One of the last topics that caused a wide public response was overhaul. To pay or not? Who will answer? What will happen to those who refused to pay? How soon will your house be repaired, and will it even be repaired? Where does our money go and who guarantees the transparency of payments? Let's try to figure it out.
What it is?
For a year now, Russians have been indignant in chorus about a line in utility bills. Now you have to pay for major repairs of the house, which, as it was not, is not there. When will it be, this overhaul? To pay or not? If the topics for conversation are running out, then this certainly remains. The trouble is that people do not know who will answer all the questions. Things go to extremes, because citizens go to court complaining that money is being collected illegally and without their consent. Indeed, there are a lot of complaints in every city. Their content is about the same: people say that receipts appeared without any warning, without official notification and agreement.
Do homes need major repairs? To pay or not? Maybe housing should be repaired from the city budget, and not at the expense of residents? Will this practice be the beginning of the end? Maybe they will start charging for air, as Prince Lemon threatened in the tale of Cipollino? Many houses in Russian cities are really in poor condition, but will major repairs help them? To pay or not? Is it easier to build a new house than to repair an old one?
Question answer
It turns out that there are definitely more questions than answers. It’s necessary to understand. So what are these contributions? In 2012, the authorities made adjustments to the Housing Code and thereby obliged homeowners to pay for major repairs of houses. The officials themselves decided in what form to raise funds, and federal law only established a general order. They began to charge monthly, and from the very beginning this receipt became problematic. At first it was impossible to pay via the Internet. Then it turned out that they charge a fee for the payment. For several months, payment acceptance points did not justify themselves, and in many cities people suddenly became debtors. This increasingly alarmed the homeowners, and they began to murmur.
Is it possible not to pay for major repairs? After all, officials could not establish an uninterrupted system of charging payments. The amounts in the receipts are different. They are determined by square meters, but each subject of the Federation sets its own minimum contribution. For example, in the capital it is fifteen rubles per square meter. In other regions, the fee is less. In some areas, a new payment increases the amount of utility bills by a thousand rubles on average. If the meeting of residents decides, the amount may still grow.
When will the line reach?
Do I have to pay for major repairs? Yes need. The program is designed for 30 years and covers all multi-unit dwellings, which are considered to be houses with more than three apartments. The authorities are determined primarily to deal with five-story buildings and pre-war buildings. If the buildings are in disrepair, then their residents will be exempted from payment.
There are two options by which major repairs of apartment buildings will be made. To pay or not is the second question. First of all, you need to decide whether you trust the work of the state fund or whether you will keep the money in a special bank account. Both options are legal and affordable.There is only one difference: owners who store money in a separate account save only for their home and will make repairs as the amount accumulates, and officials distribute the money from the fund to different buildings.
The wave of indignation goes
Even the deputies agree that the scheme resembles a financial pyramid. Residents, whose houses are first on the list, will benefit, since their work will be paid for by other people's contributions, but is there enough money for houses at the end of the queue? Until the turn reaches them, money can depreciate. Many people are outraged by the fact that, in fact, they pay for the maintenance of another's property, and this is at variance with the provisions of the Civil Code. According to the law on privatization, authorities must repair some houses in order to fulfill their obligations to repair. Why, then, should residents finance a major home renovation? To pay or not in such circumstances? Complaints of residents have already reached the Supreme Court, but they only confirmed that the law does not exempt them from contributions. There is still a claim regarding the NPO, which is the Capital Repair Fund. They do not ask to pay or not, but oblige them, although according to the law on NPOs, voluntary donations must form the capital.
Finally, people were required to make contributions without asking for their opinions. Is it legal? The terms of repair are appointed by the state. It chooses contractors and manages money. And all this at a time when incomes are falling, and all kinds of requisitions are growing.
So what to do?
So, do you have to pay for major repairs when there are so many reasons for doubt? Alas, the owners can not decide for themselves when and how to make repairs. Officials decide everything, although it is allowed to keep money in a separate account. The law does not even provide for such a situation when the bank-holder of funds burns out. Is it possible not to pay for the overhaul if there is no answer to the perfectly legitimate questions of citizens? Theoretically, a try is real. One of the municipal deputies proposed to consider relations with the Fund as a transaction that needs to be agreed upon with the support of the Civil Code. According to the law, the impossibility of peaceful agreement of the conditions implies redirecting the transaction to the court. Alas, the authorities do not consider the fees a deal. And the federal law of citizens is obliged to follow.
And if you go against?
By the way, many citizens have already tried to enlist in rebels and check whether they need to pay for major repairs. Here the situation resembles ordinary payments for housing and communal services. In the sense that the debtors are charged interest, which will be collected through the court, provided that the debt exceeds three months. Bailiffs will come to the debtor, who will strongly recommend paying the debt. Are there any benefits for payment? Yes, they exist, but the subjects themselves determine to whom these benefits should be granted. For example, in the capital, discounts are granted to people with disabilities, large families, some groups of veterans, and honorary donors. If families pay more than 10% of their income to pay for receipts, then they are expected to receive support from the city. And what will happen if you sell an apartment? Will they get the money back? Alas, no, all contributions will be transferred to another owner in his account in the fund.
Well forgotten old?
It is not new to pay for the overhaul of apartment buildings. Pay or not, they decided back in Soviet times, but then the fee was included in utility bills. But then the fund was either state or cooperative, and either the state or the housing cooperative made repairs.
After the mass privatization of the apartments was made, the state avoided the repair of what became private property. So payments from receipts for a while have disappeared. A number of HOAs for a long time made requisitions for the overhaul of apartment buildings. Do I have to pay? People asked this question much later.The law did not bring anything new, since both the Civil and Housing codes obligated owners to keep their housing in good condition. In other words, the leaky roof was the problem of the owner, not the officials. If before the adoption of the law the house had to be reanimated, no one would have thought whether to pay for major repairs. This issue has not been discussed.
Mechanism of action
The Housing Code did not prohibit repairs by the owners, but did not give any recommendations for action. But with the new law, an algorithm has appeared. Firstly, a fee was recognized as mandatory. Secondly, they gave a clear mechanism for repairs. Officials, however, admit that some of the houses in the country are in disrepair, and this is only according to official data. The remaining houses at 60% really need repair, and if the situation is not taken in pencil, then the number of emergency buildings will only grow. Should I pay for major repairs at home? Yes, otherwise you risk being left without a normal roof over your head. According to general estimates, the repair of all houses requires about a trillion rubles or even more. The budget will not allocate such an amount, but the problem must be solved promptly. So the authorities have chosen the path of least resistance.
Legal way not to pay
Is he there? How to legally not pay for major repairs? You can transfer funds to your own account and control all receipts. But at the same time you have to negotiate with defaulters, if any, in your home.
Repair can be done in several stages, that is, first make a roof, and then, for example, finish the basement. If the deadline has approached, and there is not enough money in the account, then you need to either take a loan or return to the regional fund. Remember that you need to create a special account in advance, and if the HOA has not done so before the law comes into force, then it automatically goes to the regional fund. Each subject of the Federation determined the time and place of gathering tenants to clarify the conditions of fundraising and the possibility of creating a separate account. If the notice was ignored, then the decision is made for you by officials. And now you can go to a separate account, but for this you need to collect documents at home, the signatures of all tenants and assure the corresponding application at the general meeting.
Now some houses have already gone through the long-awaited repairs, but the number of complaints has only increased. Residents are horrified at how quickly and inaccurately all the work is done. Holes in roofs are patched hastily and over old material. Residents are now approaching the situation rationally. If the result does not satisfy them, then they collect supporting evidence, photos of inaccuracies and omissions. If the result does not satisfy, should I pay for the overhaul of an apartment building?
Reasons not to believe
Summing up the topic, we ask ourselves why we so much doubt the honesty and openness of our officials? It’s all a matter of statistics, because hotlines regularly receive reports of abuses of payer funds in management companies. Many apartment owners, who, in principle, should not pay these amounts, find the line with the amount of debt in the receipts again and again. All these complaints are audited, but the flow of dissatisfied people is not running out. Officials explain the numerous complaints that the state did not do major repairs for a long time, and many houses are not in very good condition. People realize that this is an injustice that requires a lot of money to fix. But many continue to believe that the problem of emergency houses should be supervised by the state, and to allocate at least part of the money for their restoration. The state refuses such a prospect that it categorically does not suit the owners of apartments.
For many citizens, the amount of payment is quite tangible, and therefore there is an interest in where their money goes.The distrust of Russians in management companies is understandable. People simply do not know and do not understand where their money is going, whether they will reach the destination point and the implementation of the assigned function. Citizens fear that funds will be appropriated because too many organizations are collecting them, you cannot find the ends and call anyone to account. This situation does not contribute to confidence in the future.
So, what to do with the eternal doubts and the question of whether you can not pay for major repairs? Accept? Continue to resent? These questions can be dealt with at the level of your city. Your management companies have all the necessary information and can clarify incomprehensible points. Firstly, no one will advise you to refrain from paying. Here the answer is unequivocal, payments are sent to the account of the Fund, and if necessary, you can track them, although this is a very time-consuming process that requires a lot of free time and decent technical equipment. From this point of view, transferring money to a separate account is much easier and more pleasant.
The owners of new buildings were allowed to refrain from paying for major repairs, since in the next 30 years their homes simply will not need them. For each house, a certain amount is conditionally allocated, which is needed in order to eliminate the main problems. You must be aware that no one promises a renovation of the whole house, but its significant improvement will be made. You can’t not pay, as this is against the law, and you can get on the lists of malicious defaulters, which, of course, will affect social status and work.
The timing of repairs can be checked with your management company. Since 2016, the priority of repairs will be fully determined by the timeliness of the contributions of residents and their integrity. It turns out that the owners can independently approximate the terms of the much-desired repair, but they can also postpone it for an indefinite period if they delay payments or refuse them altogether.
The law can be harsh, and it even threatens sometimes with all the standard sanctions that apply to malicious defaulters. Measures of influence include lawsuits, forced debt collection with interest at the Central Bank rate. In addition, the defaulter will have to pay the costs of legal costs, the amount of which is also determined in accordance with the subject of the Federation.
Measures may not be taken up to six months of payment delays, but then punitive sanctions will begin. Two nuances remain secret. Firstly, in the column written "Owner". Secondly, the inscription that the contract is considered concluded after the first payment is embarrassing. If you take it literally, it turns out that paying the first time was optional? And the first payment was a kind of signing of the transaction and consent to further payment? How did the tenants approve the proposed debt in the situation with the mortgage and are now required to pay it for 30 years? Is it really that simple and that bad? Why can not you allocate money from the budget to repair old houses?
For now, we have to let go of the situation and observe its development from the outside. Now we are already reconciled with the fact that you can’t just refuse to pay, and you can’t just collect them at home in a big sock or under the bed. We have to give money, but we give it back with the hope of a promising future. Will it come? Will our turn fit now or in a year? And if it does, will the financial situation in the country change at that time? Maybe in 30 years this unsolicited program will be extended by another ten? For a hundred years? Until the country collects trillions of rubles for the construction of new houses, which by then will have to be built in place of the old ones? Complaints go, and officials have to respond to them. And we, ordinary residents of apartment buildings, can only wait for the denouement and the results of many lawsuits.
