. In case of non-payment of the required amount after another day, the amount of debt doubles . When the payment process is delayed, the penalty continues to grow every day until the debt is fully repaid.

CAREFULLY! The amount of the penalty is regulated by law and is equal to 1/300 of the refinancing rate. Such a small amount over a long period of time can turn into a fairly significant debt for major repairs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB4rUKpCG-s

After two months have passed after the debt has been incurred and no payments have been made, the management company may sue to ensure payment of fees, accrued penalties and legal costs.

If you want to learn more about the possible consequences for non-payment of contributions and about innovations on the topic of major repairs, watch the video:

As a conclusion, we can formulate the main provisions that must be followed when dealing with questions or problems with payments for major repairs.

The main factors that need to be taken into account include: government regulation of the process of paying for utility services at the level of federal laws, many effective methods and tools for claiming funds accrued for payment, and extensive judicial practice not in favor of the defaulter .

If the owner is confident that the charge for major repairs is illegal, he has every right to go to court and defend his legal rights.

Source: https://kapremont.expert/kapremont/neoplata-za-k-sud.html

Where and how to submit them?

You can submit applications to the Capital Improvement Fund, regional office. Appeals are also submitted to the city administration. Citizens have the right to contact the prosecutor's office and file claims in the Magistrate's Court. Now you know exactly how to draw up applications for major repairs, where and how to submit them, what documents need to be attached.

Please remember that applications are processed within a certain period.

There's no need to rush. Be sure to make sure that your rights are truly obvious and confirmed by official current legislation.

Application for replacement of a heating battery in an apartment

You can avoid such problems by writing a statement to the housing office or other organization responsible for providing heating services with a clear statement of the situation. There should be no obstacles from the housing office. It is important to remember that work on changing devices can be done in the summer. Except for situations arising from battery failure.

1. A decrease in temperature parameters in an apartment during the cold season may indicate a problem with the heat transfer of existing devices. It is the amount of heat given off by heating devices that affects the comfortable temperature balance of the home. Over time, the internal space of the device becomes silted, and the circulation of the coolant becomes difficult. The device can simply be washed with special means, but usually this procedure does not achieve the desired effect. The best option to solve this problem is to purchase and install new equipment.
2. Each battery has its own service life. Thus, cast iron sections are designed for safe operation for 35 years. Aluminum units will last a maximum of 25 years. For bimetallic equipment, a service life of 30 years is specified. The fastest-wearing devices are those made of steel. The approaching end of battery life puts them at risk of being sources of an emergency situation, in which the injured party can only be the owner of the home, but also the neighbors of the apartments below. To avoid such excesses, it is better to replace the battery with a long service life in advance.
3. Modern design solutions for apartment installations do not harmonize with the radiators we are all familiar with. It is necessary to correctly fit the device necessary to maintain the temperature balance, without spoiling the interior. To do this, the devices are replaced with a new model.

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