How to avoid methods of deception used in housing and communal services. How housing and communal services are deceiving us

Payments for housing and communal services are growing by leaps and bounds, and the quality of services provided leaves much to be desired. Dirt and falling plaster in the entrance and cold in the apartment clearly indicate the ineffective work of the management company. But utility workers have many tricks in their arsenal that allow them to quietly embezzle money from apartment owners.

"AiF-Chelyabinsk" continues the series of publications "" by specialists in various fields of activity. This time, locksmiths, electricians and heads of management companies, as well as lawyers who protect the rights of residents, spoke about tricks in receipts for utility bills, on condition of anonymity.

Should do it for free

In the receipts, no, no, and yes, columns for non-existent services slip through. Owners of apartments in new buildings often have to pay for an elevator that has not yet been launched, and residents of old high-rise buildings have to pay for a garbage chute in the entrance, which was closed long ago to prevent rats and cockroaches from breeding.

“Such incidents happen everywhere. So, in Miass, the management company recently tried to oblige residents to pay for the replacement of a worn-out electrical panel, as well as disconnecting and connecting electricity during the work through additional contributions, says electrician Alexey Kotov. - This contradicts the provisions of regulatory legal acts, since electrical equipment intended to serve several apartments is classified as part of the common household property, and replacement of switchboards is included in the list of routine repairs. To restore their rights, the residents had to contact the prosecutor’s office.”

Replacement of leaking cold and hot water supply risers, as well as emergency heating radiators, is also carried out from the article “Maintenance and routine repairs”. According to plumbers, residents should not be charged money for calling a technician to inspect a problem in an apartment or for turning off the water riser during repairs.

“Many housing offices issue a certificate of family composition only for money. This is illegal, there is a lot of judicial practice on this issue. A certificate of family composition contains the citizen’s personal data, and they should be provided free of charge,” explains lawyer Melik Melikyan.

Extra columns

“One of the most common violations of current housing legislation is the illegal collection of fees for so-called “additional services,” says lawyer Konstantin Bushuev. - This is how management companies collect fees for servicing the smoke removal system and fire extinguishing equipment. Although in fact, the payment for this work is already included in the payment for the maintenance and repair of the common property of the apartment building.”

As the director of one of the management companies in Kopeisk said, their competitors until recently collected double fees for housing and communal services. Unscrupulous public utilities charged payments for the removal of solid household waste, cleaning of local areas, maintenance of elevator equipment and cleaning of common areas. At the same time, the column “for the maintenance and current repairs of common property” already included the listed payments.

The minimum list of services that a management company must provide, according to lawyers, is indicated in Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 290. If a service is not on this list, then it can be considered additional.

Inflated tariffs

Residents are already accustomed to regular tariff increases, and are no longer so vigilant about checking bills on receipts. And utility companies take advantage of this.

“One of the management companies of Chelyabinsk, servicing about 300 houses in the Traktorozavodsky district, annually independently indexed residents’ fees for maintenance and repairs, referring to the condition in the contract,” notes Melikyan. - If the owners themselves approved the fee for maintenance and repairs at the general meeting of the house (instead of paying according to the tariff approved by the municipality), then it can only be changed by decision of the general meeting. Automatic indexing is not allowed."

A similar violation was discovered in the Sosnovsky district last year. Instead of the tariff approved by the local administration, the management company billed the owners for the maintenance and repair of the house at its own rates. At the same time, residents at the general meeting did not make a decision to set fees at an increased rate.

Housing office employees admitted that sometimes utility organizations “by mistake” can apply an increased coefficient to the tariff or charge late fees in a larger amount than prescribed by law.

Forged documents

According to Bushuev, in order to increase the tariff for housing utilities, utility companies often even resort to falsifying the results of the general meeting of owners of premises in apartment buildings. In some cases, meetings are held with violations, in others, a false protocol is simply prepared.

In order not to overpay, residents must carefully monitor the work of public utilities: first, agree on a plan for upcoming work, then accept it and sign a certificate of completion, and then check it against the annual report.

“Utility workers like to write off considerable amounts of money for routine rounds - inspections of the roof or pipes in the house. In fact, they may not even be produced, but recorded on paper more often than once a month. Remember that without an act signed by the chairman of the council of an apartment building, even the janitor’s work is considered unfulfilled,” notes Anatoly Vershinin, head of the Center for Public Control on Housing and Communal Services in the Chelyabinsk Region. - Huge sums can also be spent on calling an emergency service affiliated with the management company. They charge from 3 to 10 thousand rubles for a call. In this case, workers only temporarily eliminate the leak, but do not repair the pipeline. So the breakthrough soon happens again.”

There are often cases when management companies, having lost their license, continue to send receipts. Or the owners receive payments from two management companies at once. Who actually needs to be paid should be found out at the State Housing Inspectorate.

Who's warmed up?

Fraudulent schemes are often discovered when checking accruals on public meters. According to plumber Denis Valyaev, even if the house is equipped with a collective heat energy meter, the size of the heating fee is determined based on the consumption standard for the population. At the same time, utility companies must adjust payments once a year with the actual readings of the meter. Not everyone does such a recalculation, creating all sorts of obstacles for residents to access the basement and verify readings.

“Many houses have meters installed that, without division, take into account thermal energy for heating and for heating hot water. However, mathematically it is possible to calculate this separately, but management companies do not bother and calculate everything according to the standard. At the same time, they make payments to the resource supplying organization based on the readings of the metering device. More than half of the amount from residents’ payments goes into the pockets of public utilities,” says lawyer Melik Melikyan.

Utility workers from Magnitogorsk admitted that their colleagues from two management companies from October 2015 to December 2016 only partially paid the resource supply organization for the hot water supply and heating services provided, although residents paid the receipts in full. The damage, according to the prosecutor's office, amounted to more than 25 million rubles.

Feeder for business

Management companies can secretly make a profit using the common property of the house. The most common case is the rental of basements, attics and walls of a high-rise building for commercial companies and advertising without the consent of residents. So, in Asha, the basement of a high-rise building was used for a sauna last year. As the prosecutor's office later found out, the premises were illegally used by city administration employees.

Homeowners also suffer from entrepreneurs due to the fact that the management company installs a common house meter not in the house, but at the transformer substation. Residents have to pay for electricity consumed by kiosks and shops in the courtyard of the house. And utility companies often receive kickbacks from such a scheme. In Kopeisk, the management company did not accrue payments for maintenance and repairs to the owner of non-residential premises for two years. Utilities wrote off the expenses of a supermarket with an area of ​​1,295 square meters. meters from residents. The amount of the overpayment turned out to be over 760 thousand rubles.

Utility payments are fertile ground for the enrichment of companies responsible for maintaining the house and providing residents with heating, water supply, etc. Some utility companies drop receipts for various services into residents’ mailboxes almost every month. Resident of New Moscow Lyudmila Vasilyeva(name changed) told AiF.ru that the management company responsible for her building with enviable regularity billed apartment owners for non-existent services and tried to collect double fees for the same work. As a result, the residents had to get rid of the dishonest utility workers, and the activist Lyudmila was elected chairman of the house and closely monitor the new management company.

AiF.ru, together with lawyers, figured out how to understand whether the management company is trying to enrich itself at your expense.

The receipt is not rubber

The most controversial line in the bills is “maintenance and repair”. It is most often used by management companies who want to make money from unsuspecting residents.

“The maintenance of common property must be carried out in accordance with the minimum list of services and works approved by the relevant decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. These services include maintenance of general building communications, routine repairs of entrances, roofing and other elements of the building, cleaning of entrances and garbage chutes, maintenance of elevators, ensuring fire safety, etc.,” says Maxim Pletnev, partner at the law firm SMB Consult.

As Lyudmila Vasilyeva told AiF.ru, their old management company included services such as cleaning the entrance and garbage removal as a separate line in the payment bill, roughly speaking, receiving double payment from residents for these services. “There are more than a thousand apartments in our building. For separate garbage collection, utility workers billed 50 rubles. Not such a large amount to ask for time off from work and go to the showdown, but on the scale of the whole house it turned out that every month the management company received more than 50 thousand rubles out of thin air,” the activist shares.

According to Managing Partner of the Bar Association “Starinsky, Korchago and Partners” Vladimir Starinsky, management companies often impose services on residents to install video surveillance, alarm, and security systems. “But such objects are not common property, and therefore cannot be included in the receipt if they are not specified in the management agreement for the apartment building,” he explains.

The decision to install security systems can only be made at a general meeting of owners - only after this will utilities be able to legally include this service in their payments, the expert emphasizes. If there was no meeting, and they are trying to take money from you for security, keep in mind that the management company is acting illegally.

Tariffs are getting higher every month

It also happens that utility tariffs increase indecently often - the state indexes them no more than twice a year. If heating or water supply prices increase more often, an unscrupulous management company is behind it. As he says lawyer Ilya Shakhmeister, at its own discretion, the management company cannot index tariffs. “She can make a proposal to residents of a particular house, for example, to dismantle or install antennas on the roof. But any such actions must be agreed upon with the residents. If additional lines or increased tariffs are found on the payment slip, residents should challenge this and the management company should prohibit such methods of work,” he advises.

Where to complain about utilities

If you find additional items and unreasonably high tariffs in your payment bill, you must contact the management company and ask it to justify such expenses, advises Starinsky. Ideally, there will be several applicants.

“Depending on the answer, you will be able to decide whether there is merit in appealing the additional costs. If duplicate services appear in your payments, you have the right to request a recalculation. It would also be useful to send complaints against the Criminal Code to Rospotrebnadzor, Zhilinspetsky and the prosecutor’s office,” the lawyer sums up.

It's no secret that utility tariffs are constantly increasing. Over the past few years, their growth percentage has been 25%.

Dear readers! The article talks about typical ways to resolve legal issues, but each case is individual. If you want to know how solve exactly your problem- contact a consultant:

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Can management companies “cash in” on Russian citizens? Is there a practice of double payments, about which there are more and more rumors? How does management company fraud manifest itself? All these issues will be discussed in the article.

Responsibilities of housing and communal services

These include:

• carrying out maintenance and repair work (inspecting and preserving the property of the house, cleaning entrances, providing everything necessary to comply with safety rules, etc.);
• provision of organizational services (fighting debts, organizing general meetings, owners about changes, etc.).

Violations

The most common violations by housing companies include:

• improper conduct of meetings;
• violation of payment rules;
• failure to comply with measures established by current legislation.

Each of these violations must be considered separately.

Holding meetings

The following violations are permitted during meetings:

1. The initiator is the executive of the management company. In accordance with, holding an extraordinary meeting is possible only on the initiative of one of the owners of the residential space. Moreover, the procedure (appointment, determination of date and time) must occur with the consent of the owners.
2. The rules used to determine the total area of ​​the building and individual premises are violated. Often, the total footage of the premises in the house is reduced, since some of the areas, for example, non-residential premises, are not included in it. This approach to counting is called “artificial.” It is used to increase the percentage of residents participating in the general meeting, therefore, the number of those who voted for a certain decision increases.
3. Issues that are not within the competence of the management company are brought up for consideration (for example, approval of service consumption parameters, redistribution of payment for them). In accordance with the utility type, no savings are provided for them, since the fee is calculated in accordance with a certain formula (it excludes profit or loss).

Calculation of payments

Violations are also found in the area of ​​apartment owners in an apartment building for the provision of services.

The form of transfer of payments for the maintenance and repair of living space is violated.

There are several options for violations of this nature:

• the owners do not have a decision on the amount of payment for the maintenance of living space; if self-government bodies independently apply tariffs approved without the consent of the owners, then this is legal only in some cases, and in no way can it apply to city residents;
• The structure of payment for maintenance and repair work of residential space has not been developed.

The procedure for transferring payment for major repairs may be violated.

The following types of violations are provided:

1. there is no list of works for major repairs indicating the cost of each of them, as well as the deadlines for implementation;
2. payment for utility services contradicts and violates the rules adopted at a previously held general meeting, for example, it was decided to take part in a program of federal significance (regulated by Federal Law No. 158), therefore, it is necessary for the owners to pay 5% of the fee, but the payment is calculated continues even after the owners have already contributed their share, which is a contradiction.

There may be a violation of the form of transfer of payment for the provision of utility services during periodic recalculations. Payment occurs according to established formulas, but recalculations occur once a year.

Management companies, even together with a meeting of apartment owners, cannot redistribute funds received from payment for services.

Failure to comply with laws

In addition to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and the Rules for the provision of services, other legislative acts are provided that are mandatory for execution.

These include:

1. Technical rules operation of the housing stock - the provision of this document is mandatory for apartment owners and management companies.
2. who carry out work in the field of management of multi-apartment buildings.

Often these legislative acts are violated, which homeowners do not think about.

Management company fraud

Many people suspect that management companies use fraudulent schemes in their activities.

There are so many of them that it is almost impossible to list them all. However, this article will cover a few of the most widely used options to help prevent their further spread.

Frequently encountered schemes

Main cases of fraud:

1. When carrying out repairs, materials of inadequate quality are used. To create the appearance of servicing houses, employees of organizations choose the most accessible methods. The fact of fraud can be detected at the first breakdown. The way to prevent payment for these “false services” is to ask for an invoice.
2. The management company hires people who don’t actually exist. For example, the director and accountant of a company register non-existent people as janitors. They receive money for their work, but in reality it goes towards issuing bonuses to the director and accountant.
3. “False” bankruptcy is based on the fact that companies begin to deliberately accumulate debt. All funds paid by citizens are “wasted” on companies that can close at any time. Along with this, documentation is being prepared, on the basis of which money is transferred for construction activities, overcoming problems, etc. Service providers in such a situation write off the debt, but cut off communications (for example, electricity).
4. The struggle of the Criminal Code with each other. Companies are willing to do a lot to ensure that some of the houses are in their possession, since this directly affects profits.

How to fight?

To prevent fraud by housing and communal services management companies from continuing, this must be combated.

The method of struggle is determined by the nature of the problem. Let's say the tenant is not satisfied with the amount indicated on the receipt, since it is not clear why it was charged.

In such a situation, you need to contact an accountant who will explain:

• what was this money taken for?
• under the influence of what factors the price is formed;
• what formulas are used for this?

As for solving a common problem - paying for repairs, entrance, etc., you need to contact the director or accountant of the management company to receive a report on how much is needed for payment and what work will be carried out.

Most companies actually refuse to provide this information because it is a lot of paperwork, but it is one of their responsibilities.

Where to contact if violations are detected?

If the management company has violated its obligations, it is necessary to contact the housing inspectorate or

Review of judicial practice site on the topic of the most common violations of the rights of owners of premises in apartment buildings, which are committed by management organizations, as well as ways to restore violated rights.

Non-transfer of funds paid by owners for the maintenance and repair of common property, income from the rental of common property and other funds saved during the work of the management company

In cases where the owners of premises in an apartment building suspect the management company of misappropriating money that is paid in the form of mandatory payments for maintenance, current and major repairs, as well as misappropriating income from the transfer of common property for use, they can contact the management company with a request to submit a report about the state of personal accounts and at the general meeting make a decision to change the management company and to claim the funds from the savings for the house by the new management company.

If the application of the new management company to make a full settlement with the owners for the balance of paid but not spent funds on the personal accounts of apartment buildings is not satisfied by the previous management company voluntarily, the new management company will file a claim against it on the basis of Art. 1102, 1105, 1107 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with a requirement to recover amounts of unjust enrichment, as well as interest for the use of other people's funds.

In relation to contributions for capital repairs, the courts recognize that they are an advance payment for a future obligation to carry out capital repairs. Those savings that were not spent for their intended purpose must be transferred to the old one when a new management company is elected. The management company to which such a requirement is made must provide evidence of the amount of work performed on current and major repairs (see the Decision of the Arbitration Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory dated June 26, 2017 in case No. A 33-8818/2017).

Use of the common property of the owners without their approval, that is, without a decision adopted at the general meeting (Articles 44, 46 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation)

Often management companies rent out adjacent areas and attic spaces without the knowledge of the owners. In these cases, the owners of premises in apartment buildings, by virtue of the provisions of Art. Art. 304, 305 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation have the right to demand the elimination of any violations of their rights, even if these violations were not associated with deprivation of possession, and also have the right to protect their possession.

Thus, in violation of clause 3, part 2, article 44 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the HOA of one of the houses allowed Megafon OJSC to use the common property of the house to place communication equipment in the absence of a decision of the general meeting of owners on determining the procedure for the use of the common property of the owners of premises in an apartment building by others persons. In court, the HOA was asked to dismantle the equipment or resolve the issue of its placement at a general meeting with the drawing up of minutes (Decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 02/03/2017 N 304-KG 16-20755 in case N A 81-4177/2015).

In another case, the management company leased the adjacent territory for a closed parking lot, with which one of the citizens living in the house did not agree. Deciding that this violated his right to unhindered access to common property, he went to court.

The court of first instance refused to satisfy his request to provide the opportunity to park his vehicle at any time of the day in any free space on the local territory, citing the fact that there was a decision of the general meeting of owners on the procedure for using the local territory, which was not disputed, and accordingly, the plaintiff did not violation of rights has been proven. When considering the appeal, the higher court overturned the decision, indicating that the non-invalidation of the decision of the general meeting of owners is not an unconditional basis for its application.

If there is insufficient common property in the use of which all owners of the premises (or a significant part of them) are interested, by decision of the general meeting it is necessary to resolve the issue of the procedure for using such property so that all owners have an equal opportunity to use it, and also to determine a mechanism that does not allow obtaining any advantages of some owners over others (Appeal ruling of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court dated 02/07/2018 in case No. 33-1884/2018).

Overestimation of the amount of ODN fees due to the use of standards, rather than readings from a common house meter

If the owners have discovered that payments for utility services are calculated according to standards, and not according to the testimony of the ODPU, they should file a complaint about the violation of consumer rights in terms of overstating the amount of payment for utility services to Rospotrebnadzor and indicate in it a request for an unscheduled inspection of payment documents. If, as a result of the inspection, a violation of citizens’ rights is established, Rospotrebnadzor will issue an order to recalculate utility fees. If the management company is not satisfied with it, the department files a claim to declare illegal the actions of the management company in calculating fees for utility services in relation to an unspecified number of persons (see Decision of the Ramensky City Court dated January 17, 2017 in case No. 2-484/2017).

Overestimation of the amount of payment for communal services for general house needs when calculated according to the readings of a common house metering device in the case when this amount is greater than the calculation according to the standards (violation of clause 44 of Resolution No. 354)

The owner, having checked the calculations, discovered that the charge for electricity provided for general house needs exceeds the calculation according to the standards. At the same time, according to paragraph 44 of Resolution No. 354, the volume of utility services distributed among consumers provided at a single service point in a house equipped with a collective metering device cannot exceed the volume of utility services calculated on the basis of consumption standards at the single service point. Otherwise, it is permitted if the general meeting of owners makes a decision on the distribution of the excess between all residential and non-residential premises. If such a decision was not made, the courts recognize that the service provider has overestimated the amount of payment and oblige the service provider to recalculate (see Decision of the Engels District Court of June 2, 2015 in case No. 2-2115/2015).

Overestimation of costs for repairs of common property, inclusion of false information in estimates

At the request of the plaintiff, to solve the problem with the non-heating battery of the Criminal Code, the common riser was replaced. After the repair work was carried out, the plaintiff contacted the Criminal Code with a question about providing information on the work performed and the costs of this work. It turned out that according to the estimate, funds were spent on purchasing 25 meters of pipe, but the riser was replaced only on three floors, which does not require so many meters of pipe.

As a result of her appeal to the management company, a report was drawn up and a shortage of pipes and other parts was established, and a recalculation was promised, which was not done. The plaintiff contacted the police, but no criminal case was initiated due to the absence of a crime.

To protect her rights, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit asking the court to declare illegal the actions of the management company to include these expenses in the costs of current repairs. The court, having established the fact of inflated costs, satisfied the claim, and also recovered moral damages and a fine in favor of the plaintiff (Decision of the Engels District Court dated February 1, 2016 in case No. 2-163/2016).

Issuing a separate invoice for what is already included in the fee for maintaining common property

The management company billed the plaintiff amounts for repair work. Based on the plaintiff’s complaint to the State Housing Inspectorate, it was established that the calculation of this fee was made in violation of the provisions of Art. 154, 158 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, an order was issued, which the Criminal Code did not comply with and did not challenge in court. At the same time, the Criminal Code tried to recover these amounts from the citizen in court, justifying its demands by the fact that the house required repairs and significant financial investments for these purposes.

Satisfying the demands to recognize the actions of the management company as illegal, the court indicated that all current, urgent, mandatory seasonal work and services are considered provided for in the contract (management), and there are no grounds for charging payment for them in excess of the established tariff, since the management company has the right to demand it only when the presence of circumstances that she could not reasonably foresee and prevent with the usual degree of care and prudence and for the occurrence of which she is not responsible (Appeal ruling of the Vologda Regional Court No. 33-213/2015 33-6191/2014 of January 14, 2015).

Inflating utility bills by taking into account those citizens who do not actually live in the residential premises

In the absence of citizens permanently or temporarily residing in the residential premises, the volume of utilities is calculated taking into account the number of owners of such premises. The consumer is obliged to inform the service provider (management organization) about an increase or decrease in the number of citizens living (including temporarily) in the residential premises he occupies, no later than 5 working days from the date of the changes, if the residential premises are not equipped with individual or shared ( apartment) metering device and has the right to demand the drawing up of an act on the number of residents, recalculation of fees if changes in the number of residents are not taken into account (clause 33 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 N 354).

Thus, the management company charged fees for communal services based on the number of residents living in the apartment, registered permanently and temporarily, in the amount of 5 people, according to the formula for calculating payment, based on the established tariff and the standard area per person living in the apartment. Moreover, one of these persons did not live in the apartment, he was only temporarily registered, of which the Criminal Code was notified with a request to recalculate. The Criminal Code refused, which resulted in filing a lawsuit.

The court upheld the claim because the defendant did not check the information that the citizen temporarily registered in the plaintiff’s apartment did not live and did not provide evidence of his residence. The defendant’s argument that the temporary registration of a citizen in an apartment is in itself the basis for charging payment for housing and communal services, the court rejected and ordered the Criminal Code to recalculate and return the illegally accrued payment.

About the lawlessness of management companies and how to resist it.

You may not have water, heat, electricity, the repairs planned for the summer will only be done in 50 years, but the receipt for payment will always arrive on time. In addition, it seems that the amounts payable in letters of happiness from the management company are entered by a random number generator. Residents of the Avtozavodsky district of Nizhny Novgorod had the same impression. Having received receipts just in time for the May holidays, Nizhny Novgorod residents learned that the payment for heat had increased 8-10 times overnight. There was no information about the increase in tariffs, so residents, in order to call those in charge for a conversation, staged a rally on May 3 near the building of the Volgaenergosbyt company and blocked traffic on Ilyich Avenue. The media write that there were about 300 activists, so the headlines compared them to the Spartans.

The head of the district, Alexander Nagin, came out to the indignant citizens. You can see a recording of the government’s communication with the people above. The point is that the administration did not keep track, the numbers are not justified, and pensioners are ready to take up the machines, because with a pension of 8,000 and a heating fee of 12,000 rubles, they have nothing to lose. The Nizhny Novgorod news agency reports that Volgaenergosbyt refers to the annual payment adjustment and mockingly reminded that those who do not have the opportunity to pay the entire amount at once can take interest-free installments for 12 months. The mayor of Nizhny Novgorod did not ignore the situation and allowed Nizhny Novgorod residents not to pay the receipts until the circumstances were clarified. It is curious that the mayor said the following: “Such amounts indicate that the apartments at the Avtozavod were unexpectedly very warm and practically ideal climatic conditions were created there. Which, of course, is unlikely.” That is, you shouldn’t expect “ideal climatic conditions” in Nizhny Novgorod apartments, especially for the “small” money that residents usually pay for heat.
Where did this recalculation come from? "Nizhny Novgorod on-line" reports that the service life of meters that count heat has expired. The management company had no time to change meters, so the thermal power plant stopped taking readings and began calculating heat consumption according to standards even in the summer, when heat was distributed free of charge by the sun. Supervisory authorities began an inspection, the mayor said that by May 7-8 the situation would become clearer.

It is not for nothing that the abbreviation Criminal Code is suitable for both the management company and the criminal code - all the time these utility companies are trying to deceive everyone. Maintenance of an apartment building is a very profitable business. Sometimes residents try to get rid of the yoke of greedy and useless management companies, but communal monsters are in no hurry to leave their “feeding troughs”.
The house on Moskovskaya Street, 23 in the city of Dmitrov is serviced by the Sfera-M company. Life reports that the communal apartment reaches 17,000 per month, but even for that kind of money the management company cannot provide residents with “ideal climatic conditions.” Like any “decent” management company, “Sfera-M” adds extra numbers to receipts, sometimes turns off the heating, assigns extra square meters, etc. A resident of the house on Moskovskaya told Life that in winter the temperature in the apartments sometimes dropped to 17 degrees. Engineers found out that the sponsor of the frost was Sphere-M, or rather its incompetent staff. This mistake could have cost the management company the house, but by some miracle the inspection report was not signed and Sfera-M continued to bully the residents of Dmitrov.

If your management company also freezes you and still takes money for it, know that you can change the company. Residents of the house on Moskovskaya Street created an initiative group and collected signatures for the abolition. They even created a group on VKontakte where they post information about the fight against the Criminal Code. “Many of us have questions about the house, construction, and especially many complaints about the management company Sfera-M, which services our house,” the group wrote. By decision of the residents, the management company was changed, but Sfera-M did not find the technical documentation for the house and could not transfer it to the new company, and then the residents found out that another meeting had been held without them, which decided that the prodigal homeowners should return to the Sphere fold. In short, residents have the right to change the management company, but they do not have the opportunity. For those who want to take a closer look at the confrontation between Dmitrov residents and Sphere, here link to the public on VK.

It is curious that on the website of the ill-fated “Sphere” it is written: “You entrusted us with your houses, and we will try to justify your trust.” Even in the slogan they did not dare to write “we will justify”, but only “we will try.” The company tried, but it didn’t work, the residents also tried, but they didn’t succeed either. "Sphere-M" has unique invulnerability. But in the same Dmitrov, residents still managed to defeat the housing and communal services hydra. Public "It's Dmitrov, baby!" reports that the management company from the village of Iksha returned almost a million rubles to the residents. The State Housing Inspectorate revealed that the Criminal Code calculated the payment for heating and water according to the wrong formula, the area of ​​loggias and balconies was attributed to the living space, and so an extra million came in. It is strange that the court decision was not lost, that all the signatures were in place and the money was eventually returned.
Here is another case of a successful fight with the management company. The Volzhsk management company "Complex" was recently fined 250,000 rubles for the fact that the entrances were dirty. According to the papers, there were daily cleanings, but in reality there were no.

The management company is a greedy and stupid intermediary between the manufacturer and the consumer. That is, residents pay money, but the company providing water or heat does not receive this money.
The website Svoykirovsky.rf reported today that the chief accountant of the management company Housing and Communal Services - Remstroyservis embezzled 330,000 rubles. When the prosecutor's office checked the management company, it turned out that the company had a debt to the resource supply organization (RO). From September 2015 to December 2016, rubles from residents who “entrusted her with their homes” slowly settled in the chief accountant’s pockets. The court found the lady guilty and ordered her to compensate Remstroyservis for damages and pay a fine of 200,000 rubles.
In Tyumen, the management company Ozernoye deceived residents of 9 million rubles, unreasonably inflating fees for current repairs, garbage removal, maintenance of elevator facilities, etc. And another 10 million received from home owners, the management of the management company simply did not transfer to the energy company and spent it for his own needs. The director of the company is now under house arrest.

Management companies have a lot of debts to resource supply organizations. Even Medvedev called the situation “flagrant.” At the end of March, the State Duma adopted a law according to which residents can not only change the management company, but also get rid of it altogether and pay money directly to the RO. Tariffs will remain the same, and to switch to direct payment, a vote must be held at a general meeting of residents. If more than half of the homeowners vote in favor, then within a month the house will switch to direct payments to housing and communal services. By the way, we already pay for gas and electricity without the participation of the management company. Experts say that the transition to direct payment will leave about 30% of management companies unemployed.
So, be vigilant, dear owners, check your receipts, don’t pay for non-existent meters, don’t let management companies rob you.

In conclusion, the annual sad news. From July 1, tariffs for housing and communal services will traditionally increase. Here are the figures for the Moscow region:
- electricity supply (for the population) – 5.0%;
- water supply – 3.8%;
- water disposal – 3.8%;
- thermal energy – 3.6%;
- gas supply (for the population) – 3.4%.
Izvestia reports that the average increase in tariffs for housing and communal services last year increased by 3.3% compared to 2016, which is 0.8% more than inflation. Growth is also likely to outpace inflation this year. Tariffs increased the most in the Northwestern and Southern federal districts. There, the amounts in receipts increased by 13%. The largest average payment was recorded in Moscow and the Moscow region - 5,671 rubles.