It is the responsibility of every citizen who uses housing and communal services to pay for them. Most citizens do not pay due attention to incoming payments and pay the receipt without checking them, and housing and communal services employees very often provide incorrect data and demand payment for services in a larger volume than they were provided. If you notice errors in the calculations, then you need to contact the housing and communal services representative with a request to recalculate, and if a refusal is received, you can complain to the prosecutor's office.
In this article we will tell you how to complain to the prosecutor’s office about housing and communal services, but before that you need to consider a sample complaint and in what cases you can send a complaint.
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How to file a complaint to the prosecutor's office regarding housing and communal services
If you were incorrectly calculated the cost for the utilities used, and the application to the housing and communal services did not give the desired result, then you can contact the prosecutor's office, but before that you need to find out the necessary information, which includes the full name of the prosecutor's office, full name. and the rank of prosecutor, as well as information about the organization providing housing and communal services.
Now let’s look at a sample complaint to the prosecutor’s office for housing and communal services. Such a complaint does not have a strictly established form, but it is subject to certain requirements, failure to comply with which may result in refusal to consider the application. The complaint against housing and communal services must include the following information:
- Full name of the authority to which the application is submitted;
- FULL NAME. the prosecutor charged with considering the complaint;
- Personal and contact details of the applicant;
- Information about the organization that issued the incorrect utility bill;
- Legal address of the organization and contact information;
- Description of the current situation;
- What rights were violated by the tenant;
- The requirements put forward and their justification from the point of view of the law;
- List of attached documentation;
- Date of document preparation and signature of the applicant.
Collective complaints are considered as a matter of priority and when filing such a complaint, the signatures and addresses of all residents who agree with the specified information must be present.
When drawing up a complaint to the prosecutor's office regarding housing and communal services, it is important to follow the rules for writing official business documents. You should avoid overly emotional presentation of what happened, and do not use obscene language or insults. Particular attention should be paid to the description of what happened. It should definitely be pointed out that attempts were made to resolve the current situation directly with the housing and communal services, but a refusal was given. It would also be a good idea to contact a qualified lawyer who will help you correctly describe the situation, provide evidence of violation of rights, and justify the requirements from a legal point of view.
There are several ways to send a complaint about housing and communal services to the prosecutor's office. You can personally visit the prosecutor's office, but more convenient ways to file a complaint are to send documents by mail or file an electronic complaint. In the last two cases, there is no need to visit the prosecutor’s office, which allows you to save personal time. The application must be sent by registered mail with subsequent notification of delivery. In the case of an electronic complaint, there is a restriction that does not allow filing a collective appeal. To file a collective complaint against housing and communal services, you must visit the prosecutor's office in person.
Sample
Sample complaint about actions and inactions of housing and communal services.doc Sample collective complaint.doc
Where can I complain about the lack of heating in my apartment?
With the arrival of the cold season, the health and comfortable life of all citizens largely depends on what temperature will be in their apartments or houses. Timely, and most importantly, high-quality provision of heat is the task of public utilities. If the heating does not work, or works but poorly, this is a gross violation on the part of the utilities.
Cold or lukewarm batteries will not be able to provide a comfortable temperature for living. Residents faced with a similar problem often simply do not know where to file a complaint. They turn on the heaters and wait patiently instead of contacting the utility company.
The second problem that Russians often face is ignorance of the rules for drawing up such complaints. This is due to the fact that the current legislation of Russia has many specific features and nuances, and only a qualified specialist can understand them.
Sometimes the most insignificant mistake becomes the reason for refusal to consider a claim. For this reason, experts strongly recommend contacting an experienced lawyer who will help you correctly formulate the document, give recommendations regarding subsequent actions, and answer related questions.
Of course, today there are many companies providing legal services in the country, but contacting any of them will be accompanied by significant financial costs. Today, Russians prefer remote communication with specialists.
This is not surprising, since the effectiveness of online consultation is high, but at the same time, help received remotely allows Russians to achieve significant savings in money, effort and time. To communicate with a lawyer online, all you need is a computer, laptop or smartphone connected to the Internet.
Where can I file a complaint if there is no heating in my apartment?
If the heating in a private house or apartment works poorly or does not work at all, residents should take action as quickly as possible. First of all, you need to make sure that you have a document on hand confirming the absence of heat. When drawing up this act, residents, representatives of utility services and government officials must be present.
The corresponding “invitations” to housing and communal services workers and to the city administration are sent in writing through the post office. You should also ensure that you receive notification of delivery of letters.
The notification will play a key role in the event that a representative of one of the structures is not present when drawing up the act.
If the applicant has confirmation of the sending of the corresponding letter, then only those who are present at its formation can sign the act.
Of course, citizens have a well-founded question about where to send their complaint. First of all, a sample claim is written to the utility service that supplies the heat. If it is not possible to resolve the conflict peacefully, then Russians have the right to take radical measures and file a complaint with one of the following authorities:
- Rospotrebnadzor;
- Prosecutor's Office;
- Court.
Upon receipt of a complaint, employees of the relevant structure will organize an inspection and punish the perpetrators. It is important to remember that going to court is a last resort. You should only file a lawsuit if other means of obtaining justice have failed.
Another nuance that should be taken into account concerns the material side of the conflict. If the case reaches the courts, then the injured party has the right to demand from the utility companies not only to correct the situation with the heat supply, but also to compensate for the moral damage caused.
To achieve justice in court, experts strongly recommend that citizens seek help from a specialist by issuing a power of attorney to represent their interests. If an experienced lawyer deals with this issue, this will guarantee that the interests of the citizen will be under reliable protection.
Features of filing a complaint about lack of heating
complaints about lack of heating
In accordance with current regulations, the minimum temperature permissible for a living space is 18˚C.
If the actual indicators do not meet the established criterion, this is a valid reason for filing a complaint.
It is important to take into account that regardless of which structure the document is submitted to, it must be drawn up in compliance with the rules of the Russian language and not contain errors.
Today there is no strict template for writing a complaint about non-working heating, so the form of the document can be free. However, the claim must meet the requirements of business writing and etiquette.
The text should not contain phrases with an emotional connotation, rude expressions or obscene statements. When writing a complaint, you should strive to be as concise and informative as possible.
The document must also contain the following information:
- The name of the organization to which the complaint is being sent;
- The exact address of residence (if it is an apartment building, then indicate the number of residents);
- Data from the contract with the utility service;
- Description of the problem;
- Legal justification;
- Applicant's requirements;
- The time during which the complainant waits for a response;
- Date of submission of the document and signatures of the residents.
Regardless of which method is chosen to solve the problem, experts strongly recommend filing a collective complaint. If the appeal comes from several residents at once, it will be considered as quickly as possible. Most often, the period for making a decision on a case varies from 10 to 30 days.
As for the method of sending a complaint, in addition to using the services of the post office, you can write a complaint through the official Internet portal of the selected structure. If the document is drawn up in ordinary written form, then the applicant must keep a copy of it.
What to do if the batteries do not heat up?
Source: https://www.myjus.ru/zhaloby/zhaloba-na-otsutstvie-otopleniya/
List of attached documents
As we have already said, in order to substantiate the requirements, it is necessary to collect evidence of unlawful actions on the part of housing and communal services employees. The desired result can be achieved if you provide the following documents:
- Technical passport of the apartment (for all apartments when filing a collective complaint);
- Agreement for the provision of utilities;
- Confirmation of ownership of the applicant’s apartment;
- Copies of receipts confirming payment of utility services;
- A copy of the claim sent to the head of the housing and communal services as evidence of attempts made to resolve the issue;
- Housing and communal services response to the submitted claim (if any).
Who has the right to file a complaint against housing and communal services?
In order to consider an application to the prosecutor's office, you must adhere to certain requirements. It is worth understanding that the circle of people who have the right to file a complaint has some restrictions. All home owners whose rights have been violated can complain to housing and communal services. This right also
- Persons living in the house on a permanent basis;
- Citizens registered in the house, but temporarily residing elsewhere;
- Apartment owners living elsewhere;
- Organizations and individual entrepreneurs who own residential space.
It is worth recalling that citizens living in an apartment under a lease agreement do not have the right to file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office regarding housing and communal services, since they are not the owners of the living space.
Who has the right to complain?
The contract for house maintenance is concluded at a joint meeting of the housing construction company between the management company and the owners of the housing construction company.
Therefore, taking into account the fact that one of the parties to the contract is the owners of the house, if the services provided for in the contract are not fulfilled, they have the right to send a claim to the prosecutor’s office to protect their rights. If there are non-residential buildings in a multi-storey building construction that belong to some persons, they also have the right to appeal to the prosecutor’s office if the necessary services are not provided.
Persons living in a multi-storey building under a rental agreement, who are not apartment owners, do not have the right to contact supervisory structures.
At the same time, the following should be noted. Before filing a claim with the prosecutor's office, you must first contact the Criminal Code to try to resolve the issue amicably.
Preparation of evidence
Particular attention should be paid to the preparation of evidence confirming the fact of violation of rights by the property owner. A list of violations by housing and communal services should be compiled in advance, and the violation should be supported by a reference to the violated legal norms. It would be a good idea to contact a lawyer who will help identify violations and indicate which documents will be evidence of violations.
Not only witness statements, but also other documents can be used as evidence. An agreement with housing and communal services and receipts with incorrect calculations will be enough to bring violators to justice. The prosecutor's office will check the data in the receipts for compliance with the internal documentation of the organization, and if violations are identified, they will demand that they be eliminated.
If the basis for the appeal is repairs and overestimation of its cost, then an estimate should be provided as evidence, which can be requested from the company that carried out the repairs. Identification of inconsistencies in the estimate and inflated cost of repairs will be grounds for initiating a criminal case.
Review period
Making a decision on filing a complaint with the prosecutor's office can take quite a long time. After the application is submitted to the department, it must be registered within 3 days. Next comes the review period, which in most cases takes 15 days. If additional checks are required and there is a need to request documentation, the period can be extended to 30 days. It is the responsibility of the prosecutor's office to inform the applicant about the increase in terms and justify the reasons.
The prosecutor's office is responsible for reviewing all applications that are not submitted anonymously. If the applicant has not disclosed his or her identity, consideration will be denied. In cases where, after filing an appeal, the applicant may be in danger, it is possible to conceal the identity of the applicant.
Grounds for refusal
There is a list of grounds for refusing to consider a complaint about housing and communal services to the prosecutor's office. The complaint will remain unanswered if:
- The applicant did not disclose his identity;
- Consideration of the submitted appeal is not the responsibility of the prosecutor's office;
- Use of obscene language;
- The demands have no basis.
Do not confuse refusal to consider a complaint with cases when the application is returned to the applicant. Sometimes the prosecutor requires additional information and the application is returned to ensure that all necessary information is provided.
The application is sent to the applicant if:
- It does not reflect all the necessary information;
- There is not enough evidence to confirm the violation of citizens' rights;
- It is impossible to make out the essence of the statement due to illegible handwriting;
- There are marks on the paper or it has been damaged.
When and what kind of answer should I expect?
The legislation defines the terms for consideration of claims and provision of responses, which are expressed in a 30-day period.
However, the applicant may receive a response in a week or a month. It all depends on the level of workload of the prosecutor’s office employees and the importance of the information that is provided for study. In any case, a repeated complaint will not be accepted until a response to the first is sent. If the answer is positive, then in this option the management company will be checked for non-compliance with the rights of owners of housing construction.
If the applicant’s arguments turn out to be unconvincing or do not meet the requirements for carrying out procedural actions, the applicant will be denied inspections.
( Video : “Educational program for housing and communal services. Section: complaint about the inaction of the Criminal Code”)
