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where to complain about major home repairs . What to do if you are not satisfied with the result of the repair work, we will tell you in this article.
Throughout Russia, the municipal housing stock is in a worn-out condition and requires repair. Houses have not been repaired for many years, and in order to bring them into proper condition, huge financial investments are required. Previously, the entire burden of bringing the apartment building into proper shape was borne by the state, however, after changes were made to the legislation, all costs of maintaining the house, including carrying out not only current repairs, but also major ones, fall on the shoulders of its owners. Citizens were sincerely surprised to see a new column in their payment documents, since they believed that deductions for repairs were already included in the payment, so they complain en masse about the amounts unfairly collected from them for major home repairs.
3 ways to get a free legal consultation 01
Consultation with a lawyer on housing issues is free, click
Ask a question to a lawyer 02
Call toll-free (Moscow and regions of the Russian Federation)
8 800 350 14 85 03
in online chat, response in 10 minutes
Find out prices for the services of a lawyer on housing issues
What does this NGO do?
The Capital Repair Fund is a non-profit organization that operates separately in each region and is officially registered. It is this organization that provides repair and installation work in a particular house.
In its entirety, the term Capital Repair Fund refers to the entire amount of money that is collected in the bank account of apartment owners. Representatives of homeowners' associations and housing cooperatives have access to these funds. At the same time, the Management Company does not have the right to help residents create a Capital Repair Fund.
What is included in a major home renovation?
The overhaul of an apartment building should be distinguished from current repairs, and above all, by the volume of work required. Current repairs involve maintaining existing communications and parts of the building in working order. This includes, in particular:
- eliminating a broken telephone line;
- painting the walls of the entrance;
- replacing a broken window in the front door;
- restoration of hot or cold water supply and sewerage;
- repair of electrical wiring, etc.
What types of work relate to major repairs are listed in Article 166 of the Housing Code. This includes repairs:
- facade of the house;
- basements;
- roofs (its roofs);
- building foundation;
- elevators;
- intra-house engineering communications (systems).
Please pay attention! In accordance with Article 154 of the Housing Code, contributions for major repairs are paid only by apartment owners. Persons living in municipal housing under a social tenancy agreement are exempt from this obligation.
Methods for generating an invoice for major repairs of common property of an apartment building
Apartment owners themselves can choose the option of forming an MKD Overhaul Fund. There are 2 legal options, each of which has a number of advantages and disadvantages.
Regional operator
A regional operator is a non-profit organization that operates in a certain region of the country to manage financial and organizational issues related to the repair of apartment buildings. Each Fund has its own official website.
Since an organization is defined as a non-profit, it is created solely to perform a specific function and not to make a profit. This means that all contributions that residents pay for major repairs must go into the money supply, which will be spent for clearly designated purposes.
Many owners consider the disadvantage of such an organization to be the fact that the money goes into the treasury not of a specific house, but of the entire city, and at the time when this particular house needs restoration, the accumulated funds may not be available. But the organization sets approximate deadlines for each house and residents can follow the planning of repairs in their house on the official website of the regional Overhaul Fund . For details on how to find out by address when a major overhaul is planned, read this article.
Special account
If the owners at the general meeting chose a special account as a method of forming the Capital Repair Fund, then they will have to determine the following nuances:
- the amount of the monthly contribution for major repairs;
- who will be the owner of the special account;
- specific credit institution where the special account will be opened.
In this case, the credit institution must meet certain rules. Experts advise choosing the second method of forming a Capital Repair Fund for houses where renovations have been carried out recently or for new buildings. The significant amount of time that is available will help the owners accumulate a sufficient amount of money for restoration work in the future.
Collective complaint
A collective complaint looks more significant in the eyes of the Foundation. The more owners involved in the claim, the more serious the attention it will receive. If the contractors are doing a poor job of renovating the house, you should organize a meeting of the owners and file a complaint.
The rules for drawing up a collective document are similar to an individual one. The difference is that the header lists all the initiators, their full names and addresses. At the end, all owners, dissatisfied with the quality of the overhaul, put their signatures and transcripts.
What to do if an NPO performs its obligations poorly?
The capital repair fund must bear full responsibility for unfulfilled or poorly performed work to restore the house.
Read more about what major repairs mean and what types there are, read here.
If the owners have a roof leak due to the fault of contractors who were doing repairs in the house, then the Capital Repair Fund will pay all damages, fines and compensation . We talked in detail about the major repairs of the roof of an apartment building here.
If he does not do this voluntarily, then the owners can safely go to court. But at the first stage it is better to start resolving the issue with pre-trial proceedings.
Pre-trial proceedings
If work has been carried out in the house, the quality of which the owners are not satisfied with, then they first need to find out whether this work was a major overhaul. You can then file complaints with certain authorities.
Where to complain?
If the Regional Operator is considered the responsible organization for carrying out repairs, then you should complain to him first of all. If there is no response, then the following organizations go in order of contact:
- State Housing Inspectorate.
- Rospotrebnadzor.
- Prosecutor's office.
Only then can you go to court.
Required documents and evidence
First of all, you need to file a claim for poor quality repairs or their complete absence. The following can be used as evidence:
- photographs of deficiencies or places requiring urgent restoration;
- acts of independent experts;
- written statements from other residents;
- video materials.
The claim itself should be written in the most formal style possible, without the use of jargon or profanity. The more details and less emotion, the higher the likelihood that the claim will not be rejected.
How to file a claim for poor-quality repair work or lack thereof?
It does not matter which organization the claim is filed with. The template is approximately the same:
- in the header of the appeal you must write to whom the claim is addressed;
- applicant's contact details;
- title of the document “Complaint”;
- detailed text describing the problem, here it is important to have as much evidence and details as possible;
- a request to eliminate the problem or conduct an inspection (depending on where the complaint is made);
- date and signature of the applicant;
- a list of documents attached to the complaint, including evidentiary ones.
We do not recommend completing the documents yourself.
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A complaint can be submitted in person, by registered letter via mail, or via the Internet on the official website of the organization where the complaint was made. The deadline for responding to a complaint is 30 days from the date of filing the application. If there is no response, you can safely contact the next authority, right up to the court.
How to sue?
If pre-trial proceedings are unsuccessful, then apartment owners have every right to file a claim in court.
Statement of claim
The claim must contain the following information:
- Indicate your full name, and also clarify that the plaintiff is the owner of the apartment at a certain address.
- Indicate that consumer rights have been violated. In this case, it will be necessary to prove that funds to pay for the capital repair fund were contributed regularly.
- Describe the problem in detail, provide evidence of the Capital Repair Fund's guilt.
- Make demands for compensation for material, moral and physical damage from the actions or inaction of the regional operator.
Experts advise going to court in extreme cases and under the supervision of an experienced lawyer.
Terms of consideration
The total period for consideration of the case in court should not exceed 2 months. This is stated in the Code of Civil Procedure, Art. 157. During this time, court representatives must consider the application and make a decision. If the plaintiff is not satisfied with this decision, he can appeal to higher courts, up to the Supreme Court.
State duty and other financial expenses
Filing a lawsuit is not only a troublesome matter, but also financially costly. But in this case we are talking about consumer protection cases. If the amount of the claim for consumer protection is less than 1 million rubles, then the state duty is not paid in accordance with Art. 333.33 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Current, major repairs and reconstruction are different forms of work that require different results. What is the difference between these terms and what are the standards for carrying out major repairs of the facade of an apartment building - you can find out on our Internet portal.
If the claim is illegal
However, the Foundation often forgets that it also has obligations to you - in fact, to carry out repairs. Violation or poor performance of your side of the transaction may give you reason to file a counterclaim and demand a report on the work carried out in the house.
If you receive an illegal complaint that does not correspond in form to a legal complaint, you can ignore it. And having discovered the fact of fraud, you can easily attach it to your application to law enforcement agencies.
Also, if you decide not to pay, you must refuse to provide services from the fund - the debt will not be written off, but the contract will be terminated and you will no longer be required to pay for what you do not want to receive. At the same time, you should remember that repair work, if necessary, will not be carried out for you - and if something happens, there will be no one to write complaints to, as well as demands to solve the problem.
results
Having submitted a claim to the Fund, the owners will receive a response within the prescribed period.
What to do if you receive an unsubscribe or refusal
If the response received from the prosecutor's office contains an outright repudiation or refusal to satisfy the requirements, the owners have the right to contact the Prosecutor General's Office. Its employees will evaluate the actions or inactions of officials and will forward the complaint for further consideration if they find grounds.
The last authority that can help resolve the issue of poor-quality overhaul is the court. You need to file a claim there, indicating not only the shortcomings of the repair work, but also the unlawful actions of the authorized bodies.
How can they influence
Upon complaint, employees of the Housing Inspectorate or Rospotrebnadzor will organize an unscheduled inspection of the Fund and the contractor, during which they will comprehensively evaluate their activities.
Legal documents, licenses, certificates, and the procedure for calculating fees for services are analyzed. The repair objects are inspected, the sanitary condition of the common area is assessed, and the compliance of the declared works with their actual implementation is assessed.
Based on the results, an order will be issued to eliminate violations and an administrative fine will be imposed. In the event of an incorrectly calculated service fee, the penalty will be half of the overcharged amount.
