A complaint about housing and communal services is the only way to get the management company and other utilities to fulfill their duties. How and where to write and what to base your claims on?
Communication system with utilities
The provision of utilities is subject to numerous regulations, in particular regarding the protection of consumer rights. The legislation provides for the right to send to companies:
- claims;
- complaints
- statements, appeals.
Claims contain indications of violations committed by the communal service, which are reported to the organization itself. A utility complaint is a statement about the actions or omissions of a service provider to a supervisory organization or prosecutor.
The third category is consumer offers on a particular issue. They have a different goal: to get some information. They are not related to conflict situations.
Communication with service providers and the management company should be recorded on paper. With an unscrupulous company, this is the only way to do business. A personās oral statement will not prove the fact of communication with the organizationās employees; everything looks different with the papers. There is reason to feel more confident.
When compiling acts, claims, it is not necessary to inform in advance about your next stage of actions. It will be more difficult to remove traces of inaction or mismanagement.
Where should i write
A complaint about housing and communal services is written to one of the supervisory authorities.
- housing supervision;
- the prosecutor's office;
- Rospotrebnadzor.
Energy security of facilities, in particular housing, is the subject of activity of Rostekhnadzor.
It is worth writing to the Ministry of Construction if there is any doubt about the legality of obtaining a license by the management company.
The control system consists of several stages. The actions of the subordinate must be complained to the boss, then to the next official. You canāt leave the problem at the same level, so no one will solve anything for sure.
Writing approaches
Abnormal living conditions make people nervous, they accumulate a significant amount of negative emotions. Applications must be handled in a timely manner. The complaint about the housing and communal services should be substantiated, otherwise it will not give any positive effect.
The document has no place for emotions and extra information that is not related to the subject of the letter. Moreover, you can not allow offensive language or refer to what was not.
Shooting on a camera and photographs are useful as evidence. Itās more efficient to apply to many residents at the same time, signing up for one application.
Preparatory Activities
A complaint is the final result of actions in the fight against a managing or resource supplying organization (energy companies, water utilities, etc.).
Regulations on the provision of services provide for the possibility of drawing up acts of claims regarding the quality and volume of services. Reading official documents is not an easy task, especially one full of technical nuances. But it is precisely on them that they rely in drawing up acts and claims. For example, the rules of water supply, electricity supply - a whole layer of documents that provide regulation of a vast market.
Successfully write a complaint to the housing and communal services means referring to the relevant official acts. If an inaccuracy or mistake is made, the application will not be taken into account by anyone, with the exception of the court, and then only with a certain probability.
Letters with attached documents, references to the legislation are accepted and considered more carefully.
Inspectors have the right to demand explanations, additional materials in order to conduct a full audit, but few do so. The reason is the timing and the non-decreasing volume of incoming materials that need to be processed. Consumers should carefully prepare their papers. If, however, a complaint about the housing and communal services (a sample of it) is taken and sent to the court without any evidence, the applicant will be refused.
The role of the prosecutor's office in the control system in the housing sector
In addition to representing the prosecution, state interests, and unprotected people in court, the prosecutorās task is to oversee the rule of law in the state. Some organizations and enterprises are checked regularly, while others - as complaints are received.
Papers are sent to the prosecutor's office after replies are received from other supervisory organizations. At the reception, they immediately warn that the paper will be accepted, but they will send it to the housing supervision or other organization, according to the competence, if there were no appeals to these instances earlier. The prosecutor does not replace other authorities.
A complaint to the prosecutorās office at the housing and communal services is directly examined by its employees if the applicant went around all the instances and attached copies of the answers.
What are the likely actions if the material is deemed reasonable?
Submissions are made indicating the violations that have been identified, and what, according to the author, is required to be taken to eliminate. A month is given for execution, the interested body or organization has the right to appeal the submission.
Bodies working on a collegial basis are obliged to inform about the day of the meeting, devoted to the instructions of the prosecutor.
If they write to the management company
The complaint to the management company, housing and communal services is made for a variety of reasons, their approximate list:
- inflated tariffs or the imposition of services not prescribed by law;
- problems with heat supply, water supply, power system at home;
- violation of the schedule of repairs;
- lack of regular cleaning on landings;
- garbage accumulates due to late collection;
- lack of normal lighting in common areas.
The management company is responsible for the common property, this applies to cleaning the premises belonging to all tenants, their responsibility is to maintain the normal operation of the house networks.
Punishment for non-performance of duties, according to the contract and the law, is serious fines. Ignoring appeals from tenants falls under such things.
The border between the common networks and the networks of the apartment - either at the location of electricity meters removed from the apartment, or at the location of the risers.
The confusion of responsibility is a reason to refuse a citizen a statement, although the law requires that the person responsible for the violation be brought to justice. Officials are not limited to complaints and citizens. They were given the authority to receive explanations, documents, materials for the purpose of making decisions on citizens' appeals.
The court as a last resort
Despite the fact that the injunction of the prosecutor is a binding document for all authorities and organizations, not all comply with them. It remains only to go to court. The prosecutor is entitled to file a complaint about housing and communal services with a court, representing an elderly or socially unprotected person.
Claims are put forward on the recalculation of debts, work, compensation for damage if the inaction of the company led to it. For example, a flood in the apartment due to a malfunction of shared networks. This is what citizens are filing with lawsuits.
Substantiated prosecutorial submissions are a good help for case materials. People ask: what is the point of going to court? His decision is the only act subject to enforcement. And ignoring it in the same way as acts of other authorities does not work.
Bailiffs will write off at the request of the citizen the necessary amount from the company's account. This can be done by submitting a writ of execution to the bank, where the respondent's company accounts are located. It is more difficult to commit to specific actions, but the system works.
Should I contact a lawyer
How is a complaint about housing and communal services written? Sample attached. Of course, with a simple question itās really easier not to contact a lawyer, but to do everything yourself.
In the same place where you need to process a large array of regulatory material, you will need the help of a specialist, preferably working with affairs in the housing sector. It is even difficult for an average person to compare the content of all acts, and there are many of them.
There is a small layer of people who are able to study the law and defend their rights. Mostly retirees and people working in related fields. For the rest of the citizens it is difficult to even write a complaint about the housing and communal services, the sample will not help here. All this takes time and effort, which people simply do not have.