Where to complain about incorrect rent calculations

Housing and communal services legislation

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation regulates relations in the field of property, non-property and intellectual rights, compliance with property, and contractual obligations.
The Housing Code of the Russian Federation establishes criteria for the quality of service provision in housing and communal services. Article 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation establishes the administrative responsibility of the head of the Criminal Code for incorrect calculation of rent and the amount of the fine for this act.
Federal Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” dated 02/07/1993 No. 2300-1 lists the interactions between sellers (suppliers) and buyers, defines the concept of quality of services and products and prescribes the mechanism of the RFP.
Federal Law “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” dated May 2, 2006 No. 59-FZ is applied in the case of complaints about the work of state, municipal or private enterprises.

What could cause incorrect charges on a receipt?

Company employees calculate rent using special software.

Such manipulations are no longer performed manually; the calculation of utility bills is fully automated.

Therefore, there are few reasons for accrual errors in receipts:

A technical error has occurred. A software failure or computer breakdown may affect the calculation result. This does not relieve the management company of responsibility for accruals, but it is an objective reason for the error and does not bear malicious intent.
The consumer made a mistake himself and provided incorrect meter readings.
Intentional illegal actions of the company's management or employees. In this case, incorrect calculation of rent becomes a criminal offense and entails more serious liability.

How can I avoid paying rent if I don’t live there?

— How can I not pay for an apartment in which I have a share of ownership, but do not live there?
I live in another country all the time, and I come back once a year at most. There is no point in providing documents about absence throughout the year: the management company will not recalculate, since, according to them, the period is too long. Another owner does not pay rent and accumulates debts. The management company filed a lawsuit, and the debts are accrued including to me, since I am the owner. But in fact, they ask me to pay for services that I did not receive. How can I stop paying for water and electricity that I don’t consume? Naturally, I pay the tax. Selling a share is problematic: no one wants to buy it, since the minor children of the other owner are also registered in the apartment.

Yulia Dymova, director of the Est-a-Tet secondary real estate sales office, answers:

Unfortunately, in such a situation, the best option would still be to sell your share. As long as you are the owner of these square meters, you will have to bear the full responsibility for maintenance and repair.

Independent expert Nikolai Yablokov answers:

From the text of the letter it is clear that the apartment is communal, so installing meters for water, electricity, etc. will not solve the problem. In accordance with the Housing Code, the owner of a residential premises is obliged to bear the costs of its maintenance and the maintenance of his share of common property. So you won't be able to avoid paying.

Regarding the sale, it is unclear how the registered children of the other owner influence the sale of the share of the author of the question.

My advice is to determine the procedure for using residential premises and divide personal accounts. Then you will pay less.

The head of the legal department, Vladislav Frolov, answers:

Currently, you, as a co-owner, have joint liability for non-payment of utility bills. Therefore, they will collect debts from you for payment.

First, contact the Criminal Code with a written application for recalculation of utility bills, attaching documents confirming your absence. The management company is obliged to do this over the past three years.

Write the application in 2 copies - you hand over one to the Criminal Code, and keep the second with a mark of acceptance. Within a month from the date of receipt of the application, the management company is obliged to recalculate or give a written refusal indicating the reasons. You can appeal this refusal in court.

You also need to apply to the court for the allocation of shares in payment of utility bills. The defendants in this lawsuit will be the management company and the second owner. The court will allocate shares in payment in proportion to your share in the apartment.

However, keep in mind that you, as the owner, will still be required to pay for heating, maintenance and repairs of the residential premises, and contributions for major repairs.

Selling a share, although problematic, is possible. This may be the best way out of this situation.

Answered by the legal adviser of the Babushkinskoye office of the secondary market department of INCOM-Real Estate Alexander Lifshits:

In accordance with the norms of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the owner of a residential premises bears the burden of maintaining the residential premises and the common property of the owners in an apartment building. Failure to use the premises by the owners does not constitute grounds for failure to pay them for residential premises and utilities. In case of temporary absence, payment for certain types of utility services, calculated on the basis of consumption standards, is carried out taking into account the recalculation of payments for the period of temporary absence of a citizen in the manner and in cases approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.

According to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 05/06/2011 N 354 (as amended on 06/29/2020) “On the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings”, in case of temporary (more than 5 full calendar days in a row) absence of the consumer in the residential premises , not equipped with an individual or common (apartment) metering device, the amount of payment for utilities is recalculated, with the exception of utilities for heating, electricity and gas supply. By visiting once a year, you can exercise this right; refusal by the management company due to “too long a period” will be illegal.

However, the rule on recalculation in case of temporary absence is applicable only when metering meters were not installed in the apartment due to the lack of technical ability to install them, confirmed in the prescribed manner. If the meters were not installed by decision of the apartment owners or are in faulty condition, there will be no recalculation.

In accordance with Art. 249 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, each participant in shared ownership is obliged, in proportion to his share, to participate in the payment of taxes, fees and other payments on common property, as well as in the costs of its maintenance and preservation.

Thus, in order not to pay rent for another owner, you can contact the management company to divide the charges for the apartment in proportion to the shares of all its owners. In this case, you will be issued separate bills for payment for housing and utilities for your share, and the debts of other owners will be collected in court only from them. The refusal of the Criminal Code to divide bills for payment of housing and communal services can be appealed in court.

You can stop paying for utility resources that you do not consume due to not living in the apartment only by alienating your share. Unfortunately, it is not clear from the question how many rooms are in the apartment and what the size of your share is, so it is difficult to assess the prospects for its sale. If the share is not insignificant and allows its owner to qualify for the use of a separate room in the apartment, a buyer can be found for such a share. At the same time, you need to keep in mind that other co-owners of the apartment have a pre-emptive right to purchase your share, therefore, before selling it to third parties, you must offer in writing to the owners of other shares to buy yours.

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Where to complain to the management company for incorrectly charged rent

To restore your rights, you need to adhere to a certain algorithm of actions.
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To the head of the management company

The first step in resolving the conflict will be a written appeal to the head of the company. In it, the defrauded payer needs to describe in detail his arguments regarding the incorrectly calculated rent, with reference to the approved standards, and state the requirement for recalculation.

The appeal will be considered within a month. The answer may be positive when the manager admits the error in the calculations, apologizes and guarantees a recalculation in the next month.

In this case, both parties to the conflict will remain satisfied: the tenant will return the overpaid money, and the mistake will not cost the boss serious losses.

If the management company ignores the complaint or refuses to recalculate, the next step can be taken.

In GZHI

The State Housing Inspectorate is an executive body. Its functions include protecting the rights and interests of consumers of utility services, as well as overseeing the management company’s compliance with contractual obligations in terms of the quality of service provision, as well as charging for them in accordance with the approved tariffs.

There are inspection branches in all cities or regional centers. You can complain about incorrect rent calculations to any of them: bring the application in person or send it by registered mail.

In addition, you can submit an application online on the official website of the housing inspection. Based on the results of the inspection of the activities of the management company, the inspector has the right to impose an administrative penalty.

To Rospotrebnadzor

This is an executive body that has a wide range of powers in the field of citizens’ rights against various attacks.

This is the authority where you can complain and demand punishment for a company that charges unreasonably large payments. There are several ways to do this:

send a mail message;
call the hotline 8-800-100-0004;
leave an email on the official website.

Upon request, an unscheduled inspection will be organized. Its results will help resolve the issue of the legality of charging utility bills and applying liability to the management of the management company.

To the prosecutor's office

The prosecutor's office is a supervisory body that has jurisdiction over any issues of non-compliance with legislation, including housing legislation. There is no point in contacting the prosecutor's office without going through all the previous authorities. In this case, the complaint will be sent down for consideration by the relevant departments.

If a citizen has confirmation of appeals to all authorities, then the prosecutor will evaluate the quality of work of government bodies with applications and initiate his own check of compliance with the criminal code of law. As a result, an order will be issued to eliminate violations and, if necessary, an administrative penalty will be imposed.

IMPORTANT! Appeals to government authorities can be sent through online services on their official websites, or use the capabilities of the electronic resources of RosZhKKH or the State Services website.

To court

The court is the last authority to which a citizen deceived by the management company can turn. As a rule, such issues are resolved at previous stages. But if all attempts to resolve the conflict out of court are futile or, despite the positive decisions of the authorities, the Criminal Code does not comply with them, then you can draw up a statement of claim, attach correspondence to it and go to court.

Responsibility for violation

Errors in calculations entail liability for representatives of management companies and settlement centers. Based on the Housing Code of the Russian Federation (Article 157), the victim has the right to demand that the figures be recalculated if errors in the calculations are identified. In addition, the violator may be held financially liable. In order to bring the authorized bodies to justice, you need to submit an application to the Criminal Code, and if the company fails to act, contact the above authorities. Most often, the decision to impose fines is made by the judicial authority.

How to correctly write a complaint for incorrect calculation of payments

First you need to make sure that there really is an error on the receipt. To do this, you need to find out the current tariffs for utility services - perhaps they have recently been increased - and also check the information about the meter readings transmitted earlier: it may turn out that the consumer himself made an inaccuracy.

If you are convinced that there is an error in the receipt, you can file a complaint.

Appeal to the head of the management company

The leader must be interested in a peaceful resolution of the conflict, so it is necessary to contact him with a statement with the following content:

Indicate the addressee's full name and position, for example, to the director of Management Company LLC, I.I. Petrov.
Next, the initiator of the complaint indicates his data and address.
Below in the center of the page is the name of the document - Complaint.
Then the citizen must describe the problem in detail, indicate for which services and for what period the excess amounts were accrued, refer to the approved tariffs, and demand a recalculation.
It would be useful to warn about the intention to apply for protection of rights to higher authorities if the issue is not resolved at this level.
At the end, the date the document was drawn up and a signature are placed.

To the State Housing Inspectorate

A complaint of similar content is being drawn up.

They describe the details of the dispute, attach copies of receipts (it is advisable to confirm your good faith as a payer of utility bills and the absence of debts), documents confirming the right to use or own the apartment, a copy of the application and the response of the head of the company.

IMPORTANT! As a general rule, citizens' appeals are considered within 30 days.

Complaint to Rospotrebnadzor

After attempts to resolve the conflict, you should contact the head of the management company directly.

The application must include the correct, in the applicant's opinion, payment calculation with justification and a copy of the receipt, confirm the absence of debt for housing and communal services, attach a lease agreement or certificate of ownership, correspondence with the management company.

Nuances of a complaint to the prosecutor's office

Such content will have an appeal to the prosecutor's office. But, in addition to the main problem and providing evidence, the applicant must confirm the appeal to the relevant organizations: the housing inspection and Rospotrebnadzor.

The prosecutor's office not only considers the complaint on its merits, but also evaluates the legality of the actions or inactions of officials.

IMPORTANT! You can file a claim in court immediately, without contacting supervisory authorities, if you have evidence!

How to file a claim against the Criminal Code

A statement of claim against the management company demanding recalculation of incorrectly calculated rent must meet standard criteria:

The header indicates the status of the court to which the case is being sent for consideration and its address,
Below are detailed personal data of the initiator of the process: his last name, first name, patronymic, address, telephone.
Next, you need to describe in detail the details of the opposite party: the full name of the management company, its legal and actual address.
The main part describes the essence of the dispute. The plaintiff must also indicate attempts to resolve the conflict out of court. Then, with reference to paragraphs of regulatory documents that confirm the validity of his claims, the plaintiff demands recovery from the defendant of the amount of overpayment or recalculation.
All documents confirming the applicant’s arguments are attached to the claim (a copy of the paper confirming the ownership of the residential premises, a receipt for payment of the state duty).

Where to contact

By law, the recipient must transfer money in a timely manner, and the supplier, for its part, is obliged to provide water, heat or other services in the quality and quantity specified by law. Tariff calculations are carried out by the management company or the settlement authority that services the facility. If the owner does not agree with the specified figure, he has the right to contact one of the bodies listed below. The problem is that many people do not know where to complain about inflated utility bills. As a result, they constantly overpay and get confused about tariffs.

Management company

The management company is responsible for the correctness of calculations even in a situation where this task is performed by the settlement authority. The situation is due to the fact that the Criminal Code contains detailed data on services and the cost of payment.

In case of errors in the receipt, you must go through the following steps:

find out the current tariffs at the time of calculation;
determine that the information entered is transmitted correctly;
call or write to the officials of the management company or the settlement authority with a request to make changes;
in case of refusal, write a complaint to the authorized structures.

To obtain information about tariffs, you need to contact the management company or homeowners association that services the property. The second option is to go to the official website of local or regional authorities that are responsible for determining the amount of payment. If the culprit of the error is the owner himself, for example, an incorrect figure is transferred, a new receipt is generated or the overpayment is deducted next month.

Another way to get the information you need is to call the housing and communal services call center. Operators help in resolving issues with numbers on the receipt and provide information on the current cost of services.

What to do after considering the complaint

If the decision made by the competent authority or court satisfies the applicant, then he, having received a copy of it, will await recalculation. For the management company, which did not want to resolve the conflict peacefully, this will be costly.

What will be the punishment

According to current legislation, if the Criminal Code has eliminated the cause of the dispute before the victim contacts government authorities or there is no fault, then it will avoid sanctions.

If the complaint reaches government officials, then they are obliged to make a decision within thirty days to impose an administrative penalty: a fine in the amount of half the amount of the overcharged rent.

Is compensation due?

If the owner or tenant of the apartment proves that the rent was charged illegally, the management company is obliged to recalculate it in the next month. In addition, the fine imposed by decision of the authority will be paid in his favor.

Funds in the form of a fine are not given to the applicant in person, but are taken into account as advance payments for utility services, and this amount is indicated separately on the receipt.

Quality and subtleties of calculation of services provided

After updating the Housing Code of the Russian Federation (Article 157), a number of changes appeared that concern many aspects, including the quality of services. The following aspects stand out here:

If the supply interruption exceeds the norm, the supplying organization is obliged to recalculate the payment and pay a certain amount in the form of a fine.
A similar approach occurs when providing low quality services.
When calculating monthly payments, the parameters of the meters are taken into account. If the latter are not established, standard parameters and special coefficients are taken as a basis.

Individual calculation rules apply for each service:

Water supply . The specifics of the provision of the service are specified in RF Regulation No. 354. This act states that payments for water are calculated taking into account data from cold water meters. The current tariff is taken as a basis. The user’s task is to prove that the data is erroneous, that there is a long pause in delivery, or that the quality of the service is poor.
Warm . Heating payments are calculated according to standard rules. The main nuance is to perform calculations taking into account the area of housing. A recalculation may be required if the area indicated in the payment is incorrect or the tariff plan is incorrectly selected. Recalculation may be required in other cases, for example, during a long interruption in supply.
Electricity supply . The volume of transmitted electricity is recorded by meters (communal and individual). Incorrect numbers on the receipt may be due to errors by responsible structures.
Gas supply . As in previous cases, data from meters is taken as a basis. If they are not there, the current indicators are calculated per resident. In addition, filing a complaint is possible if there is a long interruption in the supply of services.
Home maintenance . The maintenance of the house is handled by the HOA or management company. The list of services provided is prescribed at the legislative level. Failure to fulfill obligations on the part of authorized structures gives a person the right to demand termination of the contract or file a complaint to eliminate identified deficiencies.

Citizens need to be careful and control the information in payment documents. The appearance of errors in a receipt requires prompt action.