Legal ways to deal with a utility debtor

Method 1: Economic justification for tariffs and prices

All management organizations must conduct claims work in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs. “g” clause 4 of RF PP No. 416. This includes such “official” methods of working with defaulters as sending claims, notifications, introducing partial or complete restrictions on the consumption of utility resources, and judicial collection of debts for housing and communal services.

At the same time, management organizations, RSOs and HOAs often use non-standard ways of influencing defaulters during pre-trial debt collection. The arsenal of such methods is constantly expanding.

As one of the readers of the RosKvartal portal noted, one of the most effective ways to work with debtors is to explain to residents of apartment buildings what the tariff or fee consists of, what it consists of. An open economic justification for the size of the fee works in cases where consumers of services do not pay not because of lack of money, but because of a lack of understanding of this issue.

If this measure does not work, then it is time to resort to other methods, an overview of which we present below.

From whom should management companies collect utility debts?
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Claim of the management company to the payer regarding payment of utility bills

Some people believe that the poor quality of utility services gives every right not to pay bills issued by the management company. This opinion is wrong. The organization in charge of housing and communal services, if payment is delayed for several months, has the right to file a claim and calculate a penalty.

There is a claim template that can be sent literally from the first days of payment delay. But in practice, the document is sent only to debtors who have delayed paying utility bills for several months.

The sample claim has not been approved at the legislative level. Therefore, each organization draws it up in accordance with internal regulations. But it should be borne in mind that the standard form must contain certain items. If they are absent from the document, then the legality of such a form can be easily challenged in court.

Make a claim on the company’s letterhead and include the following items:

• Details of the debtor - full name and registration address.
• The day on which the claim was served on the defaulting party.
• Information about the amount of debt, including penalties, as well as the date before which the debt must be repaid.
• Demands for payment of the resulting debt.
• Measures that the Criminal Code will take if the claim is ignored.
• A proposal to discuss the current situation, indicating the desired place and date of the meeting.
• The claim is signed by the employee responsible for approving the mailing.

The document can be supplemented with information related to the issue under discussion. Thus, it is permissible to indicate the possibility of writing off penalties if the defaulter pays off the debt itself.

Offer to formalize debt restructuring and supplement the text with quotes from relevant laws.

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Please note that the absence of mandatory information in the claim, for example, the amount of debt, is considered grounds for challenging the legality of the document as a whole.

Refund for services.

Read about a sample letter of complaint to a landlord here.

Method 2: Placing information on receipts and playing with color

It is inexpensive and easy for the management company to influence residents of apartment buildings who have accumulated debts for housing and communal services, using its own receipts, which it issues monthly to its clients. In this case, pictures, different font colors and paper can be used. In this case, the color of the receipt may depend on the size of the debt. Typically bright colors are used: red and orange.

Thus, in the town of Kashira near Moscow, the ERC uses special forms to print receipts for debtors. If a utility consumer does not pay for housing and communal services for more than two months, and the amount of debt exceeds 8,000 rubles, the debtor receives a bill with a red frame and a diagonal stripe.

Creative providers of housing and communal services in the fight against debts resort to the positive influence of poetry: poems are placed on receipts, the reading of which should awaken the conscience of defaulters and encourage them to pay off the debt. This also includes printing on receipts signs associated with debts: what if one of the debtors gets scared? If you can’t remember, come up with it.

About the accrual of penalties

The legislation of the Russian Federation specifically provides for the accrual of appropriate penalties for non-fulfillment or untimely fulfillment of a citizen’s financial obligations. Moreover, in case of non-payment of utilities, a penalty is also charged on the total amount of the debt.

At the same time, for different periods of delay, the corresponding penalties are assigned in different amounts:

• from the 31st to the 90th day of the current debt for housing and communal services, the penalty amount is 1/300 of the refinancing rate, which is established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation;
• from the 91st day of overdue debt, the amount of the accrued penalty is already 1/130 of the Central Bank refinancing rate.

The penalties themselves are assigned to the entire total amount of debt for each day of late payment. That is, unfair and untimely payment of tariffs for housing and communal services regularly aggravates the financial situation of a citizen, and subsequently only further increases the amount of his debt. Today the key rate of the Bank of Russia is 8.25%.

Method 3: Using a “stamp” sticker

Another popular method among management agencies is the use of stickers and posters and the organization of “publicity boards” with the amounts of debt on apartments. The inscriptions on stickers and posters can be very different: from “a defaulter lives here” to “shame on the debtor.” It depends on the imagination of the authors.

At the same time, the MA needs to be careful in this case and remember to protect personal data and a person’s photo. Also, applying stickers and posters on apartment doors can lead to damage to the owner’s property.

What should the management authority do if the owner does not pay debts for housing and communal services?
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Procedure for turning off electricity for non-payment

It is expected that funds will be collected in stages. If, after the second written notification, the debt is not repaid within a certain period of time, then the management company sends its employee to the residential premises, and also additionally informs the defaulter about the sanctions.

The specialist performs blocking and sealing of the metering device. As a result of the procedure, the supply of electricity is interrupted. Violation of installed seals or unauthorized connection to other sources of electricity is a punishable action.

Method 4: Organizing promotions with gifts

Marketing campaigns that help attract the attention of customers and reduce the debt of residents of houses for housing and communal services are quite popular among UOs and RSOs. As part of the promotions, defaulters are promised gifts, prizes and bonuses if they pay the debt within a certain time frame.

Marketing promotions are used by utility suppliers throughout the country, especially in anticipation of the end of a quarter or year. Two groups of shares can be distinguished:

• to encourage disciplined payers, in order to encourage debtors to pay debts and have a chance to win prizes;
• to encourage debtors who came to repay the debt: “pay the debt by the date and receive a gift”, “pay the debts by the date and take part in the prize draw”;
• writing off penalties when paying off a debt.

When is notification sent?

Apartment owners who have become defaulters must receive a notice specifying the amount and deadline for full repayment of the entire debt. This is an official document in which a claim is made against the debtor or certain information is sent. The notification comes after the first month of delay.

The notification must indicate the calculation of the debt and the accrued penalty. In this case, the recipient of the notification must note that penalties should be accrued from the second and subsequent months of delay.

When a utility company sends a debt collection letter, he states that he intends to collect the debt in accordance with the service agreement that was concluded between him and the owner of the property. A month after the debts are repaid, the housing organization or other housing and communal services provider sends another notice to the apartment owner, informing them of the repayment of the debt.

Method 5: Creating “structures of shame”

Above we talked about the most standard and widespread methods of pre-trial work with debtors for housing and communal services. But today, housing and communal services providers do not stop at simple solutions and come up with unusual, even unexpected ways to influence defaulters.

1. Pyramid.

A stone pyramid with an inscription stating that a debtor for housing and communal services lives nearby is placed under the windows of the defaulter. It weighs several tons, so removing it is quite problematic. The pyramid is suitable for influencing residents of private houses, but you can try placing it under the windows of apartments on the ground floor.

2. Light pyramid.

The design is the same as the pyramid of “shame”, but it is made of lightweight materials, and therefore it can be hung over the windows or balcony of a resident of an apartment building who does not pay utility bills. A similar experience has already happened in Samara. The management organization, summing up the results of the action, noted that thanks to the pyramid, the debtors paid bills for almost 1 million rubles.

3. Wooden toilet.

In Irkutsk, the management organization went even further: instead of a pyramid near the house where the debtors live, they installed a wooden toilet with reminder signs: for non-payment of housing and communal services, the management authority has the right to put a cap on the sewerage in their apartments.

Collection of debts for housing and communal services from the owner and his family members
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Rent neighbors

The state “shaved off” the responsibility for organizing maintenance of apartment buildings, shifting them to the homeowners themselves.

In this case, serious problems arise: for example, conscientious owners are forced to pay off the utility debts of their non-paying neighbors. Perhaps it will become easier to deal with debtors thanks to new rules for the provision of utility services, which will come into force in the fall.

The history of one of the first Moscow HOAs, Leninsky, 137-1, was quite prosperous for a long time. And the partnership itself is “exemplary.” Using his example, one could clearly observe how neighboring owners can make their lives comfortable and convenient.

The house may not belong to the “super-duper” expensive business class, but it is quite elite: with large apartments and quite wealthy neighbors. Therefore, the inevitable disagreements when people with high incomes who bought an apartment and pensioners who have privatized their apartments live under the same roof did not arise at first.

In 2003, after the introduction of the HOA law, residents decided to take the reins of the house into their own hands. Moreover, by that time the management company, although the house was only five years old, had completely neglected it: expensive elevators were out of order, the fire extinguishing system did not work.

A partnership was formed and a board was elected. Thanks to the fact that not just interested, but competent people, high-level managers by career, began to manage the process, the complex process of managing an apartment building began to gradually improve.

Cleaned up the hallways. wet cleaning twice a day on the airstairs and in the halls, without exception for the upper floors, is the norm for this house. The broken elevators were repaired and launched. The shabby façade was repaired. The fire protection system was restored. They planted Christmas trees and flowers in the yard.

Where does the money come from?

Naturally, all this came at a considerable cost. But the owners (at least the majority) understood: if they had already left the wing of the municipal DEZ, it meant that they had taken responsibility for their own home, including financial.

The rent of any resident of an apartment building consists of two main parts. The first is utility bills (gas, electricity, water, heating). Payment is made according to uniform tariffs approved by the city leadership. And the HOA (although it is a subscriber to utility organizations) does not have the right to take a penny more than this tariff. The second part is maintenance and repair costs. This payment remains in the account of the HOA, and it is with this money that both everyday problems are solved - daily (wash and clean the entrance and yard, change burnt out light bulbs) and more serious ones.

The Housing Code, adopted in 2005, allowed owners to determine for themselves what services are included in this article, and to calculate for themselves how much to pay for it.

In the Leninsky-137 HOA the payment is now 70 rubles. per month per sq. meters of total area, this is three times higher than the “municipal” rate of 22 rubles. But for this money, not only is the cleanliness of the entrances guaranteed, but also a plumber and electrician are on duty around the clock, elevators are serviced, video surveillance and security are provided (at the entrance it is not granny concierges, but strong guys from a private security company).

In addition, in the same estimate, the management of the HOA included constant contributions to the reserve fund and for major repairs. The owners understood that the house was aging, the equipment was wearing out, and in a dozen or two years large sums would be needed to restore it.

You can, of course, take out a loan from a bank, but this requires collateral and high interest payments. So we’ll save it ourselves, the members of the partnership decided. The share of this part of the payment seems to be small, only a few rubles per square meter, but over eight years a considerable sum with six zeros has accumulated.

As it turned out, the reserve fund is a very necessary and useful thing. It was already used once, for example, when a communal heat meter was installed: this thing is not cheap at all.

Then, by the way, the considerable money spent began to come back, and a hundredfold. After all, the accurately calculated payments for the metering device turned out to be significantly less than what the HOA paid to the heating workers earlier, according to inflated standards. The saved funds again went towards the reserve, although, perhaps, it would have been more correct to reduce the payment for utilities and increase the amount of mandatory payments and contributions by the same amount.

But recently, this reserve had to be spent not on home improvement.

I don't want to and I won't

How the confrontation between the partnership and several owners began, now, several years later, no one will probably remember. “At first, delays in payment were common - well, a month, a little more, as sometimes happens due to forgetfulness, or if, say, a tenant went on an urgent business trip or got sick and went to the hospital,” HOA lawyer Alexander Kornev told RG. - Someone was simply reminded - and the debt was immediately repaid. But four out of 267 owners have practically stopped paying in the last three years. If in winter you can still get to the owners - talk, remind, demand, then in the summer you simply cannot find debtors. Some are at the dacha all summer, and some are in Cyprus.”

The reasons for such a monetary “boycott” are by no means the poor financial situation of the residents. Someone considered the cost of maintaining the house too high. But at the same time he stopped paying at all, including for utilities. Someone balked: I don’t need your video cameras, and I don’t use the backyard or the elevator, why on earth should I pay for all this?

In a word, it happened like in that fable when “there is no agreement among the comrades.”

But in order for the house to regularly receive water, heat, electricity, the HOA should not have debts to service providers: the entire partnership, and not individual owners. This means that the “hole” in the budget, formed by the grace of non-payers, should actually be plugged by those who pay on time and in full on the principle “for themselves and for that guy.” And then, by hook or by crook, collect this money from the debtors.

Although the law provides for mechanisms to influence them, in fact, respectable owners are practically not protected from unscrupulous neighbors.

The total debt of the owners of four apartments over three years exceeded one million rubles. It's no joke, such money! The roof can be repaired, and there will still be some left... But the roof, even if it leaks, will have to wait. “The shortfall had to be covered from the reserve fund. Next year, if the debts are not repaid, the house may be completely disconnected from utilities,” the lawyer states.

What to do

1

The first step is personal conversations and persuasion. By the way, someone had to be shown a detailed estimate so that the person would understand that the tariff was adequate, the partnership did not extract “excess” from its members and did not steal money.

“One of the main problems of owners is their legal illiteracy. For example, many believe that if they do not use some services (security, elevator, local area), then there is nothing to pay, explains Alexander Kornev. - But according to the law, owners are obliged to bear the burden of maintaining common property, regardless of whether they live in the apartment permanently or have left for a while, or use all services in full or partially. The cost estimate is approved by the general meeting of the HOA members, and it is binding.”

2

When personal persuasion and warnings do not have an effect, debts have to be collected through the courts.

“There were several lawsuits over two years,” explains the lawyer. — The result is in our favor. The court confirmed the legality of the HOA’s demands and decided to collect the debts.”

But, alas, such a victory in court does not mean that the underpaid million will return to the cash register.

3

The greatest difficulties arise at the stage of execution of a court decision.

“The widespread belief that the owner can easily be deprived of an apartment for debts by evicting him to another, more modest housing is a big misconception,” says Kornev. — This measure works for municipal housing. And for owners, this is an extremely difficult procedure from the point of view of law and execution. And if we are talking about a debtor whose only place to live, if minors are registered in the apartment, then the court, as a rule, does not punish the defaulter.”

4

This means that we have to look for other ways to collect debts. “We have to work closely with bailiffs,” explains Kornev. — They must: find money and property that can be sold to pay off the debt. Requests are written to banks looking for accounts. Dachas, land plots and other real estate can be found by sending a request to the Unified State Register of Real Estate.”

But... this process is painstaking and slow, the bailiff service is extremely busy.”

Sticks without carrots

There are, however, additional methods of influence. For example, debtors are blacklisted and not allowed to go abroad. But the HOA had to convince the bailiff service to make such a decision for six months after the court’s decision. But it needs to be updated every six months, and this is additional red tape.

The second method is that the bailiff has the right to impose a ban on any transactions involving the alienation of property; it cannot be donated or sold. But the right to use the apartment remains: you can live and rent it out.

Another option is to seize the cars. To do this, you still need to find them: a request is written to the traffic police, from there information about the availability of cars comes. “The bailiffs tried this measure too. But... the cars that belong to the owners and were always parked near the house suddenly disappeared. And in their place new ones appeared, registered to other people,” says Kornev.

The only measure that the partnership itself can apply is to limit defaulters in receiving utility resources.

By the way, a couple of years ago in the Nizhny Novgorod region they went on an “experiment” - they turned off the sewerage system for debtors. It worked. The prosecutor's office then, by the way, confirmed that there were no violations of the law. But in general, the measure is not uncontroversial: not only debtors, but also innocent neighbors can suffer. And the rules for the provision of public services approved by the Ministry of Regional Development do not allow depriving residents of life-supporting services, that is, turning off heating and sanitation. It turns out that for debts you can only lose hot water: not a very sensitive measure, frankly speaking.

True, the new rules for the provision of utility services (published in RG on June 1, and will come into force this fall) tighten measures against debtors. They establish the following procedure: as soon as the debt to pay for any service (light, water, heat) exceeds the amount of three monthly standard payments, the debtor is sent a written warning. If the debt is not repaid in 30 days, you can turn off the tap and turn off the lights. For example, now you can accumulate debts with impunity for as long as six months.

Shackled under one roof

The state “shedded” its responsibilities for organizing the management of an apartment building, shifting them to the owners. As a result, people living under the same roof become hostages of their relationships and integrity. At the same time, in practice there is a clear imbalance in the rights of the owner and the management company or HOA. If, for example, the owner begins to abuse his rights, it is difficult to hold him accountable.

“Our defaulters decided to counterattack and began to complain about the HOA wherever they could,” says Kornev. “We were checked several times by the prosecutor’s office, the housing inspectorate, and Rospotrebnadzor. No violations were found in any of the applications. But we cannot hold those who continue to write accountable.”

It turns out that if a person begins to slander and turns into a malicious complainer, then the HOA cannot punish him or protect himself from slander. Even if checks have shown that the complaints are unfounded.

Such communal wars are by no means beneficial to all neighbors. The most conscientious ones begin to think: if someone doesn’t pay and gets away with everything, then why should I pay?

In Europe, there is a simple way to insure against such sentiments: there, the tenant or homeowner must open a separate account, which is used only to pay for housing. Measures of influence are applied to a person not when his debts have reached a round sum, but in advance: as soon as the amount in the account falls below a certain line.

We are still very far from civilized relations in the housing and communal services sector. And the relationship between residents regarding the “communal apartment” is very reminiscent of squabbles in a communal kitchen.

Point of view

Dmitry Gordeev, Institute of Economics

cities:

— In houses managed by partnerships and management organizations, there should be high transparency of information related to payments. If tariffs for water, energy and gas are still regulated by the state, then the cost of work and services for the maintenance and repair of the common property of an apartment building is established at a general meeting of owners or members of the HOA. All protocols, estimates, texts of contracts, acts of acceptance of work and inspections by control bodies must be open. This is required by the new Art. 143-1 Housing Code, and this is a guarantee of trust in the HOA, timely and full payment by the majority of owners.

But if there are still debtors in the house, then they are getting into the pockets not of the partnership, but of the bona fide owners: they must pay extra for the resources consumed in the house from the collected payments for maintenance and repairs, so the quality decreases. It’s good that the Leninsky-137 HOA has a reserve fund; one of its functions is to pay extra for debtors.

I cannot agree that the legislation did not provide any leverage over defaulters. There are such measures. For example, charging a penalty has a good effect on the forgetful.

But, indeed, there is a problem with paying off the debt by selling the only apartment through the courts. Here the state “works,” frankly speaking, not for bona fide owners. However, in an elite house, you can pay off debts at the expense of the cost of cars, dachas, second apartments, at the expense of wages, which, in fact, is what the HOA is trying to do. Of course, this takes time and money. But working with debtors is one of the most important functions of HOAs and management organizations. It’s bad that the courts work slowly and that the partnership’s funds are used not to pay for work, but to fight unscrupulous owners: there are debtors in any country. It’s just that in other countries they work with them somewhat more methodically, faster and more harshly.

The law allows for non-payment of any utilities to turn off the power supply. This is the simplest technical way to influence debtors (hot water cannot be turned off without entering the home, but electricity can be turned off). Imagine, the refrigerator does not work in the summer. This is legal even when paying for electricity, but not paying for other utilities. But to use this measure, the homeowners association or management organization must be subscribers of energy companies. Moreover, this is a requirement of both residential complexes, and the rules for the provision of utility services, and the rules for the sale of electricity. Direct contracts are allowed only with direct management of the house. If the HOA is not a subscriber to energy companies, then, in addition to violating the law, it has deprived itself of the most effective way to combat underpayments for utilities.

Method 6: Using Billboards

Billboards for advertising, as it turns out, can be used to benefit providers of housing and communal services. Expensive, but, as practice has shown, it is very effective.

Thus, in Magadan, bailiffs placed banners with photographs of debtors on the city streets. According to the Magadan Federal Bailiff Service, this practice is legal: personal data can be disclosed in relation to debtors who are hiding from the bailiffs. One of the debtors, seeing himself on a billboard, paid off a debt of 200 thousand rubles.

A management company should not post information about its debtor clients on billboards if it does not want to be held accountable for violating laws in the field of personal data protection. But the management company or homeowners association has a way out: they can place information on the billboard about fake debtors, people who don’t actually exist.

What measures to take, how to deal with those who do not want to pay rent on time

Of course, it is possible and necessary to influence such unscrupulous citizens. Specific enforcement measures can be taken by the owners of other residential premises located in an apartment building, by the court, by legal entities called management companies, etc.

Compulsion to pay for utilities occurs in several stages:

• notification of debt;
• demand for repayment of the debt;
• notification of the accrual of penalties for payments;
• claim for pre-trial settlement of a dispute;
• notice of filing a claim in court.

These acts can be sent not only by the management company, but also by the homeowners’ association. These documents are created in writing.

It should be noted that all of the above documents can be sent to the defaulter already from the moment of delay for one month. The right to go to court appears only after the defaulter is recognized as malicious, namely after six consecutive months.

Method 7: Get creative

Employees of the North Ossetia Region of the Amur Territory took a creative approach to pre-trial work with debtors for housing and communal services. They filmed a video appeal to debtors in hip-hop style. The clip ends with the words: “Understand, finally, you live comfortably simply because I am kind today.”

In Troitsk, utility workers influenced defaulters not only with music, but also with theater: under the windows of debtors, specially hired actors portray skits about the struggle between good and evil accompanied by funeral marches. Performances were held at houses where a large number of debtors lived.

In the Sakhalin region, one of the management organizations offered citizens to wash and paint their entrances to pay off the debt for housing and communal services: that is, you give us, we give you. Citizens who turned to the UO to work off their debts are offered to wash or paint their entrances, and in winter - remove snow from their local area. In Voronezh, debtors are offered to work as janitors to pay off debts for housing and communal services.

Assistance to management organizations and homeowners associations with the collection of debts for housing and communal services
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The payer's claim to the management company regarding the issue of charging for housing and communal services

We are talking about a complaint from the consumer, because we use utilities for personal purposes. The legal basis is not so much the general norms of the Civil and Housing Codes as special acts. These include Government Decrees No. 306 and No. 354 of May 23, 2006 and May 6, 2011, respectively.

These documents describe in great detail the responsibilities of the management company, the procedure for concluding an agreement and providing services. It also describes how to confirm the fact that utility services are provided in violation of legal requirements.

To file a claim, find out the details of the management company: the full name of the organization, its address and details of the manager. The law requires that such information be publicly available. Therefore, use the power of the Internet to find the necessary data.

Expert opinion

Kuzmin Ivan Timofeevich

Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specializes in the field of civil law. Member of the Bar Association.

Write the complaint in the first person addressed to the manager. Be sure to indicate your full details, that is, full name, address and contact telephone number. Next, describe in detail the essence of the claims.

For example, the monthly payment includes an amount for the repair of utilities, but no repair work was performed.

Therefore, request a recalculation of fees based on poor-quality supply of utilities, which is recorded in the relevant act.

In principle, the claim is made in any form. But when writing it, stick to a formal style and avoid inappropriate displays of emotion. The completed claim must be signed, deciphering your data, and indicating the date.

Method 8: Using methods “on the verge of a foul”

There are several more ways to remind residents of an apartment building about the need to pay debts for housing and communal services. But in certain circumstances they can become the reason for complaints from owners about the actions of the management authority to the bodies of the State Housing Inspectorate and the prosecutor's office.

For example, the question of the legality of using the common property of a house arises when posters of various subjects are placed on the facade of an apartment building: indicating the total amount of debt on the house or debt on apartments, images of a dilapidated house as an example of an illustration of what an apartment building will be like if you don’t pay for its maintenance. Therefore, before hanging something on the facade, the management company should make sure that it has the right to do so.

The use of lasers, with the help of which data on the debts of its residents is indicated on the facade of the house, can also disturb the peace of the residents of the house and the interests of disciplined payers. The laser can get into the windows of apartments, and the light from it can disturb residents of other houses. The use of loudspeakers in the entrances, which will remind about debts, is also unlikely to please the residents of the apartment complex.

So that the resident of the house does not forget that he has a debt for housing and communal services, management organizations often resort to such a method of influence as telephone calls, including in automatic mode (clause “e (3)”, clause 32 of the RF PP No. 354) .

In this case, the MA can call the debtor only if written consent has been received from him to use the phone number. The desire to “call the debtor to death” or obtaining a phone number without the client’s consent may result in a complaint to the prosecutor’s office.

Types of debt for which we work with debtors

Depending on the timing of fulfillment of obligations, rent arrears are differentiated into several types:

• Current – ​​unpaid debts for one billing period. Occurs even if the payment period has not yet completed. Thus, by virtue of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, monthly payments for services provided are required no later than the 10th day, and the invoice is issued for the expired calendar month. Thus, even in the case of timely payment of housing and services on the 10th, in the period from 01 to the moment the funds are received, the current debt will be recorded. Enforcement measures are not applied to citizens with current debt, because this provision does not violate the rights of the creditor.
• Overdue – unfulfilled obligations for which the deadline for payment has already expired. If the management company, partnership or other housing maintenance organization has not changed the payment date, then from the 11th day of the month following the settlement month, a delay occurs. From the moment the debt is formed, not preventive and stimulating measures are applied to the defaulter, but rather enforcement measures - late fees.

To develop an effective program for getting rid of overdue debt, you need to thoroughly know the classification of debts by their maturity dates.

What can’t they do if you don’t pay utility bills?

Any actions that go beyond the regulations are illegal. Thus, you cannot restrict access to the premises (not let them in or out), make threats, or use physical force. Limits are established regarding certain debt collection actions.

For example, you cannot suspend (limit) the provision of public services

, if this leads to damage to common property by the owner of the apartment building, it will violate the rights of other users of the building. When collecting resources, the lender risks at every step: many actions may be considered illegal.

What types of housing are there?

First you need to understand what right a citizen has to own housing. Types of property are listed in Article 212 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The main ones are private, municipal and state

.
There is another option when the object is occupied without any right ( squatting
).

It is possible to understand under what right a citizen’s housing belongs only from the title documents. Many premises initially belonged to the municipality and were later privatized.

Conversely, sometimes people believe that the apartment is privately owned. And then it turns out that in fact it refers to a municipal entity (legal entity).

Illegal occupation of premises is a separate issue. This is not European squatting (when people move into abandoned apartments), but another phenomenon. For example, a grandmother dies in the village, her house continues to be used. All contracts (for electricity, gas, etc.) continue to be valid. But in fact, no one entered into the inheritance and did not properly register ownership

. Or a factory worker dies, and his family still lives in a dormitory.