When receipts for an apartment arrive, what is included in them and what will happen if you do not pay on time

G. Alekseev Author of the article

It is the responsibility of the utility company to calculate the amount to be paid according to the tariff and send the tenant a receipt. They are usually found in mailboxes. But it happens that for various reasons the receipt does not reach the consumer. What to do then? Many people come up with a “wonderful” idea - not to pay, because there is no receipt - what is not a legitimate reason to ignore the obligations under the consumption contract?

What services are included in the apartment receipt?

The composition of the fee paid by residents is also determined by the code

The use of municipal housing, the maintenance of an apartment building, as well as the receipt of utilities by tenants and owners of premises is paid.

According to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Code), timely payment of housing and utility payments is an obligation of residents of private and municipal apartments.

The composition of the fee paid by residents is also determined by the code (Article 154). It includes the following elements:

1. Payment for the rental (use) of housing (for persons occupying housing under a social tenancy agreement).
2. Payments for the maintenance of housing (common property in an apartment building). This includes payment for utilities and ongoing repairs of an apartment building.
3. Communal payments. They include payments for cold and hot water, electricity, heat, gas, solid fuel for stoves, wastewater disposal, and solid waste removal.

Only a sample form has been approved for the receipt; there is no single form for this document. Therefore, the appearance of payment cards may vary in different regions. But all these payments are reflected in receipts one way or another.

You should be aware that when filling out payment forms, abbreviations (abbreviations) are often used, so consumers do not always understand what they are paying for. For example, cold water supply (cold water supply), hot water supply (hot water supply), removal of solid waste (solid waste).

Internet

After you have found out your personal account number, all that remains is to find out how much you have to pay this month. To do this, it is enough to have a computer or gadget with Internet access on hand. The necessary information can be found on the following websites:

• well-known banks (for example, Sberbank). Enter the payment for services section, select the “rent” section. Based on the account number, the system will give you the required value;
• electronic payment systems such as WebMoney. Log in to the site, enter your case, select the utility payment section. Using the account number, the service will provide you with the required figure within a few seconds;
• "Government Services". Using the portal, you can not only quickly find out how much you are required to pay for accommodation this month, but also make payment. True, this is feasible if you are registered on the portal and you know the login-password pair.
• EIRC. Here, too, everything depends on whether you have a login password. If not, you can register. Just enter the coordinates and the system will give you what you are looking for.

So, finding out the exact amount to pay is not a problem, even if you are far from your home desktop computer, but you have a smartphone or tablet computer at hand.

Payment terms for receipts

Until what date can I pay utilities for an apartment? Payment for housing and communal services must be made on time. Otherwise, penalties may be applied to defaulters. The Code stipulates that payment must be made no later than the tenth day of the month following the month being paid.

Contracts for the management of apartment buildings may establish other terms. If the consumer does not know when to pay, they should look at the receipt. The form of this document usually indicates the deadline for making payment. Many payment orders indicate the need to make payment by the 20th of the next month.

It is important to consider that payments can be made in various ways. Therefore, the timing of receipt of funds from consumers also varies. Payment must be made so that it arrives on time, otherwise you will also have to pay penalties.

If documents on payment for housing and communal services have not been received, then the payer does not have to wait for them, but deposits the funds before the tenth day, as specified in the law. This will help consumers avoid being assessed late fees.

Why is this happening?

The reasons for the lack of payments are varied. Those residents whose mailboxes have a broken lock or door are especially at risk of not receiving them, and indeed any correspondence in general. It is not necessary that someone stole the contents; it is quite possible that the document fell out and the cleaning lady mistook it for garbage.

But these are details, another thing is important - there is no receipt. Don't miss payment now. Some citizens sincerely believe that it’s like in a store: if they forgot to give you a financial document, then the purchase is at the expense of the seller. And they are very surprised when they receive another receipt, already with penalties, or even a claim invoice. It is the responsibility of the apartment owner to take care of the issue of payment in a timely manner (Article 153 of the Housing Code).

What to do if receipts did not arrive or did not arrive on time

Where to go if you haven’t received a receipt for your apartment? Payments by consumers are made on the basis of receipts received for payment of housing and communal services. However, they may not always arrive on time. A delay in the mail may result in the payment being due and still no receipt.

If the consumer sees that the payment has not been received, but there are several days left to pay, you can try to find out the amount yourself. To do this, you can use the following methods:

• call the organization involved in calculating payments, management company, homeowners association;
• clarify this information in the housing and communal services information system;
• You can also view the amount of accrued payments when paying for housing and communal services through Sberbank-online or other Internet banking systems.

What to do next?

If you know your personal account (old payment papers are written down somewhere or have been preserved), then no difficulties will arise even without a receipt. When you access the system, the payment kiosk will ask you for your account number and the amount you are going to deposit. Therefore, if the payment date is approaching, and for some reason the receipt was delayed in transit, look for payment slips for the past months.

If there is a Russian Post office near you, pay a visit there. At the post office, just give your name and address, and they will tell you the necessary numbers.

Another way is to contact the housing department or Mosenergosbyt. Visit their office and tell the employee your name and full address. The employee has a database at hand, and it will not be difficult for him to provide the requested data. This can also be done over the phone if for some reason you are not able to make a personal visit. Carefully write down the sequence of numbers that the representative of the management company will dictate.

Late utility bills and liability for it

Non-payment of housing and communal services or late payments have adverse consequences for defaulters. They are provided for by law and may include:

• accrual of penalties for each day of non-payment;
• disconnection from consumed services;
• eviction from occupied housing.

  Non-payment or late payments have adverse consequences for defaulters

The amount of the penalty will depend on the period of delay. The Code establishes the following terms and amounts of penalties:

• until the 31st day of the prophets, penalties are not charged to the consumer of housing and communal services;
• from 31 days to 90 days 1/300 of the bank refinancing rate;
• from the 90th day - 1/130 of the bank refinancing rate.

The defaulter is notified of the amount of accrued penalties. The law does not allow collection of interest on top of penalties. Usually their size is indicated in the next payment document (receipt) for payment of housing and communal services along with the next payments.

If receipts for housing and communal services are not paid for more than three months, then some of them may be disconnected. Defaulters may be left without electricity, gas, or hot water. But you can’t turn off the heating, especially in the coldest season, cold water.

The consumer is notified in advance of disconnection from the resource (three days). During these three days, he has the last opportunity to pay the debt before being disconnected from the resource.

If you need to print

If you just need a document in payment form, the Internet will help again. Open the city services website. On the initial page there is the section you need, which is called “Apartment, Housing and Utilities”. Go there. Select the function of receiving and paying a single payment document.

Here you will have to enter the data:

• payer code;
• type of paper (debt, regular);
• due date.

As a result, you will receive exactly the same receipt, which for some reason did not reach your mailbox. You can print it out or send it to yourself by email, and print it out later, at home or in an Internet cafe.

If you have not received a payment document for housing and communal services for the month, this is not a reason to ignore your responsibilities to the service provider. Lack of paper is not a valid reason for non-payment. Put in just a little effort and open the site page. It’s even more convenient because you can pay online.

Huge utility bill: how to prove a mistake

Utility fees can be calculated based on meter readings, average values, and standards. The standards for the consumption of utilities, taking into account average monthly data, were determined by the Ministry of Construction. According to his information, the average resident of an apartment in Russia takes a shower 25 times and takes a bath four times a month.

But sometimes the numbers of resource consumed turn out to be far from “normal”. So, in a month, a resident of Lyubertsy found himself owing more than 180,000 rubles for utilities. The most expensive item of expenditure was water. For cold and hot water, as well as sewerage, the cost was 164,000 rubles. Water consumption for the month amounted to 1,200 cubic meters. m., this is usually what public institutions need. The reason, as it turned out, was a failure in data transmission, reported the Moscow Region Today publication. Inconsistencies began after the Lyubertsy City Housing Trust (LGZhT JSC) entered into an agreement with MosOblEIRTS on organizing payments for housing and communal services.

1,200 cu.m. m

these are 66 small pools

In such a situation, the subscriber has only one choice - to prove that the amount in the receipt was charged in error. Ivan Bychkov, head of the Tyumen branch of the Bureau of Lawyers Bureau of Lawyers "De Jure" Bureau of Lawyers "De Jure" Federal rating. group Arbitration proceedings (medium and small disputes - mid market) group Dispute resolution in courts of general jurisdiction group Bankruptcy (including disputes) group Insurance law group Criminal law group Tax consulting and disputes (Tax disputes) group Family and inheritance law group Financial/Banking law group Land Law/Commercial Real Estate/Construction 12th place By number of lawyers 14th place By revenue 19th place By revenue per lawyer (more than 30 lawyers) Company profile, identifies the three most common reasons for overestimation of the amount in receipts: a counter error, an error of the paying agent or an error of the user himself, who transmits incorrect data or misses the deadline for verification of metering devices.

What to do if the user is at fault

If a user deposited money for a utility bill, but made the wrong invoice, the error can be easily corrected, explains one of the management companies: you need to contact either the bank or the owner of the payment terminal with a check, fill out an application to cancel the erroneous transfer and redirect the money to the correct personal account number ( banks have a sample). There are situations when the owner makes a mistake not in the account number, but incorrectly indicates the data on consumed resources.

Example:

The receipt from a resident of the Moscow region indicated that she owed 68,000 rubles for the resources consumed, and 49,000 rubles. she was charged for hot water. It turned out that when giving her testimony, the woman put a comma in the wrong place. Instead of 2.770 cubic meters, she wrote 277.0.

Bychkov says that such a problem can be solved by contacting the management company. After this, the management company will send an employee who will take meter readings and make a recalculation based on this data.

If you do not submit meter data on time, you can also receive a receipt with an unusually large amount. In such situations, Alexander Titov, lawyer, National Legal Service AMULEX National Legal Service AMULEX Federal rating. , also offers to initiate a counter check. It is important that the device has all the seals and is in good working order. For example, in case No. 33-28813/2020, a consumer who was late in submitting meter readings was able to obtain a recalculation of the fee based on the data that was taken during the inspection of the meter.

Problem counter: how to avoid additional charges

If it turns out that there are problems with the meter, then Bychkov advises paying attention to how the management company will calculate the consumed resource in such a situation - according to the average value or according to the standard. Within three months, the calculation should be based on the average value; it is usually more profitable for the owner. “The meters show that residents spend much less water and light than is stipulated in the standards. So when calculating according to the standard, the fee is usually higher,” said a representative of Russian Utility Systems.

If an excess fee was charged due to missing the deadline for checking the meter, then the management organization will be in the right. So, Irina Averkova* was due to check her water meter, but she forgot about it. And for another two years I paid according to my testimony, but then Vodokanal found out about it. He recalculated the resource consumed. It turned out that Averkova owes almost 122,000 rubles. The plaintiff recovered the entire amount through the court (case No. 33-5985/2019, entered into force).

What to do if the management company made a mistake

Example.
“Our entire house received debt receipts at once,” a Moscow resident wrote on Facebook in the summer of 2020. According to her, these were debt notices for July 2021. And a resident of Zvenigorod on her page complained about heating bills: she was charged 4.07945 Gcal for heating, although according to the meters she consumed half as much - 1.9177 Gcal.

In such situations, you first need to calculate the actual amount of the payment. The owner can come with a payment slip to the management organization and demand clarification on each line:

• why this or that line is included;
• what are the standards and tariffs (why is this size, when, by whom was it approved, for what category of apartment buildings);
• what formulas were used to make the calculations?

Most likely, after calculation, the figure will turn out to be more familiar than the impressive amount indicated on the receipt. Then you can submit a claim for recalculation to the management company or HOA that services the house, or to the agent for receiving meter readings.

Claims due to inaccuracies in calculations can usually be resolved at this stage. The paying agent or organization chosen by your home as a form of management, if it discovers an error, can immediately recalculate.

Ivan Bychkov, head of the Tyumen branch of the BA Bureau of Lawyers "De Jure" Bureau of Lawyers "De Jure" Federal rating. group Arbitration proceedings (medium and small disputes - mid market) group Dispute resolution in courts of general jurisdiction group Bankruptcy (including disputes) group Insurance law group Criminal law group Tax consulting and disputes (Tax disputes) group Family and inheritance law group Financial/Banking law Land Law/Commercial Real Estate/Construction group 12th place By number of lawyers 14th place By revenue 19th place By revenue per lawyer (more than 30 lawyers) Company profile

In some cases, Bychkov continues, the Criminal Code may send a specialist to check the integrity of the seal and the serviceability of the meter and record the readings taken in the report. And based on it, adjustments are made.

If the management company or the HOA do not cooperate, you must file a complaint with the State Housing Inspectorate. Payments with which you do not agree must be attached to the application. Upon request, the housing inspection will be required to conduct an unscheduled inspection. If it discovers a violation, it will oblige the management company to recalculate. Bychkov recommends simultaneously sending the same complaint to the prosecutor's office.

According to Art. 156 of the Housing Code (“Amount of payment for residential premises”), if the procedure for calculating payment for housing maintenance is violated, the service provider is obliged to pay a fine to the owner of the premises (50% of the difference between the amount calculated by mistake and the correct amount), reminds Alexander Titov, lawyer at the National Legal AMULEX Service National Legal Service AMULEX Federal rating. . You must send a written application to the Criminal Code. Within 30 days, the company must check the accrual and make a decision on payment if it finds an error.

What if the reason is in the meter?

Example.
A resident of Moscow decided to reinstall the gas stove, called a technician, and he did everything without any complaints. And at the end of the month, the owner received an astronomical gas bill - 600,000 rubles.

There are many similar stories: for example, the water meter increased 60 cubic meters. m and even 180 cubic meters. m instead of the usual 2–3, or the electricity meter showed readings ten times higher than a month earlier. Companies that test and install water meters identify several typical faults that can affect meter readings:

• depressurization of the device;
• leaks;
• blockage in pipes;
• breakdown of the counting mechanism;
• incorrectly selected metering device;
• incorrect installation.

The situation is similar with gas meters. The device may show incorrect data in the following cases:

• breakdown of mechanisms;
• incorrect installation;
• Installation in the wrong location (for example, exposed to direct sunlight).

As soon as the owner realizes that something is wrong with the accounting partitioning, he must notify the management company (MC) or resource supply organization (RSO), says Titov. You need to ask them to check the meter. If the specialist confirms that it is faulty, then the resource will be accrued by calculation. But sometimes the owners find out that the meter was giving erroneous readings when they receive a receipt with a round sum. Bychkov says that in this case it will be necessary to conduct an independent examination of the meter.

Documents that need to be submitted for examination:

• technical passport of the meter;
• acceptance certificate;
• documents on previously conducted examinations;
• reports on repairs performed;
• data on technological indicators;
• information about existing failures or problems.

If the expert confirms that the meter is faulty, the service organization will have to recalculate the accrued amount, explains Bychkov. If the RSO or the Criminal Code does not do this, you will have to seek through the court a recalculation of the fee (exclusion from the personal payment account) for utilities.

Residents against high prices: how to save on utilities and defend your rights

Georgy Borichev* filed such a claim against the Yubileiny-6 housing cooperative. He disputed the accrual of almost 115,000 rubles. for water and insisted that the water meters in his apartment were faulty. This was confirmed by the organization for verification of measuring instruments: according to the expert, the error of the instruments is three times greater than the norm, which means they are faulty.

The first instance sided with the owner and not only ordered the housing cooperative to carry out a recalculation, but also exacted compensation for moral damages, a fine and expenses for a representative in favor of the consumer. But the appeal overturned this decision, deciding that Borichev should pay the invoice. The owner of the apartment is appealing the decision in cassation (case No. 2-1159/19).

A claim for an obligation to recalculate is a rather exotic way of protecting rights, and it does not always work, says Sergei Sergeev, head of practice in the field of housing and communal services, ecology and environmental management of the Moscow Bar Association "Arbat" Moscow Bar Association "Arbat" Federal rating. group Arbitration proceedings (medium and small disputes - mid market). He gives other advice.

It is better not to pay an amount that you do not agree with, but instead wait for RSO to file a lawsuit. And already in the process you can seek to cancel the accrual.

Sergey Sergeev, head of practice in the field of housing and communal services, ecology and environmental management MCA Moscow Bar Association "Arbat" Moscow Bar Association "Arbat" Federal rating. group Arbitration proceedings (medium and small disputes - mid market)

The court, according to the expert, will evaluate the actions of the parties in good faith: how quickly they responded to the situation and whether there was any abuse of law. The second way for the subscriber is to pay the amount on the receipt in full, and then recover the money from the resource supplying organization as unjust enrichment.

*Names and surnames have been changed by the editors

• Anastasia Sinchenkova

“I didn’t sign an agreement, but the receipts keep coming”

Unfortunately, it is not possible to be exempt from paying for the removal of solid waste on this basis.
Judicial practice is not in favor of residents. The main reason is that the law (dated June 24, 1998 No. 89-FZ) directly obliges the owners of residential premises to enter into an agreement for the removal of MSW with a recycler.

According to clause 8.17 of Rules No. 1156, if the reoperator has published a proposal to conclude an agreement on its official website, then this agreement comes into force on the 16th working day, regardless of whether the consumer has signed it or not.

This is one of the cases of mandatory conclusion of a contract, provided for by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 445).

But if, when the agreement was concluded, the relocation operator did not fulfill his duties (i.e. did not take out the garbage), then the residents are not obliged to pay him.

The fact of garbage removal is confirmed primarily by data from the GLONASS satellite system, which must be installed on all garbage trucks. The court may request this information at the request of a party to the proceeding.

When proving that garbage is not removed, in court you can also refer to witness statements, photographs and videos.

There are real examples when the fee for garbage removal was canceled, having established that the service was not provided (Kartalinsky City Court, Chelyabinsk Region, case 2-559/2018).