What does a debt settlement agreement include?

An increasing number of citizens of the Russian Federation believe that their financial problems are directly related to increased tariffs for housing and communal services. Individuals pay monthly utility bills in the amount indicated by the organizations managing the building fund.

Information about the rules and procedure for repayment of debt obligations should be thoroughly studied by each person. This is due to the fact that no one is immune from a possible increase in debt. If you have problems with paying for utilities, you must, first of all, draw up an agreement on repayment of the debt.

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This document allows you to slightly reduce the amount of obligations, as well as avoid possible penalties from the state. It should be noted that in case of late payment of the debt, additional fines and penalties may be imposed on the payer.

Debt period

The current domestic legislation governing housing relations with individuals establishes that every citizen of the Russian Federation must pay utility bills in a timely manner.

In accordance with article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, such payment must be made no later than the 10th day of each month. In case of delay in payment, certain sanctions will be imposed without fail.

It is worth noting that even decent citizens may face utility debts due to reasons beyond their control.

All individuals who have their own living space can be divided into the following groups of citizens making payments:

Employees of organizations that accept utility payments have a certain list of leverage on debtors. In most cases, these levers impose an additional financial burden on persons who have certain financial obligations to the state. The solution of the problem can be decided in the highest judicial instances.

It is worth remembering that different payments combined into one receipt are typical for utilities and housing services. Housing services include all activities of individuals that are directly related to the operation of real estate. Without such a service, an apartment, house or room would simply be unsuitable for permanent residence.

Such services may include the following:

• maintenance and repair of residential premises;
• timely removal of garbage and other waste;
• overhaul;
• other services, including security, housekeeping and private postage.

A full range of possible services is used only in expensive apartment buildings. As for utilities, the premises are provided with all the necessary energy resources at their expense.

It is worth highlighting the following types of utilities:

• hot and cold water supply;
• drainage;
• space heating;

Depending on what type of services was not paid for by an individual, this type of debt obligations will be assigned to him.

Among the main reasons for the occurrence of such debt, it is worth highlighting the following:

• low level of wages of an individual or untimely receipt of it;
• unemployment without the possibility of employment in the near future;
• increase in tariffs for utility bills;
• freezing already made payments;
• low-quality housing and communal services;
• corruption in organizations providing relevant services;
• conflict among employees;
• an overdue loan agreement;
• sudden fluctuations in exchange rates;
• bankruptcy of the organization in which the person carried out his labor activity on a permanent basis.

Debt on utility bills and the very reasons for its occurrence may be different, however, the set of actions that is formed by the state to collect debt obligations has a clearly regulated form.

How to deal with debtors

Management companies, first of all, begin preventive procedures. Employees of such organizations regularly monitor payments and identify individuals who will be potential non-payers in the future. In most cases, such persons are citizens who have debts for 1 or 2 months.

Information interaction is carried out with such persons, within the framework of which all the consequences of a further delay in payment are described. If this procedure does not bring results, then the employees of service organizations proceed to the imposition of certain financial penalties.

A special notice is sent to the debtor, which indicates information about a possible restriction or complete termination of service. It is worth noting that in some cases such a notification may be received by the debtor in the format of an SMS message.

If within 30 days after the notification is provided, the requested amount of funds is not received on the account of the service organization, then the company receives legal grounds to terminate cooperation within the framework of the supply of public services. At this stage, it is recommended that the parties to the dispute sign a special agreement on the procedure for repaying the debt obligations that have arisen.

If the debtor ignores the agreements reached on paying the debt, then the management company may apply to the highest courts to defend its interests.

The current housing legislation also provides for more radical measures to combat persistent non-payers:

• eviction from the occupied housing area;
• exchange of real estate for a cheaper one - the difference in value is sent to pay off the debt, and the procedure itself is carried out involuntarily;
• arrest and subsequent sale of the debtor's movable and immovable property;
• temporary ban on traveling abroad;
• temporary ban on the sale of property.

It is worth noting that even despite the presence of punitive measures to prevent the occurrence of debt, every year there are more and more people in the country who have outstanding debt obligations for housing and communal services.

Without the procedure established by law for notifying the subscriber by representatives of housing services, it is impossible to impose restrictions on individuals. The law establishes that a utility employee can use only 2 legal methods of notification: providing a receipt or a registered letter.

To implement such an action, a special algorithm has been developed, which is as follows:

• a special notification is sent to a person whose debt obligation has exceeded the level of two-month payment;
• all sanctions that are prescribed in this document come into force upon expiration 20 business days;
• with a subsequent increase in the obligations of the client, the contractor sends a second notification in the format of a receipt;
• if, after repeated notification, the client refuses to pay the debt, then a month later, access to communal resources may be limited for him;
• if the debt is not repaid, the executor shall notify the debtor for 3 days before the imposition of sanctions, on the termination of the supply of services

It is worth noting that a citizen can be evicted from the housing area he occupies. Such a measure can only be implemented if there is a three-month debt and after proper notification of the payer. However, in cases where such a procedure affects the interests of bona fide persons, then it will not be implemented.

The complexity of such an operation is directly related to the technical characteristics of real estate. For example, in new buildings it is much easier to limit one apartment as part of the supply of utilities than in houses built decades ago. In addition, service organizations providing heat or network services cannot disconnect their subscribers under any circumstances.

Despite the technical and legal difficulties, this disconnection practice is widely used in the Russian Federation, and this is due to the fact that this step is the most effective in inducing a person to pay his debt obligations

What does a debt settlement agreement look like?

A debt settlement agreement is the most humane way to resolve problems between service companies and debtors. This agreement provides for the repayment of debt in installments.

To do this, the subscriber must necessarily perform the following simple operations:

• visit the district office of the municipal service and find out the exact amount of the debt - for this you need to provide a civil passport of the Russian Federation;
• make at least one payment on a particular debt - this operation must be completed for 3 days until the actual conclusion of an agreement on the restructuring of utility debt;
• the document must be drawn up in two copies, which are certified by both parties to the contract and the seal of the organization;
• after the conclusion of the contract, the relationship between the parties to the dispute moves to a new legal plane.

It is worth noting that most decent service organizations are ready to make concessions and restructure debt.