Conscientious payers in housing and communal services will pay for the debts of unscrupulous ones. It's nice to be a reliable partner and conscientious payer

I don’t know about anyone, but the wonderful laws coming from the walls of our State Duma have ceased to amaze me. Therefore, the latest bill from the housing and communal services sector did not evoke any special emotions. Well, what can you do if the State Duma of the last convocation gathered so many people who do not know how to think, that is, absolutely. Here is what MK writes about this:

“Overdue debts of Russians for housing and communal services amount to about 400 billion rubles. The lion's share of non-payments occurs at socially significant facilities - schools, kindergartens or hospitals. The state is not able to pay for them - there are not enough funds in the budgets of various levels. In this regard, a bill has been submitted to the State Duma, which provides that liability for the debts of defaulters will be reimbursed at the expense of their conscientious neighbors, who every month give their rubles to the savings bank. The essence of the law is this: all utility payments go into a “common pot”, and then they are distributed to both debtors and solvent citizens.”

When you come across someone's impenetrable stupidity, you don't even know what to say. Because to an ordinary person it seems that everything should be clear anyway, but it’s impossible to explain anything to a fool. The point is not even that shifting the burden of expenses for debts from malicious debtors to conscientious payers is humanly unfair. I don’t even know what could be more unfair? Perhaps the only thing worse than this is putting an innocent person in prison for a crime committed by another person. But even without any such reasoning, the deep flaw of such a bill is this.

What is the basis of law and order in the country? On the inevitability of punishment. This seems clear to everyone. When any crime or offense is punishable, the crime does not exceed a certain threshold. But if there is no punishment, then a wave of crime begins to overwhelm society.

Debt for utilities is not a crime in the general sense. But this is a violation. So what do our amazing legislators propose? They propose not to collect payment and penalties from such a violator (as punishment), but to completely release him from punishment and collect the amounts unpaid by the debtor from the one who pays. And all this in order to fight... the wave of non-payments. How could this be born in the human brain?

Of course, no one says that the amount of debt will be additionally collected from bona fide payers. This is simply what this bill will lead to. Legislators are establishing a situation where some part of resource consumers may not pay for the resources consumed, and resource suppliers will have to be content only with amounts received from bona fide payers. I don’t know what resource specialists will say to this (I assume that they will be very surprised by this approach). But the debtors will say the following: “that’s it, now it means you don’t have to pay at all.” What will payers say? And they will very soon say: “Are we redheads paying regularly, if it turns out that now under the new law we don’t have to pay?” Well, off we go. As a result, very soon everyone will stop paying altogether. I think even a child will understand that this is exactly what will happen. But it seems our deputies cannot understand even the simplest things.

Fortunately, there are other deputies who are responsible and have a good understanding of the situation and the consequences of ill-conceived bills.

“The drafters of the bill do not talk about what is happening in this area. The authors of the law do not take into account the acute consequences, and all innovations will lead to the weakening and general disappearance of competition,” says Galina Khovanskaya, head of the State Duma Committee on Housing and Communal Services. At the same time, she is also convinced that all management companies that are disliked by the authorities may disappear from the market, and only municipal, state and their branches will remain.

To the point, Galina Petrovna! As they say, neither subtract nor add. But will the rest of the deputies hear the voice of Galina Khovanskaya? That is the question.

Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Orenburg LLC completed a pleasant series of business trips around the region and awards for conscientious gas payers. The company held this competition among private consumers for the fifth time, but for corporate consumers for the first time. The meaning of the competition is very simple and humanly understandable: to say “thank you” to the gas consumer for his decency and punctuality.

Conscientious payer

According to information received from Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Orenburg LLC, the overdue debt of the population for consumed gas as of October 1, 2012 is 209 million rubles. Therefore, an indispensable condition for participation in the competition and prize draw was the absence of debt for consumed natural resource. To avoid anything personal, the selection of applicants was entrusted to the computer. The smart car confirmed the long-held opinion that the most conscientious and obligatory gas payers are pensioners, large and low-income families. 19 families from these social categories received prizes with “gas” specifics - gas meters with free installation from OJSC Orenburgoblgaz or certificates entitling you to a significant discount when purchasing components and gas appliances in specialized stores "Gaztekhnika".

Prizes were awarded to participants in the “Conscientious Payer” competition in Ponomarevsky, Ileksky, Belyaevsky, Buguruslansky, Tashlinsky, Aleksandrovsky, Kuvandyksky, Oktyabrsky, Perevolotsky, Kvarkensky and other districts.

Reliable partner

But they did not trust the computer to select the winners of the competition among business entities, because in addition to the formal criterion (lack of debt), the effectiveness of decisions made in the field of energy and resource saving was taken into account. Corporate gas consumers were divided into three groups, each of them having its own nomination.

A reliable partner in the category “Non-industrial consumers” natural gas» recognized by CJSC AK No. 1825. Good companies good in everything, and this convoy has more than once become the winner of the regional competition “Leader of the Economy”. This time, it was not the quantity of goods transported that was taken into account, but the culture of payments for consumed gas, which is used to heat industrial and domestic premises. The company modernized its heating system and installed an imported high-efficiency boiler, which made it possible to almost halve the volume of blue fuel consumed. This is a convincing example in the implementation of an energy saving program.

For us, the Diploma of Gas Workers “Reliable Partner” turned out to be unexpected, but very pleasant,” says Director of OJSC Drilling Equipment Plant A.K. Medvedev. The company was chosen as the best in the “Industrial Consumers of Natural Gas” nomination. – For the plant, always paying bills on time and very carefully is a component of our image. Although I remember 2004, when I became director and the plant had very difficult problems, both with production and financial. But we still never violated payment discipline, even if we had to take out loans.

Alexander Konstantinovich came to the award ceremony with the head of the energy and mechanical service V.A. Popov. It is he who introduces automation, equips the old boiler room with metering devices, ensures the safety of its operation and increases its efficiency. Recently, the plant began developing a large-scale boiler room modernization project. Most likely, a new generation compact modular boiler room will be installed. Before its launch in 2015, many technical and organizational problems still need to be solved. Medvedev is glad that at this stage, consulting assistance is provided by specialists from Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Orenburg LLC.

And gas company specialists are pleased to help industrialists, public utilities, and the population more actively move along the path of energy saving and modernize their gas facilities. Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Orenburg LLC became the initiator and one of the creators of the regional target program “Modernization of municipal infrastructure facilities in the Orenburg region”, designed for 2012–2016. Gas workers associate the implementation of this program with an increase in the level of payments for gas consumed in this industry.

“When it comes to debts, the reason must be sought not only in technically imperfect equipment or non-payments of the population,” says Dmitry Shumsky, deputy general director for gas sales by LLC Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Orenburg. – One of the main problems is the movement of cash flows in the chain “population – management companies – heat supply enterprises and gas suppliers." The population pays for one receipt hot water, heating and other utility bills. The money ends up in the accounts of the management company and heat supply organizations and often do not reach the gas supplier. Today, the overdue receivables for gas of housing and communal services enterprises amount to more than 200.5 million rubles. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 253, in force since September 1 of this year, has not solved the problem of splitting payments for heat and hot water, automatically separating the cost of energy components (gas, electricity) from received utility bills and crediting these funds directly to the accounts of energy supply organizations. In Ulyanovsk, the principle of multi-level “deep splitting” of payments has been working for 10 years. What is stopping us from implementing this program?

However, despite serious problem with gas payments, the company considered it necessary to highlight this industry in its “Reliable Partner” competition separate nomination"Organization communal complex" The winner was Dombarovsk Teplo LLC. It provides warmth and hot water population and organizations of the regional center and the village of Dombarovka. The company systematically modernizes boiler equipment and network facilities. It is headed by Vladimir Ivanovich Tilipailo. His name is well known at Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Orenburg.

He runs his farm with confidence. If difficulties arise, he always looks for a way out. difficult situation, - says D.A. Shumsky. – Even if debts arise, he finds a way to earn money and pay for gas by the summer. Then, by the fall, he begins to make an advance payment and at the end of the year he goes to “zero” on debts for gas. We have studied his “handwriting”, we have been working with him since 1999 and we are confident in his integrity.

How can we encourage integrity among unscrupulous housing and communal services enterprises, and even heads of municipalities who indifferently watch how they utilities first they accumulate debts for the gas they consume, then they go bankrupt?

We propose that the company Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Orenburg create, if not a “black list” for publication on its website, then at least a new nomination in the competition, and once a year give, for example, a stylized “torn galosh” with a price tag for the amount of debt for gas consumed by the housing and communal services enterprise. It is better to make a souvenir in pairs – the right one for the head of the Moscow Region, the left one for the manager-utility worker. There would be a new reason for journalists and the public to know these “heroes” by sight. Members of the permanent commission of the Ministry of Construction, Housing, Communal Services and Roads of the region on issues of restructuring and repayment of debt for energy resources consumed by housing and communal services enterprises could join the “awarding” ceremony.

Gas is the nation's wealth. This must be in the minds of everyone, without exception, otherwise it leads to the destruction of the foundations of morality and business standards. Gas workers established their “Conscientious Payer” competition to show people, organizations, and enterprises that not only respect this wealth, but also respect themselves and society as a whole.

Lyudmila Ustimova

The debt of Russians for housing and communal services (hereinafter - housing and communal services) is on a serious scale. Thus, according to the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia, the debt of housing and communal services enterprises only for consumed energy resources as of April 1, 2013 amounted to 136.5 billion rubles, and the growth of debt over the past year was 28%.

According to the collection agency " National service collection", based on the results of the first half of 2013, the total amount of debt for housing and communal services resources and services in Russia is estimated at 736 billion rubles. At the same time, the debt of the population (excluding the debt of management companies to suppliers) is about 146 billion rubles.

The new procedure for calculating payments for consumed housing and communal services, according to which services consumed during the use of common property are paid separately from services provided in the apartment (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354 ""), also could not significantly influence the growth of debt for utility bills.

In this regard, management companies are forced to influence unscrupulous residents using various methods.

What debt collection options do management organizations have?

In the fight against debtors, management companies and homeowners' associations resort to a variety of methods, including the following.

1. Posting a list of debtors on the bulletin board. This measure is intended to provide psychological impact on defaulters, but is not always effective. Sometimes lists of people in debt public utilities citizens are also published in local media. Judicial practice has already known cases of erroneous inclusion of the names of bona fide payers in these lists, which served as the basis for the publication of a refutation and compensation for moral damage (see, for example, the decision of the Nazarovo City Court Krasnoyarsk Territory dated September 17, 2012 in case No. 2-43/12).

2. Accrual of penalties. In accordance with (hereinafter referred to as the Housing Code of the Russian Federation), residents who fail to pay for utility services provided on time and (or) in full must pay a fine in the amount 1/300 Bank of Russia for each day of delay. At the same time, establishing a larger amount of this penalty in the agreement between the supplying and management organizations is not allowed (Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated July 24, 2012 No. 3993/12, FFAS TsO resolution dated April 24, 2013 No. F10-895/13 in case No. A36 -5292/2012).

3. Restriction or suspension of the provision of public services. Often, management organizations resort to such measures of influence on debtors as disconnecting housing and communal services (apartment-by-apartment or the entire house). Debtors are often deprived of electricity, water supply, and even have a sewer plug installed in the appropriate place on the riser.

The question of the legality of such actions has repeatedly come to the attention of the legislator and the judiciary.

Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings(approved by the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011 No. 354) allow for the possibility of suspending or disconnecting utility services in relation to an apartment or house of a specific debtor. The amount of debt must exceed the amount three month sizes fees for utility services, calculated based on the standard for its consumption (regardless of the presence or absence of individual or common device accounting). The consumer must be sent a written warning about the possibility of limiting or terminating the provision of a particular service, and the resumption of its provision is carried out within two days from the moment of full repayment of the debt.

At the same time, it is established that such actions should not lead to a violation of the rights and interests of other residents apartment building fully fulfilling their obligations (providing utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354).

The possibility of disconnecting the debtor from the benefits of civilization ultimately comes down to technical features infrastructure of a particular building - for example, in new buildings it is usually easier to deprive only one apartment of water supply than in Soviet-era high-rise buildings. You can disable the provision of a particular service a private house (appellate ruling SK by civil cases Samara Regional Court dated August 6, 2012 in case No. 33-7239/2012).

There is an exception to the rule about the permissibility of disconnecting debtor citizens from the provision of public services - for example, heating network organization does not have the right to resort to such a measure, even if the citizen-consumer or the company managing the apartment building has a debt (heat supply organization in Russian Federation, approved Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 8, 2012 No. 808).

If residents pay all receipts on time, but the debt was caused by the fault of the management organization, in this case the latter is obliged, by agreement with the energy or gas supply organization, to provide residents with the supply of fuel and energy resources in the volumes required for them (cessation or limitation of supply electrical energy and gas to consumer organizations in case of non-payment of fuel and energy resources supplied to them (used by them), approved. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 5, 1998 No. 1). The legality of this rule was challenged in 2012 by the gas supply organization Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Vladimir LLC as restricting freedom economic activity, however, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation did not find any grounds for recognizing this norm as invalid (the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated September 17, 2012 No. VAS-9586/12). At the same time, the court indicated that the initiative to conclude such an agreement should come precisely from the consumer organization to whose networks the residents are connected.

Conscientious payers who find themselves in a similar situation should send a written application to the management organization with request for renewal provision of housing and communal services. It would also be useful to point out the need to recalculate payments for the period when utility services were not provided. If this measure does not lead to the desired result, the next step may be an appeal to regulatory authorities (housing inspection, Rospotrebnadzor, prosecutor's office) or to court.

4. Transfer of debt to collection agencies. Cases of concluding agreements with collection firms to collect debts from the population for housing and communal services are not so numerous, but nevertheless they do occur and have already been recorded in judicial practice (see, for example, the resolution of the Eighth Arbitration Court court of appeal dated August 13, 2012 No. 08AP-4820/12, resolution of the Thirteenth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated January 10, 2012 No. 13AP-9737/1). Moreover, if the existence of a debt is proven, when the collection agency applies to the court, the decision is often made in favor of the plaintiff (see, for example, the cassation ruling of the judicial panel for civil cases of the Kamchatka Regional Court dated June 16, 2011 in case No. 33-787/2011 ).

At the same time, the FAS of the East Siberian District indicated that the possibility of extrajudicial collection from citizens should be considered unacceptable and not in accordance with Art. 35 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. We were talking specifically about the activities of a collection agency. In addition, the court indicated that the payment by citizens for utility services is not related to the plaintiff’s activities (Resolution of the FAS VSO dated May 18, 2012 No. F02-1504/12 in case No. A58-3443/2011).

5. Eviction from the apartment. Such a radical measure is currently applied only to tenants of apartments under a contract social hiring and only in judicial procedure(). The amount of debt does not matter; the basis for eviction is the fact of non-payment of payments for housing and utilities for more than six months without good reason.

The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicated that the court must clarify the issue valid reasons for debt formation. Thus, valid reasons may include the following circumstances: long delays wages, loss of work and impossibility of employment, illness of the employer or members of his family, presence of disabled people, minor children in the family, etc. (clause 38 of the resolution of the Plenum of the RF Armed Forces dated July 2, 2009 No. 14 ""). At the same time, courts often, when refusing to evict, provide the debtor with a period of time for settlements with the management organization (see, for example, the decision of the Pavlovo-Posad City Court of the Moscow Region dated March 28, 2012 in case No. 2-703/2012). True, granting a deferment for payment is not recognized as acceptable by all courts (appeal ruling of the judicial panel for civil cases of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court dated October 3, 2012 in case No. 33-8532). Eviction occurs upon provision of another living space according to hostel standards, that is, based on at least six square meters. living space per person.

At the same time, if the persons living in the apartment showed conscientiousness and paid off the debt at least partially within six consecutive months, the court may refuse to evict (decision of the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg dated July 8, 2010 in case No. 2- 2311/2010). Deputies of the Murmansk Regional Duma proposed to set the minimum amount of such payment for the purpose of determining the possibility of eviction of the debtor at 50% or more of the debt amount, but this initiative was rejected.

Sometimes willful defaulters manage to evade responsibility. There is a known case where residents living in an apartment under a social rental agreement did not pay utility bills for more than seven years. However, it was not possible to evict the debtors on this basis, since they promptly privatized this apartment (ruling of the St. Petersburg City Court dated January 30, 2013 No. 33-825).

Now arbitrage practice on this issue has already developed, and cases of eviction on this basis are not uncommon, however, in the first year of the RF Housing Code, the Commissioner for Human Rights Vladimir Lukin described this rule as unconstitutional in the context of rising prices, wage delays and high level unemployment().

What ways to ensure the repayment of utility debt may appear in the near future?

The need for a more effective mechanism for collecting debts from citizens in the housing and communal services sector has served as an impetus for the development of new proposals in this area.

Thus, in April 2013, the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia posted on its official website a bill extending the possibility of foreclosure on debts for housing and communal services (hereinafter referred to as housing and communal services) to apartments privately owned. The condition for the application of this measure should have been the presence of debts on utilities and contributions to major renovation. It was assumed that such a measure could be applied to the only housing for the debtor and his family. For a court decision to foreclose on residential premises, the amount of debt must have been at least 5% of market value housing.

In other words, the owner of an apartment worth 3 million rubles. it would be enough to owe an amount of 150 thousand rubles for housing and communal services. According to calculations by the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the average cost of housing and communal services in July 2013 was 3,862 rubles. per month (per year - 46,344 rubles). It is easy to calculate that minimum size debt is formed if you do not pay for utilities for about three years.

The initiative caused a serious public outcry, after which the Russian Ministry of Regional Development posted negative feedback to this bill, pointing out that it was developed not by the ministry itself, but by the NP Housing and Communal Services Development. Subsequently, the text of the document was removed from the official website of the Russian Ministry of Regional Development.

It should be noted that today it is almost impossible to foreclose on an apartment that is owned and is the only premises suitable for living - procedural legislation does not allow this (). The only exception, which appeared at the end of December 2004, is the case where the residential premises is the subject of a mortgage (the federal law dated December 29, 2004 No. 194-FZ "").

However, the bill of deputies of the “A Just Russia” faction, if implemented, may allow the apartment to be left in the use of a citizen who owes money to the bank). The authors of the bill propose to give state and municipal bodies the right redeem mortgaged mortgage loans apartments with the consent of the bank. The basis for this will be a statement from the owner-mortgagor who finds himself in difficult life situation. The definition of a difficult life situation is also fixed; this term is understood as “a situation that objectively disrupts the life of the owner-mortgagor: disability, inability to self-care due to old age, illness, orphanhood, poverty, unemployment, etc., which he cannot overcome on his own” . As a result, the apartment is accepted onto the balance sheet and accounted for as state (municipal) property, and the former owner and his family continue to live there, but already on the basis of social hiring. In addition, he retains the right of first refusal to purchase this apartment (“repurchase”).

When studying this bill, a lot arises questions. At whose expense will an independent assessment of the cost of housing be carried out, on the basis of which the redemption price is determined? What do the words “cannot overcome on their own” mean in defining a difficult life situation and who will determine this? Finally, is it possible to place such a burden on budgets? In addition, such a rule can create the basis for massive abuse of rights by owners. The most interesting thing is that the bill does not contain a ban on privatization of such housing by the former owner after the transfer of ownership to the state.

The problem of foreclosure the only housing, which is the subject of a mortgage, has been discussed for a long time. Back in 2000, the Government of the Russian Federation emphasized the need to create a legal mechanism for providing housing to the borrower and his family in the event of foreclosure on the mortgaged residential premises. As a guarantee of the housing rights of these persons, it was proposed to create a specialized temporary housing fund (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 11, 2000 No. 28 "").

Among the proposals to ensure the repayment of debt on housing and communal services, one can also highlight the initiative of the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia on imposition of encumbrance on apartments in the form of a ban on their sale for residents who have arrears in paying utility bills, put forward at the beginning of August 2013. The debt for utilities must exceed their cost for six months, the fact of the existence of a debt will be established by the court, and the basis for applying to the bailiff for the imposition of an encumbrance will be the failure of the owner to fulfill the requirements for debt repayment contained in the executive order issued on the basis of a court decision leaf.

A survey of visitors to our portal on the topic “How do you feel about the proposal of the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia to ban transactions with residential premises, the owners of which have arrears in paying for housing and communal services?” showed that opinions on this matter were almost equally divided. 48% of respondents were in favor of implementing this initiative, noting that other residents should not bear the burden of paying the debts of unscrupulous apartment owners. 42% of respondents did not support this idea, pointing out that just after the sale of an apartment, the debtor has funds to pay off housing and utility debts. Another 10% of visitors found it difficult to answer, and some of them put forward a proposal to establish a minimum debt threshold at which such a restriction could be imposed.

The distribution of responses shows that the initiative of the Russian Ministry of Regional Development is associated with some conflict of interest. On the one hand, the debt in the housing and communal services sector is quite large, and the desire of the legislator to find new ways to ensure its repayment is quite understandable. On the other hand, when implementing this measure, there is a risk of infringement of the rights of both the owner and the potential purchaser of the apartment.

Are unscrupulous tenants the only ones to blame for the resulting debt?

The formation of debt in the housing and communal services sector is facilitated not only by the dishonesty of citizens who are in debt for housing and communal services, but also by other circumstances. These include, for example, increase in utility tariffs, often unfounded and contrary to the procedure established by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation (). The maximum increase in tariffs for individual housing and communal services is established by the FTS of Russia for each region (order of the FTS of Russia dated October 9, 2012 No. 231-e/4 "", order of the FTS of Russia dated October 25, 2012 No. 250-e/2 "On the establishment limit indices the maximum possible change in established tariffs for goods and services of public utility organizations providing services in the field of water supply, sewerage and treatment Wastewater, taking into account premiums on tariffs for goods and services of public utility organizations providing services in the field of water supply, sewerage and wastewater treatment, on average for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation for 2013 ").

However, the amount in the payment bill may increase due to an increase in other tariffs - for example, housing maintenance fees. Thus, only in the first two months of this year, the maximum increase in utility tariffs in some regions (Murmansk region and the Altai Republic) reached a record value of 225%.

On January 1, 2012, the legal norm that established the rule on the establishment by regions of maximum indices of possible board changes citizens for housing and communal services for everyone municipality(Parts 1-7 of Article 6 of the Federal Law of December 26, 2005 No. 184-FZ “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On the Basics of Regulation of Tariffs of Public Utility Sector Organizations” and some legislative acts Russian Federation"). Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that this norm be restored as quickly as possible. The corresponding bill on establishing such an index at the federal level for a long-term period (at least five years) was submitted to the State Duma in early July of this year.

However, according to experts, such a measure will not solve the problem of ensuring transparency in the formation of tariffs for utility services. Expert of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on local self-government and housing and communal policy Alexander Kozlov notes that legislative consolidation of public control mechanisms, which will help balance the tariff setting system, can become much more effective.

Other initiatives aimed at reducing the burden of citizens in paying for utilities include the following:

The amount of debt for utility bills is also affected by dishonesty of management organizations and homeowners' associations, often arbitrarily increasing tariffs, not ensuring proper management of the building and embezzling money from residents.

The State Duma is considering a bill establishing liability for violation of the procedure for calculating the amount of fees for housing and communal services.

It is proposed to set administrative fines for unreasonably determining the amount payable for utilities in the amount of 40 to 50 thousand rubles. For officials and from 800 thousand rubles. up to 1 million rubles for organizations.

An original solution to this problem was proposed by the Volgograd Regional Duma. The bill she introduced provides for a rule according to which payments by owners and tenants of residential premises of an apartment building by default they are sent directly to resource supply organizations, and not management companies. By decision of the general meeting of owners of residential premises, payments for all or some utilities may be paid to management companies (we remind you that now it establishes the exact opposite rule).

What to do if you have a debt for housing and communal services?

First of all, when identifying debt for utility services, request mutual reconciliation of accounts. This measure will help clarify the amount of arrears and its origin, and sometimes can completely remove claims for payment of housing and communal services.

If the debt is confirmed, you can contact the management organization with a request to conclude agreements for phased debt repayment. Although such a measure is provided for by the norms of housing legislation only indirectly (,), many management organizations are meeting debtors halfway. When repaying a debt, we recommend paying off the accumulated amount of penalties first, and only then the principal debt.

Some categories of citizens may receive subsidies for utility bills in the event that expenses for housing and communal services exceed the maximum allowable share of citizens' expenses for housing and utilities in the total family income (). Now the size of this share is set by the regions independently. For example, in the Arkhangelsk Region and the Kamchatka Territory, a subsidy is provided if the share of utility costs in the total family income exceeds 22%, in the Amur Region the size of this indicator ranges from 10% to 22%, and in the Kaluga Region one can apply for partial coverage Families who allocate more than 15% or more than 19% of their income to pay for housing and communal services can pay utility expenses (depending on whether the average per capita family income exceeds the regional subsistence level). At the same time, the State Duma is considering a bill proposing to establish the maximum permissible share of citizens' expenses for housing and utilities in the total family income in the amount of 10% for the entire territory of Russia.

The size of the subsidy is determined by a formula that includes such indicators as the size of the regional standard for the cost of housing and communal services, the number of family members of the applicant, the total family income and the size of the regional standard for the maximum allowable share of utility costs. For example, a single pensioner living in the Arkhangelsk region, whose pension is equal to the regional subsistence minimum (RUB 8,786), can count on a subsidy in the amount about 1200 rub.

Often the authority to determine the amount of the subsidy and its provision is transferred to municipalities(Kursk region, Irkutsk region, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Saratov region, Republic of Dagestan, etc.).

Some federal subjects have decided to provide citizens with subsidies if growth average monthly fee for utilities for six months will exceed 12% compared to the same period last year (Chelyabinsk region). There are also other regional payments - for example, in the Tomsk region, residents of houses with stove heating are entitled to receive an annual subsidy for purchase and delivery of solid fuel.

You can find out whether you are entitled to subsidies, in what amount they can be provided and what documents you need to collect for this, in the district departments social protection your city.

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What bonuses can Saratov offer to conscientious payers for housing and communal services, and whose expenses will be in this case? Correspondents asked these questions to city deputies and public activists.

IN last years in Russia with new strength a discussion began on initiatives related to encouraging respectable payers for housing and communal services. It is proposed to introduce a number of benefits for citizens who have been steadily paying housing and communal services for several years. It is also proposed to introduce benefits for subscribers whose gas, water and heat consumption is less than the regional average. This “carrot method,” as some officials, social activists and deputies from different regions of the country believe, can reduce the number of unscrupulous payers and debtors – not only to scare people with restrictions!

By the way, in some regions “goodies” for the most responsible have already appeared. In neighboring Samara, for example, at the beginning of 2014, one of the management companies gave away a refrigerator among conscientious payers. In the city of Noyabrsk (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), a promotion has been taking place for several years now: pay for housing and communal services with the thousandth or five thousandth of the bill - get a prize. And in the city of Inza Ulyanovsk region gifts are distributed among residents who have not incurred debts for housing and communal services during the year. Similar drawings are also taking place in Nizhny Novgorod and Novosibirsk regions. But Moscow, it seems, will again be ahead of all of Rus': for timely paid services and saving resources, points will be awarded here in the city’s Active Citizen application, and residents will be able to exchange them for various bonuses. In particular, for free parking hours or theater tickets. It is expected that residents of the capital will begin to receive real bonuses at the beginning of 2015.

But Moscow is far away - and in Saratov, no doubt, there will also be conscientious payers. How can they be encouraged, with parking or something else, and is this even possible in principle? We tried to find answers to these questions in conversations with officials, deputies and social activists.

First of all, thank you!

At the level of the Saratov region, it seems that such achievements are not expected in the foreseeable future. According to the Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the region Valeria Vasilyeva You should definitely say “thank you!” conscientious payers - but so far the plans of regional authorities do not include specific bills to encourage them.

In the Saratov City Duma, which is quite understandable, the topic of incentives is also not considered a priority: where is it before major repairs or relocation of emergency housing! But they found it interesting and took note.

Opinions of people's representatives

Konstantin Lekomtsev, deputy of the Saratov City Duma: “The city could also organize events for residents”

In general, the initiative is interesting. We don’t have paid parking in our city like in Moscow. Therefore, I think that it is necessary to conduct a dialogue with management companies and homeowners associations - they are the ones who are interested in subscribers paying housing and communal services on time and in full. It is necessary to carry out promotions on the part of management companies and stimulate residents. The city can also organize events for residents, but what exactly we can offer - this needs to be discussed and worked on a bill. As one option: encourage any positive HOAs or homes by making playgrounds, improving the courtyard area, tidying up public gardens or gardens. Let’s say that if a house reaches 90-95% of payment for housing and communal services, it will be able to receive a similar gift from the city - then residents will understand that timely payment of housing and communal services will result in improvements. But again, this requires dialogue and work on the bill.

Stanislav Bondarev, deputy of the Saratov City Duma: “At the expense of the municipality, it’s probably unfair”

In any case, there should be encouragement. In addition, the practice of other cities shows: this makes sense and it really works. As for the Moscow initiative with free minutes in parking lots, a different format is needed in our city, since parking lots and lots in Saratov are given to private ownership. The initiative to encourage payers for housing and communal services appeared a long time ago, but the question always arises: at whose expense? If we are talking about a municipality, then this will probably be somewhat unfair. I think it needs to be considered various options incentives and discuss at whose expense this will be accomplished. First of all, of course, you need to involve management companies that are directly interested in their residents paying for utilities. Most importantly, there must be good dialogue between residents, management organizations and resource providers. Only through this dialogue can a common opinion be reached.

Andrey Ivashchenko, deputy of the Saratov City Duma: “These could be discounts on management services”

Management companies should be encouraged, not the city. For example, these could be discounts on the provision of any services: on the services of electricians, fitters, mechanics who carry out work on behalf of a given management company or HOA. As a rule, such work inside the apartment is paid for by the tenant. Promotion should be carried out by those who directly benefit when subscribers pay housing and communal services on time. If the municipality provided housing and communal services, then it would make sense to encourage them at our expense. But we gave this to management organizations - they should be involved in increasing the percentage of payments.

A word from a public figure

Alexander Zhurbin, human rights activist and public figure: “Children’s playgrounds cannot be a “bonus”

The paid parking system in Moscow and Saratov is not comparable: in our case these are very small points in the city, while in Moscow these are multi-kilometer zones. And then, in Moscow, people are outraged why they have to pay for parking if they live in this area. While in Saratov residents only dream of such parking lots so that they at least have somewhere to park their car.
There is no need to say that management companies are interested in paying for utility services, since their financial condition depends on payment for housing services, and in some cases, payment is even divided into two receipts. If we are talking about the maintenance of housing, then often in contracts with management companies there is no structure for the distribution of money for repairs and maintenance of houses, and people do not know what they are paying for. You cannot demand to pay for housing and communal services in exchange for a “bonus” - a children’s playground: it should be there anyway! This cannot be a “bonus”, this is an arrangement local area. Management companies are required to do this even without bonuses. But unfortunately, the residents do not know this, and the activity of the management company is taken as a “gift from heaven” - although it is simply a waste of their money. On the other hand, there should be preferential treatment. But here another question arises. Now, let’s say, I’ll contact Vodokanal: “Vodokanal,” my beloved, I’ve been paying you without debt for 20 years, give me a discount on the service!” - “You’re crazy, our whole city is now dug up, we need to replace (conditionally) a hundred pipes - and you also want a discount!”- they will answer me there. This is demagoguery, please do not be offended: the issue is very complex, and the system is very shaky. How to implement it, I do not presume to say.

MEANWHILE

Incentives for conscientious payers are prescribed in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation

They were registered quite recently, literally on September 16th. On this day, at a meeting of the State Duma, a bill providing for amendments to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation was adopted in the first reading. One of them, in particular, allows the management company to provide discounts to bona fide payers. Literally it sounds like this (Article 157 of the RF Housing Code, part 5):

“The person providing utility services has the right to provide the owners of premises with apartment building discount when paying for utilities, including the condition that such owners of premises in an apartment building pay in advance for utilities. The amount of the discount is determined in accordance with the terms of the agreement containing provisions for the provision of utility services.”

The Chairman of the Housing and Communal Services Committee of the Saratov Regional Duma told the correspondent of the Housing and Public Utilities Agency64 that this norm has already entered into force. Sergey Nesterov.

A very important addition has been made to federal legislation: now the management organization can give citizens a discount on housing and communal services payments. And you need to work according to this norm as much as possible. For now, this opportunity is voluntary and we will see how much management organizations will agree to this. By the end of the year, I think we will spend “ round table» on this topic: to what extent the legislation has begun to be implemented and whether management companies have begun to provide discounts. – said Sergei Nesterov. - And we will definitely discuss additional proposals on what benefits can be made for conscientious payers - parking or something else, with our city colleagues, we will discuss the experience of Moscow. Quite a lot of topics are about punishing non-payers, so it’s also worth thinking about the “carrot”.

Dear residents!

We invite you to take part in the annual promotion from the management company “Conscientious Payer”!

In 2017, the management company, as part of the “Conscientious Payer” Campaign, prepared three special nominations for residents of the residential complexes “Northern Valley”, “Yuntolovo” and “Panorama 360”:

1. “DEBT-FREE NEW YEAR”

As you know, it is considered a good tradition to meet New Year no debt! The management company offers residents who have current debts for utility bills to pay the debt, and the management company will remove the amount of accrued penalties!

To participate you need:

• Pay off the entire debt in one go 12/31/2017
• Submit an application to remove the penalty to the management company and attach a copy of the receipt with the debt paid by 12/31/17.
• Applications are accepted from December 25, 2017 until January 19, 2018.

1. "CONFIDENT PAYER 2017"

The management company thanks the residents who paid utility bills on time throughout the year! As a sign of gratitude, we want to say “thank you!” our residents who especially need extra attention and support: pensioners, people with disabilities and large families.

To participate you need:

• Have no debts or overdue payments for 2017.
• Pay the December receipt for CG until December 31, 2017. and provide a receipt for payment to the management company.
• Submit an application for participation in the “Conscientious Payer 2017” campaign to the management company.

(The application must be accompanied by a document confirming your status preferential category population: pensioner's ID, certificate of disability, certificate of a large family.)

• Categories of residents who can take part in the nomination “CONSCIOUS COAT TEEPER 2017”:

Pensioners;

People with disabilities (disabled people);
- Large families.

The resident’s personal account will participate in the drawing. The winners will be determined by random drawing after January 19, 2018. and will receive valuable gifts from the management company. The winners will be notified additionally about the procedure for receiving prizes and gifts.

1. "NEW YEAR'S"

We are sure that for the New Year it is necessary to give gifts, especially if this gift Apple iPhone 8! Everyone has a chance to take part in a drawing for a smartphone and gift certificates from partner companies!

To participate you need:

1. If there are no debts to pay utility bills for 2017:

• Required 10,000 rub.. to your personal account as an advance for CG until December 31, 2017;

1. If you have a debt utility bills for 2017:

• Pay off the entire debt in one go, along with penalties and pay 20,000 rub.. to your personal account as an advance payment for CG before 12/31/2017
• Submit an application for participation to the management company and provide a receipt for payment.

In addition to the main prizeiPhone8 will be drawn:

Residential complex "Northern Valley"

• Gift certificates for pizza and master classes from the DoDo Pizza restaurant chain
• Gift sets from the chain of bar stores “Fortress 24”

Residential complex "Yuntolovo"

• Certificates with a deposit for services from the Yabloko beauty salon
• Gift certificates for large chain stores from the management company

Residential complex "Panorama 360"

• Gift certificates from the salt cave “As Sol”
• Gift certificates from the Colombian bar “Cartel Lounge Bar”
• Gift certificates from the orthopedic store “Healthy Family”
• Subscriptions to classes at the Gorodok creative studio

The resident’s personal account will participate in the drawing. The winners will be determined by random drawing after January 19, 2018. The winners will be notified additionally about the procedure for receiving prizes and gifts.

You can apply for participation in any way convenient for you:

• IN personal account owner. (Please note that you can apply for participation only through the “Appeals” section in your personal account. Registration of participants through the “Application Log” section will not be carried out.)
• By e-mail [email protected].
• in the Central EGS Service (N. Rubtsova St., 12 building 1, office between 5 and 6 front doors).