How to write an application to the housing and communal services from residents with a complaint about services: a sample document and the nuances of registration

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Housing and communal services functions

Remember! The following main functions of housing and communal services can be distinguished:

• carrying out inspections of residential premises, preparing design estimates;
• carrying out repair and construction work aimed at replacing, restoring and replacing elements of residential buildings (with the exception of complete replacement of load-bearing elements, elements made of concrete and stone);
• carrying out the modernization of construction projects in the event of their major repairs (carrying out redevelopment, reorganizing kitchen rooms, sanitary facilities, expanding residential premises through the use of auxiliary premises), replacing stove heating with central heating with the installation of boiler rooms, heat supply and other points, heat supply sources, carrying out re-equipment of stoves burning gas and coal, organization of installation of cold and hot water supply equipment, replacement of central heating, water supply, installation of electric stoves used in everyday life or kitchen hearths, installation of elevators, garbage disposal systems, conversion of the existing power supply system to higher voltage , carrying out repairs to antennas that are used collectively, connecting apartments to telephone networks and radio broadcast networks, implementing procedures for installing intercoms, locks with an electronic system, fire protection system and smoke removal systems, carrying out activities aimed at automating and dispatching elevators, heating and boiler networks , landscaping of courtyard areas (paving, landscaping, installing wood sheds, improving utility and amenity areas related to an apartment building, repairing roofs, facades of houses, buildings up to 50%;
• organization of insulation of buildings with residential status (carrying out work aimed at improving the heat-insulating properties of enclosing structures, organizing external vestibules;
• replacement of utility networks;
• organizing the installation of heat energy consumption meters for types of water supply, organizing the installation of apartment meters for the use of cold and hot water supply;
• reconstruction of combined roofs;
• carrying out supervision of design organizations in the process of carrying out major repairs of buildings, which concerns the replacement of floors and redevelopment;
• carrying out technical supervision in cases where such organizations include bodies supervising the implementation of the overhaul process;
• organization of repairs of premises built into buildings.

Financial support is provided by the owners. The list of obligations is subject to determination by the general meeting.

What questions are addressed?

Currently, one can find many reasons why the owner of a home located in an apartment building receives the right to contact a management company.

Remember! The following grounds are identified for filing a complaint about poor quality services:

• violation of the housing and communal services provisions provided for in the agreement concluded with residents, as well as the provisions contained in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation;
• illegal increase in service tariffs;
• identification of violations in the process of holding a general meeting of residents or failure to organize a meeting if there are grounds for holding it;
• provision of services that do not meet the quality (for example, lack of cleaning services for entrances, lack of heating during cold periods), or failure to provide services that are provided for in an agreement concluded with the management company;
• systematic violation of the terms of provision of services (the procedure for provision is regulated by Article 162 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);
• implementation by the Criminal Code of actions that violate the provisions of laws or Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation;
• damage to homeowners as a result of negligence in the performance of their duties by the management company (for example, damage due to the inaction of management company employees in the event of a pipe break).

Attention! Our qualified lawyers will assist you free of charge and around the clock on any issues. Find out more here.

Arbitrage practice

The decisions of housing inspectors periodically become the subject of consideration by courts, which either confirm or refute the arguments of the government agency. Examples include the following solutions:

1. By decision No. 21-577/2020 of August 26, 2020, in case No. 21-577/2020, the court upheld the decision of the housing inspectorate to bring the director of the management company to administrative liability due to the presence of icicles on the roof of a residential building: a fine of 50,000 was imposed rubles
2. By the ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 06/05/2020 No. 302-ES20-7227 in case A19-9053/2017, the court sided with the owner of the premises who unauthorizedly added a basement to a residential building, since the unauthorized construction does not interfere with access to the common property of the house, but its demolition can lead to deterioration of the load-bearing characteristics of a residential building and its destruction.
3. By decision No. 2-3666/2020 of July 30, 2020, in case No. 2-3666/2020, the court ordered the utility service provider to comply with the decision of the housing inspectorate on the transition to calculating utility fees for heating during the heating period, as well as recalculate the adjustment heating fees for all owners and tenants of residential building premises.

How to make an application correctly

When drawing up an application, you should remember that there is no approved form. Each management company has the right to independently determine the form that must be filled out by the applicant in the event of an application.

Often the application is drawn up in free form and filled out independently.

If possible, the applicant can independently compile an application on the computer.

Despite the fact that there is no established form, the law regulates the list of information that must be reflected in the application:

• the application must indicate the full name of the general director of the management company;
• the application indicates the details of the person who applies to the Criminal Code and his contacts;
• It is not allowed to fill out an application with errors or incorrect data;
• The statement should clearly state the essence of the problem, if possible referring to the norms of the law that were violated by the actions of the Criminal Code.

Debt write-off in a management company.

For which housing and communal services you don’t have to pay, read here.

What should the management company do regarding the maintenance of the house, read the link:

Please note! The application contains the following list of information:

• information about the management company, its location and information about the director;
• information about the applicant, including his full name, residential address, contact details;
• title of the document (application, claim);
• the circumstances that served as the basis for writing the application;
• the requirements that the applicant requests to be satisfied;
• date of preparation of the document, signature of the person who compiled it.

How to correctly write a complaint about housing and communal services, sample document and common mistakes

As stated earlier, there is no single format for writing a complaint. However, the applicant must adhere to the basic rules in order to avoid mistakes and not increase the period of investigation of the situation:

1. The use of obscene or slang language and obscene expressions is prohibited. You should not insult employees, management, or housing and communal services representatives. Complaints with such violations are left without consideration and cannot be included in the future as a pre-trial settlement of the issue.
2. The content should be concise and clear. The claim is written to the point, without stretching over several pages. Attention is focused only on essential details supported by documentation. The events that actually happened are described.
3. The correct addressee helps speed up the consideration of the complaint.
4. Business correspondence must be literate. Punctuation, stylistic and semantic errors should be avoided. Corrections and blots are excluded.

What to consider when composing the text

Due to the fact that there is no legally established application form, the following recommendations should be taken into account:

• the writing style should be businesslike;
• the text should not be voluminous;
• one should refer to the norms of the current law or other act that is being violated.

Remember! Such acts are:

• agreement with the management company (as a rule, the entire list of works that the company provides is indicated there);
• Resolution No. 170;
• Housing Code of the Russian Federation;
• a list of rules developed by the Government of the Russian Federation in 2011;
• acts issued by local authorities regulating the activities of management companies.

When a person has other written evidence, he has the right to attach it to the completed application. In such circumstances, the application shall indicate the entire list of information attached to it.

Remember, even if the applicant did not provide any information, this is not a reason for the Criminal Code to refuse to accept and consider it.

Watch the video. What the management company should repair for free:

Legislative provisions on relationships between neighbors in apartment buildings and private houses

If a person is not satisfied with the utility resources supplied by the management company: poor water flow or constant power outages, then you can write an application to the housing inspectorate and demand that this issue be looked into. GZHI can also help with relationship conflicts with other residents. If neighbors systematically violate the rules of residence, then justice can be found against them, since every citizen has the right to make complaints.

It doesn’t matter whether a person is in a city or town, all premises are serviced by a housing cooperative or a management company. To restore justice, the legislation provides for a sample complaint to the housing inspectorate and a specific procedure for filling out the form and submitting it.

This process is regulated by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, Government Decrees No. 25 and No. 491 (as amended and supplemented in 2019). The first PP announces the rules that all property owners must follow, and the second regulates the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The law does not prohibit the use of regulations within the limits established by housing legislation, as well as federal sanitary and technical standards.

There have been some changes made for 2021. Now Article No. 17 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation obliges owners and tenants to strictly follow the rules and interact with neighbors.

This includes compliance with sanitary standards and public order:

• noise;
• accumulation of garbage;
• animals;
• smoking;
• maintenance of common property.

Watch the video: “Complaint to the State Housing Inspectorate in the absence of a response from the management company.”
The tenant is obliged not only to participate in the costs of repairs, but also not to litter, not to create a threat to other residents of the apartment building, and to maintain peace during certain hours. Construction work is only permitted during the daytime. Federal Law-52 obliges all citizens not to make noise from 23.00 to 7.00 and talks about sanitary standards.

Federal Law No. 15 (as amended in 2021) informs about the preservation of public health. In particular, the document stipulates restrictions on smoking in public places. Article No. 30, paragraph 4 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation says that owners are obliged to ensure the safety of common property.

The most common unsubscribes: how to argue your position

Often, after submitting an application to the Criminal Code, regardless of the reason for the application, applicants receive standard answers. As a rule, they are not legally justified, since the answers contradict the norms of the law or the concluded agreement. As a rule, the representative of the management company abuses the legal ignorance of persons.

Entrance renovations are constantly being postponed

Often, the management company reschedules repairs more than once over a certain period of time, citing the fact that there are not enough financial resources to carry it out.

In this circumstance, it is necessary to remember the provisions of Gosstroy Decree No. 170, according to which cosmetic repairs of the access area must be carried out at least once every five years. In case of wear and tear or other objective circumstances, this period is reduced to three years.

Please note! The specific period during which repair work is carried out is determined by agreement with the management company.

Relocating repairs to the porch and cornice above the entrance. When porch repairs are necessary, including cosmetic ones, the provisions contained in the previously mentioned Resolution should also be taken into account.

In accordance with this act, facade repairs are carried out after painting the main surfaces of the entrance porch. In this case, the old paint must be removed before carrying out work.

Repair work in the ventilation shaft

The ventilation system is one of the main problems of apartment buildings. The previously mentioned regulatory act does not contain a time frame during which repair actions are carried out.

However, it states that work must be organized in such a way that allows the system to function uninterruptedly. Responsibility measures are assigned to the management company in case of provision of poor-quality services.

Collective claim

The law allows for the filing of a collective complaint rather than an individual one. This complaint was filed by several residents of the building.

Remember! A collective complaint is drawn up in accordance with the requirements that are presented individually, the only difference is the presence of signatures of not one owner, but several.

Such a statement reflects the complaint of each of the residents of the house. Additionally, the contact information of each applicant must be indicated.

How long does it take for the management company to respond?

In accordance with clauses 18, 21 of the Standard for Disclosure of Information by Organizations, the total period during which the management company considers and draws up a response to the application is 10 days.

No more than 5 days - if the application indicates a requirement to provide information regarding the list of scope of work, the period of provision of services or performance of work. In an agreement with the management company, this period may be different.

No later than 10 days in the case where the application indicates a demand for a reduction in cost for reimbursement of expenses that are associated with deficiencies in the work that was performed.

Housing inspection email address

The complaint can also be sent to the email address of the relevant housing estate:

• Moszhilinspektsiya –;
• for the Central Administrative District - [email protected] ;
• according to the Northern Administrative District - [email protected] ;
• in North-East Administrative District - [email protected] ;
• according to VAO - [email protected] ;
• in the South-Eastern Administrative District - [email protected] ;
• in the Southern Administrative District - [email protected] ;
• in the South-Western Administrative District - [email protected] ;
• for JSC - [email protected] ;
• for North-Western Administrative District - [email protected] ;
• for ZelAO - [email protected] ;
• according to TinAO

Important! Correspondence by email is not accepted. The letter will be printed, registered and handed over to the responsible person. The response will be sent to the applicant's mailing address.

Complaint to supervisory authorities

Attention! The bodies exercising supervision in the provision of services by management companies are:

• Russian consumer supervision;
• Prosecutor's Office;
• Housing inspection.

Regardless of which authority the person applies to, the complaint form has the same form.

Typically, a complaint contains the following sections:

• in the upper part the name of the body is indicated, as well as information about the person who is filing the complaint. Please note that contact information is indicated by which the authority will contact the person to provide a response;
• in the main part it is necessary to indicate in as much detail information as possible regarding the grounds for the application (provision of poor-quality services and ignoring the submitted application, inflated prices for tariffs). Information regarding sending an application to the Criminal Code with a requirement to eliminate violations must be indicated;
• The following is a list of requirements aimed at eliminating violations;
• below is a list of documentary information attached to the application;
• At the end, the date of compilation and the signature of the person are indicated.

The complaint is submitted to the supervisory authority in person or by sending a letter. When sending a complaint by mail, you should make an inventory of the files enclosed in the envelope.

Who controls GZHI

The structure of the state housing inspection bodies is built on the principle of vertical subordination. That is, local GZHI are subordinate to the district ones. Those, in turn, go to the regional ones. And so on, up to the federal level.

Chief inspectors report to the head of the administration of the subject or his deputy.

There are also supervisory authorities - the prosecutor's office. This is where citizens have the right to complain about the actions/inactions of inspectors. In this case, the prosecutor's office will organize an inspection of the received complaint and, if confirmed, will issue an order to eliminate the violations.

The final authority is the court. Here you can appeal the actions of both the management companies themselves and the housing inspectorate.

Going to court

When the management company ignored the received application and the person did not contact the supervisory authority, he has the right to file a claim in court.

Note! The statement of claim is submitted after making the obligatory state payment.

When the claims made by the plaintiff are satisfied in full, the amount paid by the plaintiff is returned at the expense of the defendant. Additionally, the plaintiff has the right to indicate requirements for the need to satisfy moral requirements.

The statement of claim is filed with the district court at the place of registration of the plaintiff.

Below you can see a sample application, which provides links to regulations that substantiate the plaintiff’s position.

Statement of claim

Remember! According to the norms of Civil Procedure Law, the claim states:

• the name of the judicial authority to which the claim is filed;
• Full name of the plaintiff, as well as information about his place of registration;
• information about the defendant (information about the name of the management company and its location is indicated);
• circumstances under which the applicant's right was violated. In this part of the statement, it is necessary to refer to the legal norms that were violated;
• if it is necessary to recover amounts from the company, the claim shall indicate the procedure for their calculation;
• when the plaintiff contacted the company pre-trial, information about this, as well as the results of such contact, is indicated;
• at the end of the claim, a list of documentary information attached to the claim is indicated;
• Next, the date of filing the claim and the signature of the plaintiff are indicated.

Attached documents

As previously mentioned, the plaintiff, in order to confirm his position reflected in the statement of claim, has the right to refer to written information that he has in his hands.

Attention! In this regard, it is necessary to understand which of them can be used as evidence by the recipient of utility services:

• agreement on the provision of services by the management company;
• payment documents confirming full payment for services received;
• copies of complaints and claims compiled and submitted by the applicant;
• copies of decisions made by the management company after it received the application or claim;
• complaints filed with supervisory authorities, as well as decisions they made after considering the complaints;
• other evidence that the applicant has (for example, written expert opinions, photos or video materials that confirm the applicant’s arguments);
• formulas for calculations subject to collection of funds.

Where to appeal?

If the management company acts unlawfully, violates the terms of the apartment management agreement, ignores claims or refuses demands, it is necessary to write a complaint to the regulatory government authorities. This document is drawn up similarly to an application to the Criminal Code, but additionally contains information about violations committed by the Criminal Code. For complaints to government bodies, a single review period has been established: 30 calendar days.

You can read more about a complaint against a management company or housing and communal services in our article.

Rospotrebnadzor

The provision of housing and communal services is subject to legislation on the protection of consumer rights. Therefore, you can file a complaint against the Criminal Code with Rospotrebnadzor. This body verifies the circumstances stated in the complaint. If violations are detected, he can issue an order to the organization to eliminate them.

Examples of circumstances that give rise to contacting Rospotrebnadzor:

• the MKD management agreement contains conditions that violate consumer protection laws;
• The management company provides false information about the services provided;
• unjustified changes in tariffs by the management company.

You can call the department, come to a personal appointment, or send a complaint to the Criminal Code by mail. The telephone number and address of the regional office of Rospotrebnadzor can be found on the website ХХ.rospotrebnadzor.ru, where ХХ is the region number, for example, 22.rospotrebnadzor.ru. On the same website you can leave a request electronically (authorization through State Services will be required).

Sample complaint:

Sample complaint

State Housing Inspectorate (GZHI)

The responsibilities of the GZHI include monitoring compliance with housing legislation, in particular ensuring the rights of citizens when providing them with housing and utility services. Therefore, it is advisable for GZHI to file a claim with the management company for maintaining the house. This body is unlikely to help in financial disputes with the management company.

Contacts of the regional inspection can be found on the official website of the head of the region. For example, contacts of the State Property Committee of Moscow can be found here. You can submit a complaint in person, through an electronic reception, by mail or through the GIS Housing and Communal Services service.

Sample complaint:

Sample application

Prosecutor's office

It is most advisable to contact this authority in case of controversial financial issues (illegal charges, etc.) and in other cases of gross violation of current Russian legislation (refusal to issue documentation or failure to provide information, etc.).

You should write a written appeal to the prosecutor's office and send it by mail or take it personally to the prosecutor at your place of residence. You can find the nearest prosecutor's office using the Prosecutor General's Office website.

If the water utility’s offense is not criminal in nature, you can write to the online reception of the prosecutor’s office.

Sample application:

Sample application

Court

As a rule, control authorities, if necessary, initiate recourse to court. However, if this does not happen, the violated rights are not restored, and the losses are not compensated, you can go to court yourself. To do this, you need to draw up a statement of claim based on a previously drawn up appeal.

It should be noted that, depending on the situation, the following requirements arising from the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights” can be additionally included in the claim:

• on the payment of a penalty in the amount of three percent of the price of the service for each day of delay and its calculation (Article 28 of the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”);
• on the payment of interest for the use of other people's funds in accordance with Art. 395 Civil Code of the Russian Federation;
• on reimbursement of legal expenses if the plaintiff applied for paid legal assistance;
• on compensation for moral damage. The court may award monetary damages to compensate the plaintiff for his emotional distress.

Important! These requirements can only be presented if there is a pre-trial claim to the management company.

In addition, when satisfying the plaintiff’s property claims, the court also orders a fine from the executor in the amount of 50% of the claim price for untimely fulfillment of the consumer’s requirements.

The state fee for going to court in cases of consumer rights protection is not paid. If an application of a non-property nature is submitted (for example, about providing false information), a state fee of 300 rubles is paid.

The statement of claim can be submitted to the court in person or sent by mail.

Sample claim:

Sample claim