Homeowners rarely throw away bills and utility receipts. This is not a useless habit from the past, but a reliable help for those who are accustomed to order in financial matters. Receipts can be useful in many cases:
- The amount of monthly payments suddenly increased. You can always compare receipts for several months and data from meters to understand why expenses have increased;
- The management company illegally inflates the bill. Sometimes the list includes services that the organization does not provide, or it adds a markup to the tariff. In this case, you should check the management company;
- I urgently needed important data. The personal account number, apartment area, benefits, as well as contacts of housing and communal services suppliers are indicated in the receipt;
- the payment was not received into the account of the management organization. The problem may be due to a computer glitch or operator error. In any case, a canceled receipt is a reliable argument;
- need to sell the apartment. To receive a certificate of no debt from the MFC or HOA, you need to provide several months of “payments”.
Storage period for payment receipts
The storage period for utility payment receipts is not regulated by any legal act. Payment documents of this kind are subject to the statute of limitations, which expires after 3 years. Hypothetically, the court may accept the claim later, but if this is stated, the law will be on the tenant’s side.
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In addition, if we determine storage periods based on the statute of limitations, then we must know something else. If the statute of limitations expires, you can still claim protection for the violated rights. Therefore, saved receipts can not only come in handy, but also become a trump card up your sleeve.
- Not a single regulatory act specifically specifies how many years it is necessary to keep receipts with a mark or check for payment of housing and communal services, so the law on the statute of limitations for claims comes into play. According to it, the statute of limitations for disputes of this kind expires 3 years from the moment the problem situation arises.
- This law is not an obstacle to the court accepting a claim, but if this point is voiced in court, the decision in 100% of cases will be made in favor of the service consumer.
- It happens that management companies try to resort to various kinds of tricks, trying to forcefully extend the statute of limitations. This happens extremely rarely, only in the event of real force majeure circumstances. For example, the entire management company was on a desert island for three years and did not have the opportunity to go to court to collect the debt for housing and communal services.
To ensure the safety of invoices for payment of services, it is recommended to store them in a separate folder. This will allow you to find documents when problem situations arise as quickly as possible.
Due to the lack of properly organized work of departments in public utilities, bills are issued to bona fide payers.
The receipt may contain many numbers, but do not be alarmed. After all, these are instrument readings for previous periods. Regional authorities establish certain standards, indicating what exactly should be written down on the receipt. That is, these are not only current amounts, but also those that have already been issued previously.
If a consumer pays for utilities via the Internet (for example, Sberbank Online), it is enough to save and print the receipt, then attach it to the payment receipt sent monthly for entering readings and payment. Calculation using the terminal. In this case, you will need to have a payment card available, which must be placed in a special slot. After this, you will need to enter data into the electronic form that appears - code, information about your account, payment amount. Then you need to confirm the transaction and receive a confirmation receipt.
The information is presented in the form of a clear and simple table, so everyone can easily understand all the information.
Difficulties with debts arise in relations with all organizations in the housing and communal services sector. We are talking about a management company or HOA, companies involved in water supply, electricity supply and gas supply.
Payment of utility bills can be done in several ways. The most common of them is depositing cash into the company’s account through a cash desk or terminal of one of the banks. Payment through online accounts, that is, electronically, is gaining popularity.
Payment for utility services is carried out on the basis of a receipt provided by the contractor. Such information must be transferred to payers within the period established by law. According to the general rules, a receipt for payment is given no later than the first day of the month following the reporting month.
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Storing payment documents becomes difficult due to the space they take up. But how long are utility bills kept? And what's the point of doing this?
In most cases, the receipt itself is sent by mail. The information is also duplicated on the information resources of the management company. At the same time, the law does not prohibit personal delivery of a document to the payer. This method is mainly used in cases where there is arrears in payment.
In cases where filing a claim was impossible due to certain circumstances that did not depend on the actions and desires of the plaintiff (for example, emergency situations: flood, earthquake, military operations, epidemics, etc.) After the termination of these circumstances, the limitation period continues to run.
Legislative aspect
The procedure for providing payment documents to apartment owners, the information that must be reflected in them, and the list of data that is prohibited from being posted are recorded in the following documents:
- Housing Code of the Russian Federation (Article 155);
- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 (clause 69);
- Order of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation dated January 26, 2018 No. 43/pr;
- Letter of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation dated June 21, 2018 No. 27125-OG/04;
- Federal Law No. 38;
- Code of Administrative Offenses (Part 1, Article 14).
None of these regulations mention the retention period for utility receipts.
RF PP No. 354 regulates what information should be contained in payment documents: about the premises, service provider, charging, etc.
The Order of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation No. 43/pr approved the approximate form of the receipt.
According to Letter of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation No. 27125-OG/04, the management company has the right to swap blocks and place in them additional information approved at the general meeting of owners.
Federal Law No. 38 “On Advertising” categorically prohibits placing advertising messages on receipts, including on the reverse side. The only exceptions are social advertising and reference information - for example, about sites where you can pay for housing and communal services.
The Code of Administrative Offenses establishes fines for violation of Federal Law No. 38 and Order of the Ministry of Construction No. 43/pr.
How long to keep housing and communal services receipts
Checks for payment for housing and communal services are issued in accordance with the requirements of Order of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation No. 43/pr, signed in January 2018. It is the property owner's responsibility to ensure that the invoice is properly formatted and includes a separate line item for each payment item. The document provides for the following information:
- payment purpose;
- volume of energy resources expended;
- established standards (if any);
- payer details;
- addresses of the apartment where payment is made;
- recipient details.
It is necessary to store only correctly completed documentation in order to avoid possible troubles if discrepancies arise when accounting for payments with the management company or resource supplier.
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The legislation does not directly establish the period during which it is necessary to keep receipts for repayment of utility bills. But, according to Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an appeal to the court regarding debt collection is allowed no later than three years from the moment of its occurrence.
Taking into account this condition, the storage period for documents confirming payments is also three years. After the specified period, the utility organization will no longer be able to go to court with claims against the consumer. But in order to eliminate possible problems, it would not hurt to extend the duration of ensuring the safety of papers to 4–5 years.
The need to provide receipts may arise for the following reasons:
- incorrect addressing of the payment made;
- improper accounting in the utility company;
- failures in the operation of computer equipment, as a result of which data may be lost or damaged.
The presence of a paper payment is a documentary confirmation of the transfer of funds, with the help of which the consumer is guaranteed to prove the fact of transferring money if there is any doubt about it.
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When can you throw away receipts?
Many people are looking for where to look at the requirements for utility payment receipts. Basically, tenants are interested in when they can throw away their canceled payments. But there are no deadline requirements as such. Since “payments” for housing and communal services are subject to a statute of limitations law, after 3 years you may no longer need them. But lawyers recommend approaching this issue carefully and, if possible, not throwing away these papers for another 2-3 years.
What is a receipt?
This is a payment document drawn up in accordance with the norms established by law and confirming the fact of payment for a utility service. The form of the receipt is established by Order of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation No. 924.
What's on the receipt? The payment document contains a separate line for each resource, the consumption standards for each utility service are indicated, so residents can control their expenses and check whether the amount of payment has been calculated correctly.
The Order establishes approximate standards for the preparation of receipts, but most of them look the same, which simplifies working with this payment document.
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Do I need to keep receipts for more than 3 years?
The main reason why experts insist on keeping payment documents is that they have legal force. In the event of a conflict with the service provider, the user, with the help of a receipt, will be able to prove that he is right.
You can file a claim within 3 years. Following the logic, you can then throw away unnecessary papers. But it is still not recommended to do this, especially if the tenant has had rent arrears in the past.
There have been precedents when management companies sued defaulters without their knowledge. At that time, the statute of limitations had not yet expired, but for some reason the process was suspended and resumed after 3 years. However, in this case the law does not apply, and the defendant is obliged to appear in court. In such a situation, saving receipts will help you win your case. So it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves how long to keep utility bills, but it doesn’t hurt to take reasonable precautions.
Of course, documents have legal force only if they fully comply with the requirements:
- the displayed data is current;
- the invoice is drawn up in accordance with established rules;
- the receipt is filled out correctly;
To avoid conflicts, you should not delay rent payments and accumulate debts. On our website you can pay for housing and communal services without commission or queues.
Practical situations that make adjustments to the regulation of the issue
Given the rapid development of technological progress, today many people pay for gas, electricity and water using bank cards or e-commerce centers. This introduces amendments to the usual process:
- The opinion that when paying by credit card it is not necessary to keep confirmation receipts for 3 years is fundamentally wrong. If an organization closes and access to its data is lost, serious problems will arise in obtaining the necessary documents. Experts recommend keeping payment receipts for a year, after which visiting the bank to obtain a statement for this period and getting rid of unnecessary waste paper. Owners of a personal account on the bank’s website simply need to print out such statements with electronic marks on their own.
- Users of e-commerce services need to be even more careful. After payment for electricity, gas and other services has been made, you must print a receipt yourself. It will also have to be stored for at least 3 years.
- There is another behavior option that can make life easier. You can visit your management company at the beginning of each year to obtain a certificate stating that this organization has no claims regarding rent and other indicators.
- Particular attention should be paid to the availability of receipts for payment of utility bills when purchasing an apartment or its long-term lease. In this case, you can limit yourself to checks for 3-5 years, but it is better to obtain certificates from the management company about the absence of claims.
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Another authority that can provide information on the status of payments is the billing center, which is responsible for issuing bills to consumers. True, they save data for a long period only if there are debts. But the absence of such may be a sufficient argument for the court. On the other hand, it is these organizations that provide data to management companies, so they cannot differ much.
