Do I have to pay for major repairs if I am not the owner of the apartment?

How to write a statement refusing to pay for major repairs

Carrying out major repairs in an apartment building depends on the will of two parties: the management company and the owner of the residential premises. If the owner does not want the management company to issue him invoices for making contributions for major repairs, he must write a statement refusing to pay for such a service.

The document is drawn up in free form and signed by the owner of the property. It is not necessary to indicate the reason for refusing the company’s services for major repairs.

If you have any difficulties writing an application, you can contact the management company. Its employees will present ready-made forms. All you have to do is enter your details and sign. However, when using a ready-made form, you should keep in mind that the management company may include many other dubious requirements in the document. Therefore, it is better to take the forms home and read them carefully. If necessary, consult with a lawyer. And only after that draw up a document.

The standard condition for waiving fees for major repairs is the responsibility of the homeowner for independently eliminating the consequences of accidents if they occur in the tenant’s area of responsibility.

If the proposal of the management company does not satisfy the homeowner, he draws up an application in his own version, dates it and signs it. The document is drawn up in two copies. One is given to the management company, on the second it makes a note about receipt of the application.

When drawing up an application, you must comply with the requirements for writing business papers.

applications for refusal to pay for major repairs free in word format

Attention! So, the paper must contain the following data:

the full name of the management company, its legal form of ownership, the name of the locality, the name of the street and the number of the building where it is located,
position, surname and initials of the manager,
last name, first name, patronymic, residential address of the applicant, means of communication in the form of a telephone number or email address,
title of the document “Statement of refusal to pay for major repairs”,
legal justification for the decision made with reference to the norms of current legislation,
list of attached documents,
date, signature, surname and initials of the applicant.

Remember that a legally competent document is the key to a positive decision.

Where and how to submit

If the management company does not accommodate the homeowner and does not agree with the application received, its actions can be appealed.

To do this, you can contact the following authorities:

local government capital repair fund,
administration of the locality at the place of residence,
to the local prosecutor,
to the magistrate's court with a statement of claim.

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

Each body considers complaints and appeals from citizens within the period prescribed by law. Given the postal document flow, it will take a little longer to wait for a response to the complaint.

What happens if you refuse major repairs?

Each owner of a residential property, when deciding to refuse to pay contributions for major repairs, should know the consequences to which it leads. As a general rule, the general meeting of homeowners of an apartment building makes a decision on the need for major repairs.

Naturally, not everyone will agree. However, in order to refuse, the owner will have to sign the appropriate papers. Article 169 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation requires compelling reasons to be provided.

The opinion of owners who refuse to pay contributions for capital repairs does not depend on the adoption of a general decision. With a high degree of probability, the general meeting will decide to pay fees and carry out major repairs in the house.

During the work, the risers through which hot and cold water and gas are supplied will be replaced. Workers will also need access to apartments whose residents have refused major repairs. If the opportunity to carry out the work is not provided, the management company has every reason to go to court to force such residents to provide access to the apartment.

Please note! When carrying out major repairs in the entire multi-apartment residential building, the equipment will be replaced with new ones. For refuseniks, it will remain old. And in the event of an accident, such homeowners will be required to compensate for the damage caused to neighbors.

Thus, every apartment owner has the right to refuse to pay for major repairs. However, you should also think about the possible consequences of such a decision. After all, you will have to not only compensate for the damage, but also liquidate the accident at your own expense.

What is a capital improvement special account?

This is a special bank deposit intended for storing and managing funds, the intended purpose of which is to carry out major repairs of houses.

IMPORTANT! Spending money from a special account is possible only in accordance with the estimate of repair work, approval of the list of which is the exclusive right of the housing association that opened this deposit (clause 1 of Article 137 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

The following operations can be performed on this account:

the receipt of money from residents’ contributions, penalties for late payments and subsidies from the budget (you can read about payments to the TSH, payments for mandatory or not services, including contributions for major and current repairs, in another article).
Payment for major repairs according to the estimate based on payment documents submitted to the bank by the responsible person.
Repayment of loans whose intended purpose was major repairs.
Transfer of deposited funds to another special account, as decided by the meeting of members of the partnership.

The amount of the deposit may increase when the bank accrues interest for placing funds.

The account owner can be the following structures:

Housing association.
Managing organization.
Housing cooperative.

When the owner of the account is a housing association, the management of the allocated funds is carried out by the board (clause 4 of Article 151 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

What does the repair include and who may not pay?

There is not an owner of an apartment building who has no idea what is included in the work of carrying out routine repairs.

This:

carry out cosmetic whitewashing and painting,
plaster the walls and so on.

The overhaul work includes a list of other works.

Remember! This:

restoration of external walls along the entire perimeter of the building. Particular attention is paid to the facade of the building,
bringing the basement of the house into normal technical condition, allowing its use by the residents of the house and ensuring safety for their lives,
maintaining the roof in good condition, replacing damaged coverings,
strengthening the foundation of the building if necessary,
replacement of elevator equipment, repair of cabins,
replacement of the sewerage system, cold and hot water supply, heating systems.

As practice shows, the older the house, the more funds need to be invested in major repairs. Therefore, fundraising must be carried out constantly, despite the fact that the house was built very recently and no visible work is expected.

Owners of new buildings are especially opposed to fundraising. After all, the house is still under the developer's warranty. However, this approach is wrong. It is better to immediately collect small sums for future repairs than to invest significant funds later.

At the same time, there is a certain category of citizens who are partially or completely exempt from paying for major repairs.

Is it possible not to pay for major repairs of an apartment building?

This:

residents living in houses that are recognized as unsafe and are being prepared for resettlement. If for some reason the management company issued bills to such residents, then it is obliged to return all the money collected.
owners of residential premises that are subject to recovery in favor of the state,
single pensioners who have reached the age of eighty.

Half of the fundraising rate for major repairs is paid by:

disabled people of the first and second groups,
pensioners over seventy years of age, if they live alone or the family consists of pensioners,
disabled children,
owners whose dependents are disabled children.

Attention! Citizens not included in these categories must pay contributions for major repairs.

What are the funds from the special account used for?

In Part 1 of Art. 166 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation provides a list of works and services for the overhaul of the common property of apartment buildings, the provision and implementation of which is financed based on the minimum contribution for the overhaul:

intra-house engineering systems;
roofs;
facade;
foundation;
basements belonging to the common property of the apartment building;
or replacement of elevator equipment;
elevator shafts.

Art. 174 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation establishes the purposes for which funds accumulated by owners in a special account can be directed:

payment for work and services for major repairs of common property in the apartment building;
development of project documentation;
payment for construction control services;
repayment of credits and loans received and used to pay for work and services for major repairs.

How can you reduce the cost of major repairs?

Practical life has developed several legal ways, using which homeowners can save on payments for major repairs.

This:

renting out housing if there is a second place of residence. Thus, at the expense of rent, it is possible to painlessly make deductions for future major repairs for the family budget. However, most citizens do not have this opportunity.
a homeowners' association can independently organize its own fund to raise funds for major repairs. Such a decision is made by the general meeting and is binding on all owners,
rent out common property. This applies to basement and attic spaces for commercial use by business entities. External walls of buildings - for advertising.

These methods are possible only with the consent of the majority of apartment owners, documented in the minutes of the general meeting.

You can use another method - simply not pay contributions for major repairs. However, such an attitude of the homeowner will sooner or later lead to a court hearing as a defendant.

If homeowners make payments on time, collecting funds for major repairs, then they avoid many problems.

Watch the video. How to avoid paying for major repairs:

Filing a claim in court

If the owner of a residential property does not agree that he was charged a fee for major repairs, he has the right to legally demand the return of the amounts paid. In addition, the lack of an agreement with the management company, as well as ignoring the opinion of home owners when approving estimates for repair work, may serve as grounds for litigation.

Important! These cases are considered as an infringement of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens. To protect them, a judicial procedure is used to contact the prosecutor's office and the local administration of the locality.

If you decide to file a claim, you can be guided by the Federal Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights. In addition, the content of the application itself must comply with the requirements of civil law.

Otherwise, the claim will be left without consideration.

claim for restoration of limited and violated consumer rights and compensation for harm caused free of charge in word format

The content of the statement of claim must reflect the following data:

the name of the court where the claim is filed, indicating the name of the locality, street name and number of the building where the court is located,
last name, first name, patronymic, residential address of the plaintiff, methods of contacting him in the form of a telephone number or email address,
full name of the defendant, its legal form of ownership, legal address, contact details, if known,
the cost of claims, including the amount of funds paid for major repairs, the amount of compensation for moral damage caused,
the title of the document is “Statement of Claim for the Protection of Consumer Rights”,
the grounds for the dispute between the plaintiff and the defendant, what it is,
what measures were taken to resolve relations between the parties peacefully,
legal basis for going to court,
requirements for collection of funds,
request to be exempt from paying state duty on the basis of paragraph 3 of Article 17 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and paragraphs 2, 4 of Article 333.36 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation,
list of attached documents,
date, signature, surname and initials of the plaintiff.

ATTENTION! Look at the completed sample claim for restoration of limited and violated consumer rights and compensation for damage caused:

A legally competent application has a greater chance of a positive decision in court. Therefore, if necessary, it is better to seek help from a professional lawyer.

In addition, owners of residential premises who made payments for major repairs, but did not have an agreement for the provision of utility services, or it had expired, have a greater chance of success. In this case, collecting payments will be considered illegal.

If the owner did not pay the bills issued to him, but proves in court that his actions are lawful, the chances of success will be minimal.

Evidence that can be considered in favor of the plaintiff is the refusal of the management company to provide an official contract for the provision of utility services. This fact is a direct violation of consumer rights, as stated in Article 37 of the Federal Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights.

An analysis of this legal norm indicates that the owner of a residential premises, acting as a consumer of utility services, is obliged to pay for the services provided. However, this process is only possible through contractual relations.

Therefore, if there is no agreement, the consumer does not have the opportunity to agree on an estimate for major repairs. And also check which works were planned and which were actually completed.

Please note! The management company is obliged to conclude an appropriate agreement with each owner of the residential premises. If a refusal follows, then such actions are regarded as intentional. Therefore, the violation of consumer rights is obvious.

If we approach this issue from a legal point of view, then payment by the consumer for services means that the work has actually already been completed. Therefore, the management company, without concluding an agreement, is actually not interested in carrying out major repairs.

Homeowners should be aware of one legal nuance.

Article 169 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation states that contributions for major repairs should be paid eight months after the approval of the regional program for major repairs in multi-apartment residential buildings.

Moreover, every house that is subject to major repairs must be included in this program. If the house is new, then no one will include it in the regional program. Therefore, the owners of apartments in such buildings have the right to dispose of funds allocated for major repairs at their own discretion. This requires a decision by the general meeting of homeowners.

What is included in residential maintenance and repair services?

If the management company directs the collected funds at its own discretion, then the payments are considered illegal. Upon claim, they are subject to return to the persons who paid them.

You should also know that major repairs are carried out once every 15-25 years. And the payments themselves are not included in the list of mandatory utility services.

Thus, paying for services that are not included in the agreement between the property owner and the management company is illegal. Moreover, there will be no major renovations to the house in the coming years.

During the court hearing, it should be stated that the defendant’s actions violated the following norms of current legislation:

Articles 19 and 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation,
Articles 3, 6, 8, 12 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation,
paragraph 3 of article 169 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

The legal argumentation of your position will allow you to achieve the recovery of unreasonably paid amounts for major repairs, as well as compensate for the moral damage caused.

How to check whether utility bills are calculated correctly?

Prosecutor General's Office about major repairs

At the end of 2015, a number of State Duma members from the A Just Russia party and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation appealed to the Constitutional Court with a complaint about the legality of contributions for major repairs.

The main comments of legislators regarding the money collection system were as follows:

Owners who transfer funds for major repairs to a regional operator and residents whose money is accumulated in special bank accounts are in an unequal position. In the first case, there is no specificity regarding the volume of funds collected, the timing of their disposal, and the procedure for returning the money is not defined.
Regional operators can transfer contributions collected in one house to repair another house. That is, they manage the owners’ finances without their knowledge. Whereas the responsibility to repair houses initially belonged to the state.
The fees themselves can be equated to a new type of tax, undeclared by law.
Questions also arise about the order of home renovations and the timing of their implementation. Work on a number of program facilities is planned only for 2030-2040, while many are in need of urgent repairs today.

All this, according to deputies, leads to a violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

What does the Prosecutor General's Office say about contributions for major repairs? Did the Prosecutor General's Office recognize payments for major repairs as illegal or not? The parliamentarians were supported by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation: the fundraising procedure needs more transparency. At the moment, the Prosecutor General's Office has recognized some of the contributions for major repairs as unconstitutional.

The ministries of Justice, Finance and Construction, and Housing and Communal Services also sent their responses to the complaint to the court. Unlike the Prosecutor General's Office, which called fees for major repairs unconstitutional, officials emphasized that paying for major repairs is the responsibility of all residents of the house; fees are collected in the interests of the owners and cannot violate their rights.

The Ministry of Justice pointed out the fact that the method of forming the capital repair fund can be changed at any time by decision of the meeting of residents. And losses in case of poorly performed work are easily compensated according to the norms of civil law.

The Ministry of Finance focused on the collective responsibility of residents to maintain the house, which includes the cost of major repairs.

Documents for the application

Attach the following package of documents to the statement of claim:

extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate. Since 2017, this document is the only one that confirms a citizen’s ownership of real estate in the form of an apartment, house, land plot, share in them,
a copy of your personal bill for utility bills,
copies of bank receipts for depositing funds for major repairs,
a copy of the statement of claim for the defendant with the documents attached to it.

If the court agrees with the plaintiff’s arguments that he is seeking protection of his rights on the basis of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, the claim will be exempt from paying the state fee.

Who should repair the sewer riser in an apartment?

Is it possible not to pay if there is no agreement with the management company? Read here.

What changes have been made to the work of management companies since 2018, read the link: https://novocom.org/otvety-na-voprosy-chitatelej/izmeneniya-v-rabote-upravlyayushhix-kompanij-s-2018-goda.html

Otherwise, you will have to pay a state fee in the following amount:

if the value of the claims is up to 20,000 rubles - 4%, but not less than 400 rubles,
if the price of the claim ranges from 20,000 to 100,000 rubles, you will have to pay 800 rubles plus 3% of the amount that exceeds the value of 20,000 rubles,
from 100,000 rubles to 200,000 rubles – 3,200 rubles plus 2% of the amount exceeding 100,000,
if the value of the claims is from 200,000 to one million rubles, the duty will be 5,200 rubles and 1% of the amount that exceeds 200 thousand rubles,
if the claim exceeds 1,000,000 rubles, the state duty will be 13,200 rubles plus half a percent of the amount over one million. However, the total amount should not be more than 60,000 rubles.

If the statement of claim is drawn up in accordance with the requirements of civil procedural legislation, then the case will be scheduled for consideration. The law allows two months to make a decision. However, for objective and subjective reasons, this period may be extended.

Rumors: The Prosecutor General's Office recognized contributions for major repairs as illegal

On Saturday morning, a loud headline appeared in the news on Yandex: the Prosecutor General's Office recognized the illegality of contributions for major repairs. What kind of miracles? — we thought and decided to figure it all out.

Where did it all start?

Previously, we wrote that a group of State Duma deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia factions decided to appeal to the Constitutional Court with a request to verify the constitutionality of certain norms of the Housing Code. The request concerns, in particular, the right of the regional capital repair operator to spend funds from the “common pot” - that is, to use funds collected by the owners of one house for major repairs of another house (Part 4 of Article 179 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

The official website of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation contains information on this request (case No. 11776/15-01/2015). A hearing in the case is scheduled for March 3, 2021.

What does the Prosecutor General's Office have to do with it?

The Prosecutor General's Office simply submitted to the Constitutional Court a response to the deputies' request, in which it partially supported their position. The Prosecutor General's Office believes that owners who pay contributions to the capital repair fund are in an unequal position. If a house saves money for major repairs in a special account, the Capital Repair Fund cannot dispose of these funds. If a house pays contributions to the account of a regional capital repair operator (“to a common pot”), then the Fund can use them to carry out repairs on other houses. On top of that, the Housing Code does not stipulate to what extent and in what time frame the Capital Repair Fund can use funds from the common pool and how to return them.

This position does not have any generally binding force for the court. The Constitutional Court will take into account all arguments and make a decision independently.

Can the Prosecutor General's Office declare contributions for major repairs illegal and cancel them?

No. The prosecutor's office can monitor compliance with the Constitution and existing laws, but cannot repeal them on its own initiative.

What will the decision of the Constitutional Court on contributions for major repairs give?

There are 2 options:

The Constitutional Court recognizes the contested article of the Housing Code on fees for major repairs as unconstitutional. In this case, legislators (the State Duma) will have to pass a separate federal law to repeal or amend this article. The resolution of the Constitutional Court will indicate what specifically needs to be corrected in the State Duma law.
The Constitutional Court recognizes that the contested article complies with the Constitution. Then everything will remain as before.

That is, the Constitutional Court can completely cancel fees for major repairs?

There are hardly any deputies on this request. The text of the request is not publicly available, but from information in the media it is known that the deputies are challenging only Part 4 of Art. 179 LCD (about a common boiler):

Funds received by the regional operator from the owners of premises in some apartment buildings, forming capital repair funds on the account, accounts of the regional operator, can be used on a repayable basis to finance capital repairs of common property in other apartment buildings, the owners of premises in which also form capital repair funds on the account of the same regional operator.

It turns out that the deputies do not raise the question of completely abolishing contributions for major repairs and do not challenge the norms of the Housing Code establishing the mandatory nature of contributions.

So these are all big headlines, and the overhaul won’t be cancelled?

Alas. If only some other time.

What you need to know about the decision of the Constitutional Court on contributions for major repairs

All about contributions for major repairs: Rumors: The Supreme Court allowed not to pay for major repairs Judicial practice: how contributions for major repairs are collected Benefits: who can legally not pay contributions for major repairs

Article from the Parity website - protecting consumer rights. Sample claims.

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What reasons can be given for refusing a claim?

As judicial practice shows, when going to court, utility consumers indicate the following reasons why they refuse to pay contributions for major repairs:

the management company has not yet provided any services, but has introduced advance payments for work that it may not perform,
This issue was not discussed at the general meeting of apartment building owners; the management company does not have minutes of the general meeting,
common property is not registered as property,
the plaintiff is not against paying for major repair services, but only after concluding an official contract, which will spell out in detail all its terms,
The owner of the apartment wishes to pay for services only upon their provision.

At the court hearing, the plaintiff can represent his interests independently or entrust it to a professional lawyer.

Watch the video. How to file a lawsuit yourself:

Where do they go?

There are two options:

special account for a specific house being serviced (Article 175 of the Housing Code). Created at a meeting of homeowners. If the latter is not carried out - and this is exactly what happens most often - the “default” option is selected, that is, the second;
regional operator (usually).

There is an opinion that in the latter case, the tranches go, as it were, “to a common pot,” and it turns out that the citizen is sponsoring not only his own home, but also the repairs of others.

This is actually not the case - payments are indeed added to the general account, but they are carefully monitored and will be used exclusively for their intended purpose.

Responsibilities of the regional operator:

creating a work plan and setting deadlines;
choosing a bank to transfer funds;
hire a contractor, monitor the quality of work;
make payments to the contractor.

Is it legal to charge a fee for major repairs? Some apartment owners refer to the fact that if no contract has been concluded, this means that they don’t have to pay.

However, the implementation of the law does not provide for the binding nature of the contract - it is enough that the owner owns the apartment and lives in an apartment building , using common property.

When planning repairs, we are guided by the following criteria:

old age of the building;
degree of wear of structures;
condition of engineering systems;
is there an elevator in the house (find out more about elevator overhauls here);
when was the last repair carried out?
how much has already been collected from the required amount.

Major repairs: who do we pay for and for what?