Where to complain about the chairman of SNT: if he steals money, if he doesn’t give documents

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Published: 10/08/2018

Reading time: 6 min

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The election of the chairman of the SNT is carried out by the general meeting (or meeting of authorized representatives) for a period of two years. The main responsibility of the head is to carry out business activities in accordance with the Charter of the gardening partnership and Law No. 66-FZ of the Russian Federation of April 15, 1998. This law is valid until the end of 2020. Starting from January 1, 2020, Law No. 217-FZ “On the conduct of gardening and vegetable gardening by citizens for their own needs” dated July 29, 2017 will come into force.

Complaint against the chairman of SNT: main reasons
The process of filing a complaint against the chairman of the SNT to the prosecutor's office

So, what rights and responsibilities are imposed on the chairman of the SNT:

participate (chair) at board meetings with the right of first signature on documents;
exercise control over the performance of employees of their direct duties;
take measures to eliminate problems and accidents on the territory of SNT;
take monthly readings from electricity meters and transmit information to accounting and energy saving organizations;
promptly inform owners of garden plots about possible outages and malfunctions in the network, water supply or other services provided;
conclude contracts , open current accounts;
work with debtors - owners of plots in SNT;
monitor the maintenance of cleanliness and order in the gardening area , including at the container waste site;
control the activities of the partnership accountant;
represent the interests of SNT in the administration and supervisory authorities;
control the correctness of payments to owners of garden plots;
provide the necessary reports to the inspection authorities.

What can you complain about?

In most cases, SNT members complain about the incompetence of their chairmen. But, given that such an official has the right to manage the financial resources of the partnership, we are often talking about the following situations:

fraudulent activities with property or public money;
forgery of documents, protocols, reports, certificates;
misappropriation of funds that were collected from participants in the form of contributions to solve certain problems;
excess or abuse of vested powers, arbitrariness;
making illegal transactions on behalf of the partnership;
use of SNT property without obtaining permission, despite the fact that this requirement is enshrined in the current charter.

Depending on what rule of law was violated, the chairman may face administrative, financial or criminal liability.

Where to go

If we are not talking about theft of funds or illegal property transactions, you should first try to peacefully resolve the conflict without involving regulatory authorities. For example, if a member of the partnership has not received a response to a sent letter, it is first worth checking whether it reached the recipient. Perhaps the letter was lost among the papers, which means there is no point in complaining about the incompetence of the chairman. But if there is reason to believe that the official has committed a serious offense, abused his authority or carried out a fraudulent transaction, you should contact:

Audit commission created under SNT.
Prosecutor's office.
Court.

The horticultural non-profit partnership does not conduct supervised activities and is not one of the organizations that are subject to mandatory licensing. In this regard, in the Russian Federation there are no government departments that are obliged to monitor their work and respond to citizens’ complaints.

Audit committee

If there is reason to believe that the chairman of the SNT committed a financial violation, embezzled the partnership’s money or used it for other purposes than for its intended purpose, it is better to first contact his audit commission. This is necessary in order to collect a sufficient amount of evidence, otherwise the prosecutor’s office and the court will refuse to consider the case.

Based on the received official request, which is drawn up in free form, members of the commission are obliged to conduct an inspection in the manner prescribed by law. Based on its results, a report should be drawn up on the violations identified or their absence. If it is determined that the chairman has exceeded his powers, members of the audit commission are obliged to contact the prosecutor's office or court. If they do not take such an initiative, any participant in the partnership can do so.

A citizen has the right to submit a request for an audit in any way convenient for him. But he must ensure that the document has been registered and accepted for further consideration.

Prosecutor's office

If the chairman abused his powers and committed a serious offense, the citizen must file a complaint with the prosecutor's office (at the place of registration of the gardening partnership). It can be done:

By post. The current address can be found on the page https://genproc.gov.ru/contacts/map/?DISTR=&SUBJ=.
At a personal meeting, submitting a written complaint to an authorized employee of the prosecutor's office. It is better to take two copies of documents so that one of them is immediately marked with the registration number and date.
Online through the Internet reception. If the gardening partnership is registered in Moscow, you should fill out the electronic form https://epp.genproc.gov.ru/web/proc_77/internet-reception/personal-receptionrequest. But experts do not recommend using this method of filing an appeal, especially if it is a serious violation.

When preparing a written complaint for submission to the prosecutor's office, it is important to adhere to a certain order in presenting the facts and circumstances. The text should contain only information that will help the official assess the situation and form an idea of the validity of the claims. At the end of the document, the applicant must clearly formulate his requirements and draw up an inventory of additional materials, if they are submitted, to confirm the accuracy of the information specified. A complaint to the prosecutor's office can be drawn up according to the following example:

Regardless of which method of appeal a citizen chooses, within 3 days he should receive a notification that the complaint has been accepted for processing.

Court

If the situation could not be resolved pre-trial or the prosecutor’s office refused to satisfy the demands (in particular, citing the lack of compelling reasons), the citizen can appeal to the judicial authority (the district court at the place of registration).

The filing of a claim should be approached very responsibly and carefully. Any violation of the appeal procedure may lead to the court returning the application to eliminate shortcomings or immediately refusing to consider it. In this regard, it is better to entrust such work to a lawyer who will draw up a complaint and tell you how to correctly collect the necessary evidence.

If a citizen wants to independently prepare such a document, he can draw it up according to the following model:

How to file a complaint?

A complaint against the chairman of the partnership does not have an approved form and is drawn up according to general rules. When preparing, adhere to the general rules, sequence of presentation and essential conditions. Structurally, the document is divided into three main parts.

The introductory part is the header of the document, placed in the upper right corner. Here they write:

the name of the institution to which the complaint is filed;
full name of the official to whom the application is addressed;
information about the applicant; in case of a collective application, a list is compiled;
passport and contact details of the applicant or person representing the interests of the partnership;
in the middle the name of the document is written - a statement or complaint against the chairman of the SNT.

The main part describes the situation:

the official against whom the complaint is being filed is indicated;
information about the partnership is provided;
briefly and succinctly describes the conflict and the grounds for filing a complaint;
evidence of violations is recorded and relevant materials are attached to the application;
references are given to legislation or the SNT charter, the norms of which were violated by the chairman.

The final part of the application states:

the applicant’s requirements - they must clearly reflect the desired outcome of the application;
list of attached documents - charter of the partnership, evidence of violation, other papers;
the date of the complaint and the signature of the applicant; in case of a collective appeal, all persons listed on the list are signed.

Expert opinion

Makarov Igor Tarasovich

Legal consultant with 8 years of experience. Specialization: criminal law. Extensive experience in document examination.

Copies of evidence confirming the grounds of the complaint are attached to the application. During the application review process, originals of relevant documents may be required.

Question answer

Question: Can a person whose interests were not affected complain about the unlawful actions of the chairman?

Answer: Even a witness to an incident during which the current law or the rights of the partnership participants were violated can file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office.

Question: The prosecutor's office did not reveal any violations, citing the lack of appropriate justification. What to do in such a situation?

Answer: A submitted complaint may indeed be rejected if it turns out that the applicant did not provide a sufficient amount of evidence. Therefore, it is important in such requests to always clearly describe the situation and convey all available information. Alternatively, you can try to resolve the situation during civil proceedings by preparing a sufficient amount of materials and evidence.

Question: The Audit Commission does not want to accept a request to conduct an audit. The submitted document is not registered under any pretext and remains unattended. What to do?

Answer: If the audit committee makes every effort not to record the request, it should be sent by mail with a notification letter. In this case, the document will be accepted for consideration, and the commission will be obliged to conduct an unscheduled inspection. But in this case, there is reason to believe that its members act in collusion with the chairman and protect his interests. Accordingly, there is no point in waiting for the results of the audit, since they are unlikely to be reliable. In such a situation, it is better to immediately contact the prosecutor's office.

Question: We are planning to sell a plot on the territory of SNT, which is owned by another family member (for more than 20 years). But the chairman demands payment of outstanding dues (for the entire term), which we did not pay, since we did not actually use the site. The outstanding amount of debt is more than 100 thousand rubles. At the same time, they refuse to provide us with a calculation and an application for joining the partnership (there is none, since we did not write it). Are we obligated to pay, and is the chairman exceeding his authority?

Answer: In this case, the parties to the conflict will not be able to avoid legal proceedings. To understand the situation with debts on membership fees, you need to look at the minutes of general meetings and the charter. But, in accordance with Art. 196 and art. 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, only debts for the last 3 years are subject to collection.

Powers of the Chairman

The chairman of the SNT is the main person of the organization; he is responsible for managing the partnership and resolving various issues. There are instructions that spell out the responsibilities for this position and the rules - for example, that gardening members hire the chairman as an employee and have the right to remove him from the position. However, the decision will have to be made at a general meeting. The work has a specific duration - 2 years. The position allows you to have such personalities as a deputy in case of absence and a secretary.

The chairman has the responsibility to represent the interests of the entire community in various bodies - for example, in the district administration. He must monitor the condition of the equipment and landscaping of the areas and, if necessary, take timely measures. The board allows employees to issue instructions, and in case of gross violations, to remove them from activities.

The legislative framework

To correctly file a complaint, you should be guided by the following legislative acts:

Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses dated December 30, 2001. N 195-FZ (as amended on July 31, 2020).
Land Code of the Russian Federation dated October 25, 2001. N 136-FZ (as amended on July 31, 2020).
Federal Law "On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation" dated January 17, 1992. N 2202-1 (as amended on July 31, 2020).
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of June 13, 1996. N 63-FZ (as amended on July 31, 2020).
Federal Law “On the conduct of gardening and vegetable gardening by citizens for their own needs and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” dated July 29, 2017. N 217-FZ (as amended on July 31, 2020).

Correct appeal structure

A complaint differs significantly from a lawsuit because it does not require a special form. Therefore, you can compose it without outside help.

At the very beginning, you must indicate which position you should occupy in the SNT, and then state in detail the essence of the complaint. It is advisable to describe briefly, using reliable facts.

It is strictly forbidden to send anonymous requests; in addition to personal information about the applicant, you should also provide contact information. If you have a landline phone, it is better to indicate it, and if not, indicate your mobile phone.