“Pure theft”: Russians are being deceived in housing and communal services payments

The arbitrariness of management companies is a nightmare for perhaps every second homeowner. In the Moscow region, complaints have sharply increased that in payment bills for housing and communal services, management companies have begun to use the same trick: they duplicate one service in payment bills, calling it with different words. For example, garbage removal can also be encrypted in the waste disposal column; planned repairs can also be hidden under the phrase “routine repairs.”

“Sometimes a payment document is a separate hymn to the ingenuity of utility workers, and it needs to be deciphered like a Chinese letter,” says lawyer Alla Alferova. The common man will not always understand the trick. And if you already have suspicions, go to an experienced lawyer who will help you figure out whether they are “fooling our brother” or not.

MK learned from experts why this happens and when you need to keep an eye out.

One of the popular ways of deception on the part of the management company is to increase the rate for repairs and maintenance of housing. There can be a lot of arguments: an annual planned increase in utility tariffs, rising inflation (which, by the way, has no connection with the housing maintenance rate), a decision of the general meeting of owners (in fact, here you need to look for a falsified protocol of the general meeting of owners), an increase in “municipal tariff” for housing maintenance, the emergence of new types of services out of the blue, and so on. It’s just all bullshit. According to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of payment for the maintenance of residential premises in an apartment building is determined by the owners at a general meeting, taking into account the proposals of the management organization.

Only owners of premises in apartment buildings have the right to approve the amount of payment for the maintenance of residential premises. You should just know it as the Lord’s Prayer. What else are wrong with management companies? Most management companies use the services of so-called cash settlement centers. What kind of organizations are these, why were they created and what is the meaning of their existence?

Everything is very simple. Often these same RCCs are pocket, that is, they belong to the same persons as the management company. An agency agreement is concluded between the management company and the RCC, according to which the RCC prints and sends payment documents to the owners, maintains personal accounts of the owners, receives payments from them for housing and communal services and accumulates this money in its current accounts. Further, if necessary, the management company sends a letter of instruction to the RCC to transfer this same money to the final recipients (resource supply organizations, contractors, etc.), and the RCC receives a commission from the management company for its services.

What’s the catch here? Firstly, all financial transactions become opaque. Secondly, if the management company develops a debt, then it becomes almost impossible to get money from it, since there is no money in the management company’s accounts, all the money is in the RCC, which is not the debtor, and it is impossible to seize these funds. So it turns out that, having a debt, the management company continues to freely manage money without experiencing any difficulties.

“Go to the website of the arbitration court and check whether your management company has debts for utilities (electricity, water, heat), says lawyer Maxim Denisov. – Open the solution and read. If the decision states that, for example, your management company accrued 500,000 rubles for September and nothing was paid, but you paid for housing and communal services, then this is pure theft.

How did the management company succeed in this fraud? According to the law, the management company, when collecting funds for utility resources, must transfer them in full to resource supply organizations no later than the next day after receipt of the money. The management company can only keep the payment for the maintenance and repair of housing. Accordingly, if the management company has a debt for utility resources, and the population pays, this is a sign of theft.

“The Internet is full of resources where you can look up information about almost any organization, and the Federal Tax Service website can help, of course,” Maxim Denisov shares his life hack. — Go in and check how often the management company changes its director. If the director of the management company changes with strange frequency, then most likely this means that your management company is trying to dilute its responsibility. This gives reason to be wary. In addition, pay attention to the owners of the management company, what kind of individuals they are. What are the reviews about them on social networks?

How to deal with theft of management companies?

1. You, as property owners, can refuse the services of any management company at any time. Remember, the indifference of residents on this matter gives the management company carte blanche for any lawlessness.

2. Create a partnership of real estate owners, elect a trusted person from among the residents of the house as chairman, elect decent citizens to the board of TSN from among the residents to monitor the activities of the chairman.

3. Switch to direct contracts with resource supply organizations – you will pay them without intermediaries and eliminate theft from this money.

4. Entrust the management of a special account for major repairs to your TSN, as this will allow you to carry out major repairs in the house faster and more efficiently. And decisions about major repairs will be made by residents.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29127 dated October 3, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Tenant pays twice