The word “apartments” in Russian is used without particularly delving into its essence, but in the meantime apartments, from the point of view of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, have a certain legal status and cause a lot of problems for their owners . They are attracted by the price – on average, 30% cheaper than apartments, but then the cheapness can come back to haunt other expenses. Residents of one of the large residential complexes in the northwest of the capital turned to the editorial staff of The Eastern Herald. The management company doesn’t manage it, the elevator almost killed a pregnant woman, but there’s no one to complain to: it’s a non-residential fund!
The story began quite simply: the owners of apartments in one of the new residential complexes did not sign their agreement to increase the payment for maintenance of the house and immediately received a “response” from the company Management.
- As a result, the doormats disappeared, followed by the security guard, the cooler… The cleaning lady told the inhabitants that “in your building they were now ordered to clean once a month”. In the building for a while there are 33 floors … – says Olga Petrovna, a resident of the house.
According to her, the change is abrupt and unexpected – before that, there were always floor mats, water heaters, night security patrols in the houses and concierges at the entrance. Only now, after both buildings have announced their refusal to accept a rate increase, is where the “service package” has been significantly reduced and they have begun to “get rid of” the money from homeowners with threats of unreasonably high utility bills. At the same time, residents received receipts for utilities, the figures of which shocked everyone, and, according to locals, they do not give any explanation of tariffs and charges.
However, the lack of floor mats is a trifle and is just the tip of the iceberg. It is much worse than in the house, according to eyewitnesses, “a small fall” happened … elevators.
- There was a terrible story: recently a pregnant woman experienced a few floors of free fall, after which the police and an ambulance were called … Good luck that they escaped in fear, without consequences for the health of mother and baby. An initiative group of residents of the house has now been set up to draw attention to this problem. I don’t even want to think that something irreparable has to happen for the problem of faulty elevators to finally be solved,” the resident of the house shares.
Freefall is a truly shocking precedent. As Aleksey Zakharov, first vice-president of the National Syndicate of Elevators, noted in an interview with an The Eastern Herald correspondent, there is no direct threat to life here, but the situation is alarming.
— In modern elevators, a catch-up system is installed, which blocks movement, and the safety group protects it from falling. But it can lead to a hard landing. The maximum distance it can fly is 10 meters. So what is happening is not too dangerous, but you still have to act in this situation”, explains the expert. – The best option would be a written appeal to the management company. They have a service organization of elevator with which they interact. If they ignore it, you need to contact the housing inspector in Moscow or Moscow region. And the next step may already be an appeal to Rostekhnadzor, the state supervision of elevators.
The management company shrugs its shoulders at any resident questions. And in response, you can only hear: “Your application has been accepted. In the treatment.
“In January I received a bill for 16,000 rubles for 36 square meters, a girl lives. I categorically refuse to pay for services not rendered. I paid for everything according to the meters (7 thousand rubles) on February 12, 2023, sent a request with a request for recalculation and explanation of the amount charged. They call like tax collectors every day and every hour demanding to pay the full bill, threatening to sue and cut off electricity and water. When you ask to justify the tariffs, they answer that they are not obliged to report to us on the tariffs. And when you come to them, they dump a lot of water, something about building maintenance,” says one resident.
Her neighbor adds her story in the same genre:
“Last month an invoice came in at 25,000 for 42m². meters – it’s no longer climbing in any door! And there’s no point in arguing with them.”
Meanwhile, the solution to the situation is not so complicated: the fact is that the apartments in this building have the status of apartments, which, in turn, are marked as non-residential premises. Well, in the literal sense of the word, the law is not written for them. As Vladimir Ryazansky, an expert in the field of housing and communal services, explained in an interview with a correspondent of The Eastern Herald, neither the Housing Code of the Russian Federation nor the applicable rules and tariffs apply to apartments – in fact, management companies are given carte blanche for anything arbitrary.
- There is a very simple position: if you bought cheaply, pecking publicity, be prepared to face the consequences. Apartments are always cheaper than apartments, even in the secondary market, not to mention new buildings. At the same time, the developer or a person designated by him is the owner of all common property, therefore, the general meeting of owners does not even have the right to change the organization of management, as can do apartment owners. The situation is deadlocked. You have to understand: it is in fact an apart-hotel, well, a hotel. And the owner has the right to set tariffs for the maintenance of this hotel at any level of internal service.
Andrey Tyutyunin, head of the national public organization Right to Protection, gives the same explanation: “Apartments are formally considered non-residential, although they look like apartments. For non-residential premises, in principle, other (increased) tariffs for everything, and even management companies find themselves for their services beyond the expectations of buyers. This is one of the reasons why apartments are cheaper than flats when buying, all other things being equal. Payment for utilities in apartments is made in accordance with the agreement that the owner of the apartment concludes with the management company, HOA or other form of management.
Well, in practice it turns out that the management company is completely controlled by the developer. In the meantime, when buying apartments, you should be prepared for another pitfall: since the apartments are not residential, you will not even be able to obtain a temporary registration there, much less a registration. Such real estate is therefore only suitable for those who are fortunately already registered somewhere. In addition, a tax deduction does not apply to the purchase of apartments – the possibility of refunding 13% of personal income tax after the purchase of housing.
HELP “The Eastern Herald”
A bill providing for a change in the legal status of apartments was submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation in 2021. It was assumed that legally apartments would be equated with housing in apartment buildings. However, this legislative initiative has not been developed.
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Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29016 of April 21, 2023
<p class=”article__in-newspaper-info”>Newspaper headline: Saved on purchase – go bankrupt on housing and communal services!
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