How is payment calculated?
Typically, the size of a communal apartment is established by an agreement concluded between the owner of the room or apartment and the management organization. Since in some cases the property owner can exempt the tenant from paying utility bills, set a fixed amount. Or he may oblige the employer to pay for services in accordance with the meter readings. In this case, the amount for calculation will depend on the established tariff and the amount of resources used.
Tariffs for the services of the management company have certain restrictions established by articles 42,43,44 of Resolution No. 354 of the Government of the Russian Federation[2]. Regional regulations also affect the amount of monthly payment.
Payment for lighting in the kitchen, corridor, entrance, for garbage removal, for cleaning the yard and repairs is distributed equally among all people living in an apartment building.
Calculation of utility bills in the hostel is carried out by competent persons. Residents are given receipts that indicate the exact amount for a specific service. The receipt also indicates the payment deadline and the consequences of late payment.
Standards for cleaning premises per one cleaner (office and industrial premises)
- Dry and wet cleaning of floors.
- Removing debris from the work area.
- Cleaning boxes, bags and other types of containers.
- Replacing detergent.
- Wet and dry cleaning of panels, window sills, heating radiators and walls.
- Distribution of litter and removal of it to a specially designated place.
- Cleaning sinks, taps and toilets with showers.
- Washing powder – 1 kilogram.
- Toilet soap – 200 grams.
- Laundry soap – 400 grams.
- Broom – 2 units for 30 days.
- Brushes – 1 unit for 60 days.
- Scoops – 1 unit for six months.
- Rubber gloves – 1 unit for 30 days.
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How to reduce utility bills in a hostel
You can reduce the monthly housing and communal services fee in the following ways:
- reduce resource consumption. It is impossible to reduce the number of monthly payments without reducing costs. Since utility bills are charged in the hostel for the use of the services provided. And most people spend more than they need. To control the amount of goods used, you need to keep track of expenses;
- Read the receipts provided carefully. Tariffs change only once a year and no more. Sometimes management organizations independently increase the cost, but such actions are illegal. Therefore, if you discover inflated prices or errors in the calculation of utility bills, you should not rush to the cash register. First you need to deal with the organization; if this was truly a mistake, then the legal entity must provide a new receipt. If the company does not admit the mistake and refuses to recalculate, then the consumer should contact Rospotrebnadzor;
- change the management company. Some organizations set tariffs that are too high, often make errors in calculations, or require additional contributions. In such situations, you need to change the management company for the entire house. However, this will be more difficult to do if the majority of residents live in the dorm under a rental agreement. In such a situation, residents should contact various authorities: the court, the prosecutor's office, Rospotrebnadzor, the State Housing Inspectorate, etc. If an organization receives a large number of complaints, its activities may be stopped.
It is impossible to reduce the amount of remuneration in other ways, since utility bills in the hostel are calculated in accordance with established rules and tariffs.
Official website of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation made a very useful and timely decision when dealing with the case of a resident of a hostel in Chita. When the building’s dormitory status was removed and the house was handed over to the city, local authorities refused to recognize the resident of one of the rooms as having her right to these square meters. The officials justified their decision simply - the lady rarely appears in the hostel, she has another place to live somewhere, so the city does not owe her anything.
Local courts agreed with officials and took away the citizen’s right to a room where she had been registered for almost ten years. By the way, her registration in the hostel was also cancelled.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not agree with such decisions and overturned them. Moreover, the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not return the dispute to Chita so that their mistakes could be corrected, but itself made a decision on the dispute over a dorm room, which, by the way, happens extremely rarely.
Why is this decision important? In our country in recent years there has been an active process of getting rid of dormitories. In Soviet times, almost all organizations had dorms - factories, scientific institutions and collective farms. Now the former dormitories are being handed over to the city authorities, and the rooms in them are becoming full-fledged municipal housing. But the process of transferring departmental housing, although prescribed by law, raises a lot of legal questions as it is implemented. This Supreme Court decision answers one of the main problems.
So, the city administration filed a claim with the Chita district court against a citizen living in a room in one of the local hostels. The defendant was moved into it in 1997. The woman was registered there.
By a decree of the city administration, the status of a hostel was already removed from the building in our time and assigned a new status - “a house of municipal housing stock for social use.” The head of the district administration was charged with drawing up social rental agreements for residential premises with the citizens living in the dormitory.
The officials did not like our defendant. They considered that she could not be recognized as in need of housing and they had no reason to conclude a social rent agreement with the woman. As an additional argument in court, officials stated that the lady is often absent from her room because she has a place to live, and she herself renounced the rights and responsibilities of an employer.
In recent years, the process of getting rid of dormitories has been actively underway. They are handed over to the city authorities, and the rooms in them become full-fledged municipal housing
The court agreed with the officials' request. The regional court considered this decision legal. The defendant appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and asked to check the correctness of the decision of the local courts. There they studied the case and said that “violations of substantive law were committed by the courts of first and appellate instances.”
This is what the Supreme Court drew attention to in the case materials. After the hostel became a municipal fund, the housing dispute commission of the district administration refused to sign a social lease agreement for the citizen for the room in which she had been registered for 10 years. Arguments - she has housing, which means she cannot be considered in need.
The district court assumed that the woman had lost the right to use her room because she had gone to live elsewhere. The appeal agreed with the opinion of the district colleagues.
Here are the arguments of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. According to Article 40 of the Constitution, everyone has the right to housing and no one can be arbitrarily deprived of this right. You can evict a person or restrict his right to use housing only by law, as written in the Housing Code.
The Supreme Court emphasized that housing rights and obligations arise on the grounds prescribed in laws, as well as from the actions of participants in housing relations. The right of the authorized body to exclude a house from the specialized housing stock is the basis for applying the legal regime of housing under social tenancy agreements to such premises.
After the status of a hostel is removed from the house, social rent agreements are concluded with the citizens living in it for the area where they lived in the hostel. The Supreme Court emphasizes that the absence of a social tenancy agreement does not prevent “citizens from exercising the rights of a tenant of residential premises under a social tenancy agreement, since their implementation cannot be made dependent on the execution of the specified documents by local government bodies.”
The Supreme Court especially emphasized that the administration’s decision to remove the status of a dormitory from the building obliged the head of the district to draw up social rent agreements with citizens without any requirements for need for housing.
The very fact that the local authorities removed the status of a hostel and equated the building to the municipal fund implies a change in the status of housing and social rent agreements must be concluded with those who live in the house, regardless of whether they need housing or not.
The dorm room, the Supreme Court emphasized, was not given to the citizen for the first time, but was simply a “change in the legal relations of the parties.” After all, a woman was once given a room quite legally, which means that the legal norms of the law on the provision of housing under a social tenancy agreement do not apply to this situation.
For some reason, the local courts did not take all this into account and incorrectly resolved the dispute. Their conclusions are “not based on the law.” The Supreme Court itself made a decision: to reject the claim of the Chita administration against a resident of the hostel to recognize her as having lost the right to use residential premises and to deregister her.
Text: Natalia Kozlova
Russian newspaper - Week No. 7420 (254)
Who has benefits
Some categories of citizens can pay for housing and communal services at lower rates. These categories, according to Articles 159[3] and 160 of the Housing Code[4], include:
- Disabled people and people caring for them.
- Pensioners.
- Large families.
- Single mothers.
- Military personnel.
- Veterans.
If housing is provided by an educational institution or local executive authority, then benefits can be provided to students from disadvantaged families and people with difficult financial situations.
Other citizens can temporarily reduce the amount of payment by contacting the landlord. In such a situation, the lessor independently decides whether to reduce the price or not.
How is the living area of an apartment calculated?
We found out what the total living area of the apartment includes. SNIP (1-71 “Residential buildings” dated January 31, 2021) indicates that, as already mentioned, all residential and non-residential premises are classified as common space (not residential).
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In accordance with Art. 16 Housing Code of the Russian Federation, an apartment is one of the types of residential premises. In order for a room to meet the requirements for an apartment, it must have the following characteristics:
Liability for failure to fulfill an obligation
Residents who have entered into an agreement with a company or property owner are required to comply with all its terms. If they refuse to fulfill the terms of the contract or perform them improperly, the other party has the right to take the necessary measures. If people living in an apartment building do not pay utility bills, then they are given a written warning and after some time they are disconnected from the supply of resources. If this does not work, the management company will collect the debt and penalties in court. In addition to civil liability, the defendant may also be held administratively liable.
Citizens are required to pay for the use of the resources provided. You can reduce the monthly amount only if you reduce the amount of resources consumed. Payment must be made within a strictly defined time frame, since in case of delay, the person who violated the terms will be held accountable.
Heating fees in dormitories: are common areas subject to payment?
Serega
writes 12/13/2021: I was suing the management company regarding the debt, and even though the judge wrote that there was no competition for selection, management comp. was not elected, there is no meeting of owners, but the services are actually provided by the plaintiff. management of organizational municipal unitary enterprise of housing and communal services. but I stopped paying because they charge 26.05 for common areas, and the privatized room is 17.6. I looked at the decisions via the links on your website, argued in court, and the court made a decision on the basis of Article 15.5, even though I talked about Part 2 of the same article. We have a miracle town and our own laws, the world court simply cuts it down without really considering it, the federal one changes it but there’s no point, and the supervision in Novosib suits everything the same, so I’m getting ready to complain to the Supreme Court, but there’s little hope. And you The lawyer is very strong, I looked on the forum, everything is as clear as in a pharmacy, a man is sitting and enlightening people, but my hope is fading. There is no law in our country. Thanks in advance. in the hostel, only we have a common kitchen in the hallway, and between 4-4 rooms there is a toilet, a washbasin, and there used to be showers, now there are storage rooms. The management company has provided agreements with resource supply organizations, and 80% of the rooms belong to the administration. but I wanted to pay only for the living space, and all expenses with the actual living space 17.6. And the management company considers all services from the common plus a corridor, a common kitchen and a washbasin with a toilet
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In the above court decision, the court recognized that fees should be calculated based on the total area of the premises owned by the owners. I think this is the right decision. It complies with both the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and Resolution No. 307. In that case, the management company charged residents for common areas that did not belong to the residents’ apartment. The court found this to be incorrect. You need to insist on the same in your case.
