Disputes with managing companies and utilities

What is happening

New lines have appeared on the bill, the maintenance charge has gone up, and the communal utilities figure does not look plausible. The owner writes to the managing company and gets a brush-off citing a "residents' meeting decision" that no neighbour has ever seen.

The owner of a commercial unit in a block of flats, such as a shop, office or café, receives a demand from the managing company to pay several years of arrears at once, including periods for which the limitation period has expired. No calculation is attached, but court action is threatened.

The roof leaks, the stairwell is not cleaned, the lift is out for weeks, and the managing company pleads lack of funds. Residents are ready to replace the managing organisation and want to do it in a way that makes the meeting's decision hard to challenge.

What the law says

• A managing organisation's rights and duties are set by the Housing Code and the building management agreement, while the maintenance charge is set by the general meeting of owners.
• Where a service is of inadequate quality or not provided at all, the Housing Code and the Government's rules on utility services provide for the charge to be reduced. The basis for recalculation is a record of the quality breach, so the breach must be recorded at once.
• An individual owner's relationship with the managing company is governed by Law of the Russian Federation No. 2300-1 of 7 February 1992 "On Consumer Rights Protection", which provides for compensation for non-pecuniary damage and a penalty if the company fails to meet a lawful demand voluntarily.
• Managing organisations are supervised by the state housing inspectorate, whose inspections are conducted under Federal Law No. 248-FZ of 31 July 2020 "On State Control (Supervision) and Municipal Control in the Russian Federation". A complaint to the inspectorate is a quick way to put a breach on official record.
• Claims for charges are subject to the three-year limitation period under the Civil Code. The court applies limitation only if a party raises it, so you have to raise it yourself.
• A decision of the general meeting of owners can be challenged in court within six months of the day the owner learned or should have learned of it.

What we do

• We go through the bills, the management agreement and meeting minutes, checking charges against tariffs, standard consumption rates and meter readings.
• We send the managing company requests for disclosure and claims demanding recalculation.
• We prepare complaints to the housing inspectorate and other supervisory bodies.
• We contest debt claims: checking the calculation, pleading limitation and having court orders set aside.
• We bring claims for recalculation, damages, compensation for non-pecuniary damage and the consumer penalty.
• We support a change of managing organisation: preparing and holding the general meeting, drawing up the minutes and the handover of the building.

What we will need from you

• Bills for the disputed period and proof of payment.
• The management agreement and minutes of general meetings, if you have them.
• Correspondence with the managing company, dispatcher request numbers and inspection records.
• Dated photographs and video of the problems.
• If a debt is claimed: the demand letter, the court order or the company's statement of claim.