The interests of apartment building residents are represented by management companies or homeowners associations. Practice shows that far from always their obligations are fully implemented. Owners of apartments need to clearly understand what is part of the responsibilities of structures that have replaced the usual housing offices, and where to complain about the management company in a particular case.
What is the management company responsible for?
First of all, she is responsible for the proper maintenance of the house, or rather, everything that is outside the apartment: the entrance, walls, roof, house territory, basement. The jurisdiction of the Criminal Code includes the state of all communications - water supply, gas and electricity. The situation inside the apartments is more complicated: general communications - sewerage, centralized supply of water and heat - must be included in the services, other in-house wiring is a problem for residents. It is often difficult to understand the intricacies of what goes where, which is used by unscrupulous service providers. In addition to communal issues, the management company or the HOA also resolves the legal ones: illegal connection and energy consumption, illegal use of the territory in the courtyard and at the entrances, advertising on the walls of the house without permission and so on. If the residents do not feel the participation of responsible employees in protecting their rights, they have every reason at the general meeting to raise the question of who to complain about the management company.
The main supervisory authority is the state housing inspectorates under local authorities and the ministries of housing and communal services. So when the question arises about where to complain about the management company, this is the first address. The complaint must be made at the general meeting and signed by the tenants of the house. However, one person can appeal to the inspection with a complaint about unlawful actions of the service company, in any case, the fact of violation must be checked by the commission. When confirming violations of the Criminal Code or HOA, sanctions can be applied, up to the deprivation of all powers. For example, if tenants did not wait for help and resolved the problem on their own - replaced the pipe, repaired the roof, entrance door and so on - they can count on a full recalculation when paying rent and utilities. This is provided that all receipts and invoices for the work performed are saved.
Where to complain about the housing office in case of excess payment for housing services
You can often hear that the numbers in the utility bills are changing in a mysterious way, including a number of unproven services. Many just sigh and pay receipts without talking. Others try to figure out what exactly they are overpaying for, and begin to look for where to complain about the management company for illegal tariff increases. In this case, the prosecutor’s office will deal with the actions of officials from the housing and communal services. There is already a question of non-compliance with the law. Depending on the category of violation - it refers to the sphere of observance of consumer rights, violation of fire safety rules, water and energy conservation, and so on - there are a number of other structures where to complain about the management company. This may be the police, the Ministry of Emergencies, Rospotrebnadzor, Gorvodokanal, Teploenergo and so on. And the first address, as already mentioned, is the housing inspection.