Unscrupulous payers, along with low-income citizens who are experiencing certain financial difficulties, sooner or later wonder whether the management company (MC), homeowners' association (HOA) or housing and communal services (HCS) has the legal right to turn off electricity for non-payment.
This aspect finds an answer in the current legislation and government regulations that regulate the relations of residents with institutions providing public services. It can be clearly noted that the management company (MC), HOA or housing and communal services actually has the right to turn off the lights if the terms of the rent are violated. Today, the debt for electricity has crossed the border into several hundred billions. The third part of this amount appeared due to the fault of citizens, and not legal entities, therefore the need to suppress malicious non-payment of utility services is fully justified
and can influence the current situation.
Penalties for debts may vary depending on the degree of influence on the debtor. However, all methods are aimed purely at the need to get citizens to comply with the terms of payment for utility services, even if they temporarily do not have such an opportunity.
Rights of the management company
The responsible authorities, be it the management company, housing and communal services or homeowners associations, can take any measures against defaulters who are provided with utility services. In this case, the management company is guided by certain rules:
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- The facts of debt equal to three or more monthly payments are taken into account depending on the average monthly norms, and not according to the meters;
- Before applying any measure, management companies, housing and communal services, and homeowners associations are required to notify the debtor in writing about this by sending an official registered letter, which will be delivered to the tenant personally. Although, as practice shows, this rule is often not observed and can be violated;
- Before being punished for debts, a person is given a period of thirty days, during which the offender can correct the situation by paying utilities or another method;
- After the allotted thirty-day period, the defaulter is sent a second notice informing them that the lights will be turned off in three days.
Housing and communal services, management companies, and homeowners' associations can turn off electricity without warning only if there is a threat of an emergency. In other cases, the debtor has the right to complain, since such actions will be considered illegal.
How long will it take for the apartment to have electricity again after paying off the debt?
Let's find out how long it will take for the electricity to be turned on after the debt is paid.
In accordance with paragraph 120 of Government Decree No. 354, delivery of utilities is resumed two days after full repayment of the debt. This means that from the moment of your request, a specialist will appear within 2 calendar days to carry out the relevant work.
Information and loyal preventive measures
Since electricity is by far the most popular type of utility service, without which it is difficult to imagine modern life, especially in a city or for entrepreneurs for whom such measures will cause losses, sending a notice for debts is a particularly important point in the disconnection procedure. A citizen can receive such a letter if he ignores the rent for even two whole months; the management company, HOA, housing and communal services have the right to this quite legally.
The text of the notice regarding rent must indicate the time during which citizens can influence the preventive measures that have not yet been taken, and must also mention when and how the so-called punishment will be executed. At the same time, the management company providing a list of utility services may partially limit the supply of electricity.
Notification rules require resending the email. Three days after this, the management company, housing and communal services, and homeowners' associations have the right to send a specialist who will seal the meters and turn off the electricity to the defaulter. The seal will be removed only after the debts have been repaid in full. At the same time, if a person is not able to repay his debts by paying the entire amount at once, he has the right to contact the HOA, housing and communal services, management company and ask for an installment plan.
How to disconnect an apartment from the power supply at the owner's request
Hello! The network organization does not make disconnections. You need to disconnect the electrical installation yourself (with the help of specialized organizations or with the help of the organization serving your home). Write an application to the sales company to call an engineer. The engineer will note the absence of a connected electrical installation.
Good afternoon. How to disconnect an apartment from the power grid at the request of the apartment owner? How long will it take to disconnect after submitting an application? Will it be free? If not, what is the tariff for disconnection?
Structure of the notice and act
In order for the procedure of turning off the lights to be legal, government regulations require it to be recorded in a special act, which can subsequently be used as evidence if the case goes to court. This document does not have a set form, but is mandatory. However, some requirements are presented to it, according to which the text states:
- A complete or partial power outage is carried out;
- Date and time of the procedure;
- Last name, first name, patronymic of the defaulter, his personal account number, address of the location of the property;
- Step-by-step description of the actions taken;
- Meter number and its indicators as of the date of sealing;
- The reason why a citizen's electricity is turned off.
An act is drawn up in three copies, each of which must be signed by the defaulter and the management company. At the same time, if, when sealing the meter, Energosbyt employees did not draw up a report or drew it up incorrectly, this will mean that the light was turned off illegally. This allows the defaulter to file a complaint against the Criminal Code with a judicial authority, which can correct the current problem for a while.
Mandatory points of written notice:
- Last name, first name, patronymic and personal account of the defaulter;
- The amount of debt and an indication for what period of time;
- When it is planned to turn off the lights, that is, how much time a person has to correct the situation;
- Details, signatures of officials and seals of the management company, homeowners' association, housing and communal services;
- Options and conditions for debt repayment.
How to Disconnect an Apartment from Electricity Upon Application
First you need to figure out how legal this is, and what changes in legislation there are on this issue. Resolution No. 354 (chapters XI and XVI) talks about the responsibility of apartment and house owners for late payment of services, as well as the procedure for limiting electricity services.
All organizations (more precisely, people working in them) advised me to direct my energy in a different direction in response to my questions. Someone mocked, someone sarcastically; “if you’re not happy with the gas water heater, there’s no point in buying an apartment in Khrushchev,” “save up some money and buy an apartment in another place,” “it will take three years for you to achieve something.”
Illegal shutdown
The main purpose of the procedure in which lights are turned off for non-payment of utilities is to combat the irresponsibility of the population, which significantly affects the economy. However, despite the fact that the management company has the right to seal meters and turn off electricity for debts, you need to know that the management company is not omnipotent and is subject to the law, and violators have legal protection from the state. This means that the management company must follow clear rules for the entire procedure from start to finish. If there are violations, the matter can be taken in a completely different direction.
So, for example, the Criminal Code cannot turn off the lights without the written warning mentioned above. If this happens, the actions of the Criminal Code will be considered unlawful and subject to appeal. Referring to the regulations of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a complete or partial shutdown of electricity occurs only after the parties reach an agreement or after the expiration of a specified period after receiving a notification, if no measures were taken by the defaulter.
If the Criminal Code turns off the lights without following the rules for sending notifications, the citizen has the right to file a complaint and can even demand compensation for moral damage.
In what cases the light cannot be turned off even if there is a debt
According to the rules for turning off electricity for non-payment, the debtor’s house or apartment can be cut off only if there is a debt for a period of more than three months.
An exception is the use of individual heating boilers that depend on electricity: in such a situation, interruption of power supply in winter is not allowed.
Small children are not a mitigating factor either. According to the law, citizens must independently solve their financial problems and pay utility bills on time, so trying to ensure the resumption of the supply of resources, arguing that they have children, without paying the debt makes no sense.
Ways to correct the situation
If the management company did everything according to the rules and turned off the lights, there is a sequence for resolving this issue:
- Pay off debts. If a citizen does not have such an opportunity due to financial difficulties, he must go to the local energy company and ask in writing for a six-month deferment. According to the law, such a request cannot be refused. Everyone without exception has the right to it;
- After approval of the deferment, the applicant needs to obtain the appropriate certificate about this and come with it to his management company, HOA or housing and communal services, where he will have to pay a small amount, usually no more than one thousand rubles;
- After paying, you need to wait for an electrician to connect the lights.
If the tenant is sure that the light was turned off illegally, a statement is written to the prosecutor’s office, after which this body has the right to check the criminal code. When going to court is inevitable, you should not let the matter take its course and wait for a decision. It is necessary to prepare documents that will testify in favor of the utility defaulter.
How much does the service cost in 2019?
Let's find out how much it costs to reconnect electricity in 2019 in the event of a disconnection, for example, if it was cut off for non-payment. Until recently, each management company or electricity supply company set its own price, which they considered justified for carrying out connection work.
In 2021, the situation has changed. In accordance with Government Decree 354, paragraph 121, subparagraph 1, for the reconnection of electricity consumers, individuals are charged an amount as compensation for the costs incurred by the initiator of introducing the restriction. This amount should not exceed 3 thousand rubles.
If your management company or electricity supplier demands a higher amount, this is a direct violation of the law.
The Supreme Court banned the disconnection of utilities for debts
The Supreme Court said that the existence of utility debts in itself is not a basis for turning off water, electricity or gas. You can disable services only taking into account all the circumstances. Which ones? The Supreme Court highlighted the following:
- disconnection of a utility service must be proportionate to the violation committed by the owner. For example, if the debt is only 300 rubles, then you cannot turn off the light because of this, because turning it off will deprive a person of the opportunity to live comfortably in the apartment;
- Disabling the service cannot go beyond the actions that are necessary to eliminate the violation of the law. In other words, disconnection is possible only when there are no other mechanisms of influence on the debtor. For example, a management organization must warn a person about the debt that has arisen and provide him with a deferment or installment plan to pay for utilities. Only after the possibilities for a “peaceful” solution to the situation have been exhausted can utilities be turned off;
- disconnecting a utility service should not pose a threat to the life and health of others. This means that shutting off a utility service cannot cause harm to persons who are not debtors. For example, a single mother with a child lives in an apartment. The owner of the apartment is the mother and she must pay for utilities. It often happens that when there is no money, debt arises. Turning off the water in this situation jeopardizes the child’s health, so turning off the water is impossible.
Have you received a power outage notice for non-payment? Sample warning
Direct power outage without notification applies to those cases when the power supply is turned off at the will of the consumer. Then the payer himself draws up an application for disconnection and sends it to the supplier.
- by mutual agreement of the two parties, supplier and consumer, to turn off the energy;
- due to violation by the consumer of his obligations regarding the use of electricity and the payment procedure for it;
- in emergency situations;
- for pre-planned repairs.
