Does an HOA have the right to turn off electricity for rent arrears and in what cases?

Causes of power outage

The reason for limiting the energy supply may be a network failure or debt for consumed energy. In the event of an emergency shutdown, supply is restored upon completion of repair work, after a certain amount of time.

Connecting the light, if there is a debt, occurs after the situation is resolved and most likely in this case the supply of resources is limited for a long time. The reasons for a power outage may be the following:

1. Failure to pay for consumed energy within more than two months.
2. Unauthorized connection to existing networks.
3. Theft of electricity by residents was discovered.

Each of the reasons has its own execution algorithm and requires compliance with the law in the actions of service providers.

Obligation to pay utility bills

Paying for utilities is the responsibility of residents as provided for in Art. 153 Housing Code of the Russian Federation. Payment must be made on time and in full. This is also provided for by law.

Housing and communal services must be paid regardless of whether the tenant owns the apartment or lives under a social tenancy agreement. Utilities are paid by everyone.

This obligation arises when the following conditions are met:

• from the moment of concluding a social rental agreement - for employers;
• after state registration of property rights - for the owner;
• at the time of actual moving into the residential premises - for a member of the housing cooperative;
• at the time of signing the transfer and acceptance certificate - for the participant in shared construction.

In case of evasion of payments for the use of utility services by the supplier, various sanctions will be applied.

How does the light turn off for non-payment according to the law?

The relationship between residents and the service provider is based on a contractual principle, where in addition to the rights of the parties, responsibilities are also prescribed. The consumer's primary responsibility is to pay on time. In turn, suppliers reserve the right to perform actions to disconnect electricity. The existing procedure is enshrined in Resolution No. 442[1]. It consists of the following:

• the debtor is sent a notice of non-payment with an offer to repay it voluntarily. Also, the resulting amount must be indicated in the monthly invoice for payment. The notice provides 20 days to pay the debt;
• in the event of no payment, after the specified period, the power engineers are obliged to issue a warning against the tenant’s signature that within three days the supply of electricity will be limited;
• The third stage of work consists of partially de-energizing the apartment from the networks. But only if there is a technical possibility for this. In its absence, the supply of electricity is completely interrupted to the entire home.

All work is aimed at interaction with the tenant and cutting off power to the home without warning is unacceptable. Such actions may be regarded as arbitrariness of the energy supply company.

Dealing with a particular debtor should not harm other consumers. When cut off from networks, power engineers must pay attention to the common property of the Moscow Railway and act taking into account the interests of all residents in the house.

What to do if the power is turned off for non-payment

If the resource is still disconnected, the consumer is under no circumstances recommended to independently connect the light. These actions are regarded as theft of energy and are subject to penalties for the offending citizen.

Depending on the actions of the resident and the supplier that preceded the disconnection, there are several options for the development of events.

Option 1

The energy workers turned off the lights in the apartment and all their actions were carried out in accordance with the rules for turning off the power. In this case, the behavior of the defaulter is as follows:

1. Contact the energy supply company with an application for debt restructuring. If there are individual reasons not to pay, which confirm the person’s low solvency, it is necessary to provide documentary evidence of them. If the tenant’s case of installment payments is isolated, then the management of the energy company will make concessions. Moreover, the possibility of debt restructuring is enshrined in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation[2].
2. After concluding a debt restructuring agreement, the tenant must pay for the reconnection of electricity in his apartment.
3. After all outstanding payments have been made, the power supply in the apartment will be restored.

Option 2

Service providers have disconnected the supply of the resource without notice. In this case, the consumer has the right to take the following steps:

• record the fact of disconnection of electricity from your apartment. This can be done by drawing up an act with the involvement of neighbors as witnesses. The apartment is disconnected from power supply and power engineers in public areas, with the installation of a disconnect seal. You can take a photo or video of the disconnection site;
• draw up an application to the housing and communal services energy company to connect the resource, indicating the illegality of their actions. Sometimes providing evidence has its own actions and the light is turned on. Citizens do not need to pay for connection. In most cases, disconnection based on such an illegal principle indicates that the company is not a supporter of compliance with the law and will achieve a resolution of the issue in its favor using certain methods;
• file an application to the court. It is important to understand that the consideration of the claim will take place upon full repayment of the debt at the time of filing the claim. Evidence of moral and material harm may be included in the court application.

But you should call first and find out the true reasons for the shutdown.

Is it legal to cut off power?

The consequences of ignoring the need to pay for utilities will be different for the owner and the tenant. Initially, a penalty may be imposed on both. Its size is established by law and is 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for each day of delay.

Penalties are used for up to six months. After this period, the consequences become more severe. The service provider goes to court. As a result of the consideration of the case, the social tenancy agreement will be terminated, and the tenant will be offered other housing of a smaller area.

Eviction of the owner is not possible. However, the court may force the debt to be paid or order the termination of the provision of services.

It should be understood that the service provider is not obliged to be in the position of debtors. Companies act in their own interests and have the right to turn off power if no other means of influence produce results. Such a measure is provided for by law.

Relations between resource supply organizations and the homeowner are regulated not only by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, but also by the agreement concluded between the parties. In accordance with the service agreement, the consumer is obliged to pay for utilities in full.

However, power outages are not always carried out legally. This will be unlawful if:

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• the procedure for notifying the debtor is violated;
• the debt has been paid, but the supply of the resource has not been resumed;
• the rights of other residents of the apartment building are violated;
• shutting off the supply of the resource led to damage to general communications and the house became uninhabitable.

There should not be a situation where restriction or suspension of the supply of resources leads to a violation of the rights and legitimate interests of other residents. If an HOA turns off everyone’s electricity because of one debtor, this is not legal. If such a situation arises, the owners have the right to go to court.

Do they have the right to turn off the lights for non-payment?

Management companies or energy service providers interacting directly with consumers have all legal rights to disconnect electricity without a court decision in the following cases:

1. The fact that there are debts for the service provided is confirmed and amounts to 2 or more months.
2. All measures for the peaceful resolution of the issue by the service provider have been completed.
3. The debtor does not voluntarily fulfill his payment obligations.

An exception is the disconnection of a resource in SNT, the grounds for which are necessarily specified in the Charter of this organization, agreed upon at a general meeting of members of the partnership.

Disconnection of electricity is accompanied by the preparation of a mandatory disconnection act. There is no standard form for the act, but it must contain a set of information that is recommended by law. These include:

• type of disconnection;
• personal data of the debtor, his personal account;
• a complete list of activities carried out by energy workers that preceded the shutdown for debt;
• information about the meter with recording of the latest readings;
• as a conclusion - the reason for the disconnection and the conditions for restoring power supply.

The act is drawn up in triplicate and signed by representatives of energy workers and the consumer.

For what debt can the lights be turned off?

None of the legislative standards contains a definition of debt in digital terms. This is due to the fact that the amount of accruals varies by region. The tariff is calculated individually for each company. However, you should not accumulate debt and it is better to immediately check the debt and pay it off.

The terms of electricity supply also differ, which affects the amount charged to the consumer. At the same time, it is legal to turn off the electricity only for debt on the consumed resource; non-payment of rent does not serve as a basis for cutting off the apartment from the network.

The general criterion is the lack of payment for two or more current months. In the absence of electrical appliance readings, consumption is calculated in the first month - based on the average figure. Subsequently - according to the existing consumption standard from the records of all persons registered in the housing. Such data usually exceeds actual consumption. Therefore, the transfer of testimony is always in the interests of residents.

There are no general exceptions to the issue of cutting off consumers from networks. Energy workers can take advantage of their privileges both in winter and if there is a small child in the apartment.

Compliance with the rules helps citizens avoid unpleasant moments and additional costs. But in case of abuse of power by utility organizations, you need to clearly know that you can fight for your rights. The legislation was developed taking into account the interests of both parties.

Schools and hospitals will be cut off from electricity due to debts

However, it would be naive to believe that as soon as the energy sector receives a new mechanism for influencing defaulters, the situation with debts will begin to improve. Here's a recent example. Recently, utility workers in the Oryol region warned that once the new resolution comes into force, they will be ready to shut down 28 schools for non-payment. Governor Vadim Potomsky immediately banned the shutdown.

The problem of growing debt of non-disconnected consumers has existed for many years. Moreover, the issue is so acute that back in 2021, President Vladimir Putin demanded that the government take measures to restore payment discipline. However, in fact, nothing has been done since then. If in 2021 the Ministry of Construction estimated the total debt on utility bills at 380 billion rubles, then by the middle of this year the figure had already risen to 1.3 trillion rubles.

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