Unscrupulous payers, along with low-income citizens who are experiencing certain financial difficulties, sooner or later wonder whether the management company (MC), homeowners' association (HOA) or housing and communal services (HCS) has the legal right to turn off electricity for non-payment.
This aspect finds an answer in the current legislation and government regulations that regulate the relations of residents with institutions providing public services. It can be clearly noted that the management company (MC), HOA or housing and communal services actually has the right to turn off the lights if the terms of the rent are violated. Today, the debt for electricity has crossed the border into several hundred billions. The third part of this amount appeared due to the fault of citizens, and not legal entities, therefore the need to suppress malicious non-payment of utility services is fully justified
and can influence the current situation.
Penalties for debts may vary depending on the degree of influence on the debtor. However, all methods are aimed purely at the need to get citizens to comply with the terms of payment for utility services, even if they temporarily do not have such an opportunity.
Rights of the management company
The responsible authorities, be it the management company, housing and communal services or homeowners associations, can take any measures against defaulters who are provided with utility services. In this case, the management company is guided by certain rules:
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- The facts of debt equal to three or more monthly payments are taken into account depending on the average monthly norms, and not according to the meters;
- Before applying any measure, management companies, housing and communal services, and homeowners associations are required to notify the debtor in writing about this by sending an official registered letter, which will be delivered to the tenant personally. Although, as practice shows, this rule is often not observed and can be violated;
- Before being punished for debts, a person is given a period of thirty days, during which the offender can correct the situation by paying utilities or another method;
- After the allotted thirty-day period, the defaulter is sent a second notice informing them that the lights will be turned off in three days.
Housing and communal services, management companies, and homeowners' associations can turn off electricity without warning only if there is a threat of an emergency. In other cases, the debtor has the right to complain, since such actions will be considered illegal.
Procedure for turning off electricity for non-payment
For what debt is the electricity cut off? If payment is due at least 2 months in advance. The debt is calculated based on the standard, regardless of the meter readings. The executing organization sends a written warning to the debtor personally against signature or by registered mail.
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The latest changes were made at the beginning of 2021, but they did not fundamentally affect the general order of relations between the contractor who provides services and electricity consumers. So, in case of arrears in payment for electricity, the organization must seal the equipment.
Information and loyal preventive measures
Since electricity is by far the most popular type of utility service, without which it is difficult to imagine modern life, especially in a city or for entrepreneurs for whom such measures will cause losses, sending a notice for debts is a particularly important point in the disconnection procedure. A citizen can receive such a letter if he ignores the rent for even two whole months; the management company, HOA, housing and communal services have the right to this quite legally.
The text of the notice regarding rent must indicate the time during which citizens can influence the preventive measures that have not yet been taken, and must also mention when and how the so-called punishment will be executed. At the same time, the management company providing a list of utility services may partially limit the supply of electricity.
Notification rules require resending the email. Three days after this, the management company, housing and communal services, and homeowners' associations have the right to send a specialist who will seal the meters and turn off the electricity to the defaulter. The seal will be removed only after the debts have been repaid in full. At the same time, if a person is not able to repay his debts by paying the entire amount at once, he has the right to contact the HOA, housing and communal services, management company and ask for an installment plan.
Procedure for turning off electricity for non-payment in 2021
It is worth emphasizing the penalties for debtors who have not paid for consumed energy resources. For defaulters, amendments to Federal Law No. 35 “On the Electric Power Industry” apply, which provide for a slight but noticeable accrual of penalties from the second month of delay. For those who accumulate debts over months, the increase in penalties is equal to the cost of market interest on the loan. © 2021—2021 PJSC
But if the house had normal heating, which in villages is most often supplied using a gas boiler, the tragedy might not have happened. In general, the main thing to remember, no matter what your financial situation is: you cannot not pay at all - no one can be relieved of this burden. Otherwise it could lead to something irreparable. If you had to spend a lot of money on something unexpected (there are different situations: a sudden illness, spending on buying a broken refrigerator or computer, an emergency trip to visit relatives, etc.) and you have no funds left to pay for housing and communal services, you can contact to the management company for payment in installments. This was stated by Andrey Chibis.
Structure of the notice and act
In order for the procedure of turning off the lights to be legal, government regulations require it to be recorded in a special act, which can subsequently be used as evidence if the case goes to court. This document does not have a set form, but is mandatory. However, some requirements are presented to it, according to which the text states:
- A complete or partial power outage is carried out;
- Date and time of the procedure;
- Last name, first name, patronymic of the defaulter, his personal account number, address of the location of the property;
- Step-by-step description of the actions taken;
- Meter number and its indicators as of the date of sealing;
- The reason why a citizen's electricity is turned off.
An act is drawn up in three copies, each of which must be signed by the defaulter and the management company. At the same time, if, when sealing the meter, Energosbyt employees did not draw up a report or drew it up incorrectly, this will mean that the light was turned off illegally. This allows the defaulter to file a complaint against the Criminal Code with a judicial authority, which can correct the current problem for a while.
Mandatory points of written notice:
- Last name, first name, patronymic and personal account of the defaulter;
- The amount of debt and an indication for what period of time;
- When it is planned to turn off the lights, that is, how much time a person has to correct the situation;
- Details, signatures of officials and seals of the management company, homeowners' association, housing and communal services;
- Options and conditions for debt repayment.
Power cut off for non-payment
The idea of simplifying the procedure is already supported by Rosseti, one of the world's largest electric grid companies. It is expected that these measures should significantly improve the discipline of payment for electricity. According to Vyacheslav Kravchenko, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, as of October 1, 2021, the debt of Russians for electricity exceeded 850 billion rubles.
You have 10 (in some cases 20 days) to pay off your debt. Otherwise, the meter will be sealed, the electricity will be turned off and a report will be drawn up. If it is not possible to deposit money into the account, you can contact the company with a request for an installment plan due to a difficult financial situation.
Illegal shutdown
The main purpose of the procedure in which lights are turned off for non-payment of utilities is to combat the irresponsibility of the population, which significantly affects the economy. However, despite the fact that the management company has the right to seal meters and turn off electricity for debts, you need to know that the management company is not omnipotent and is subject to the law, and violators have legal protection from the state. This means that the management company must follow clear rules for the entire procedure from start to finish. If there are violations, the matter can be taken in a completely different direction.
So, for example, the Criminal Code cannot turn off the lights without the written warning mentioned above. If this happens, the actions of the Criminal Code will be considered unlawful and subject to appeal. Referring to the regulations of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a complete or partial shutdown of electricity occurs only after the parties reach an agreement or after the expiration of a specified period after receiving a notification, if no measures were taken by the defaulter.
If the Criminal Code turns off the lights without following the rules for sending notifications, the citizen has the right to file a complaint and can even demand compensation for moral damage.
Lights out for non-payment of utilities in 2021
In accordance with Art. 153 of the Housing Code, both individuals and legal entities have an obligation to pay utility bills, and payments must be made on time and in full (Part 1). At the same time, Part 2 of this article reveals in detail the circle of persons obliged to pay for housing and communal services (HCS):
- owners of their own homes;
- housing users under social tenancy agreements;
- tenants of municipal and state housing;
- members of the housing cooperative;
- legal entities that are tenants of municipal and government premises;
- developers before transferring the premises to the user and the users themselves after transfer by the developer.
In accordance with Part 3 of Art. 153 LCD, while municipal and state housing is not occupied by residents, state and municipal authorities pay for utilities in it, respectively.
The timeliness of payment is determined by Art. 155 ZhK: this is the period until the 10th day of the month following the reporting month. In some cases, the date may be different if this is specifically indicated in the agreement for the provision of the relevant services.
Can the lights in an apartment be turned off for non-payment?
They may well suspend the supply of electricity in case of non-payment. Deprivation of energy supply to a utility debtor is a common sanction if he does not pay for more than three months. This sanction, although used less frequently than the accrual of penalties and fines, is also quite common.
Moreover, if a tenant uses the occupied space on the basis of a social tenancy agreement, then for non-payment he may even be subject to eviction.
As a general rule, the resource supplying organization can turn off the electricity provided that the debtor is notified in advance. The law provides for only 5 moments in which shutdown can occur without warning:
- in case of an accident or a high probability of its occurrence;
- in case of emergencies;
- if the consumer illegally connected to the public network;
- if a citizen uses household appliances/machines whose power exceeds the maximum permissible voltage in the network;
- instructions from regulatory authorities to limit the operation of the network.
Only in these cases does the resource supplying organization have the right to stop supplying electricity without warning (clause 115 of Resolution 354).
A natural question is whether electricity can be turned off for heating debt. In this regard, the answer is: yes, they can, since, for example, in winter it is illegal to turn off the heating. The provision of all utilities is included in the range of management responsibilities, so everything that can be turned off can be turned off (lighting is the easiest to turn off among the entire list of utilities).
Legislation
Termination or limitation of power supply to residential premises is regulated by Chapter 11 of Government Regulation 354. This regulation establishes the procedure and procedure for stopping the supply of electricity.
The Resolution also states that stopping the supply of an unpaid resource should not violate the rights of bona fide payers to receive it (clause 121) . In addition, turning off the light should not lead to:
- damage to common property;
- failure to comply with the legitimate interests of bona fide payers;
- failure to comply with the requirements for the operation of the building and its premises.
Also, the rules for limiting (in whole or in part) energy consumption are established by Government Decree No. 442 of May 4, 2012.
If the management company suspends energy supplies to a defaulter, for example, without warning or in violation of the established procedure, then Article 330 of the Criminal Code “Arbitrariness” may be applied to those responsible for this act, which implies punishment in the form of a fine of up to 80,000 rubles or forced or compulsory labor.
Arbitrariness can only be proven in court by challenging the legality of the shutdown if it caused damage to the property of a citizen or organization, or led to moral damage.
Ways to correct the situation
If the management company did everything according to the rules and turned off the lights, there is a sequence for resolving this issue:
- Pay off debts. If a citizen does not have such an opportunity due to financial difficulties, he must go to the local energy company and ask in writing for a six-month deferment. According to the law, such a request cannot be refused. Everyone without exception has the right to it;
- After approval of the deferment, the applicant needs to obtain the appropriate certificate about this and come with it to his management company, HOA or housing and communal services, where he will have to pay a small amount, usually no more than one thousand rubles;
- After paying, you need to wait for an electrician to connect the lights.
If the tenant is sure that the light was turned off illegally, a statement is written to the prosecutor’s office, after which this body has the right to check the criminal code. When going to court is inevitable, you should not let the matter take its course and wait for a decision. It is necessary to prepare documents that will testify in favor of the utility defaulter.
Measures applied to defaulters
Well, firstly, the limitation to the provision of certain services (in this case we can only talk about water supply).
But if debts are not paid for a long time, then the debt increases many times over and can amount to a decent amount. In this case, the defaulter will face serious consequences. For example, termination of a social tenancy agreement. And even eviction. Of course, such decisions are made through the courts.
The municipality usually provides housing with a smaller area, but owners of private houses will not suffer such a fate - they are not subject to eviction at all. Debts are collected from owners of private houses in court; if this does not happen, the company simply stops servicing the property.
