Voting is a bummer. Experts reveal what the Criminal Code faces for falsifying the protocol

According to the law, only a general meeting of premises owners can change tariffs for the maintenance and repair of an apartment building. But management companies (MCs) quite often falsify the results of these meetings in their favor. Experts told aif.ru how owners of apartments in apartment buildings can check the legitimacy of absentee voting.

Management companies set favorable housing maintenance rates based on the results of general meetings of homeowners in the format of absentee voting. Each owner fills out his personal form, but does not see the overall voting picture. Taking advantage of this, utility companies often adjust the final results in their favor. The management company keeps the forms of the owners secret, citing the law on non-disclosure of personal data. The public is only introduced to the final protocol, which indicates how many percent were in favor and how many were against. After a quorum in favor of increased tariffs has been established, residents are issued receipts with the increased amounts. Experts told how to check how well the announced results of the general meeting of owners correspond to the completed minutes.

The period for holding meetings in absentia is usually 2-3 months, notes an expert in the field of housing and communal services, co-chairman of the non-profit partnership “Upravdom” Evgeniya Yunisova. Within ten days after its completion, the initiator of the meeting must bring the voting results to the attention of the owners. Five days after this, all originals of the registered forms must be transferred to the housing inspection. They are stored there for three years. This is where you need to go if the owners have doubts about the correctness of the vote count. If inconsistencies and violations are identified, then further dispute must be resolved in court. But in order to achieve revisions of the voting results, the owners need to show a certain persistence, act coherently and decisively.

“Now the next stages of meetings of owners of apartment buildings are starting in the regions,” adds the expert. — If there are suspicions that the management organization may behave in bad faith, it is necessary to create an initiative group of owners that will monitor the conduct of absentee voting. Before the start of the meetings, I recommend that you draw up an appeal to the management company with an insistent demand to include several owners in the counting commission. These people will be able to participate in the processing and counting of votes, get acquainted with the documentation and voting results.”

In 2024, general meetings of homeowners in apartment buildings began on April 13 and will end on June 13.

The fact that transparency of the results of absentee voting is achieved by the inclusion of active owners of apartment buildings in the counting commission is also evidenced by leading expert on housing law and housing and communal services of the Housing Solidarity Foundation Viktor Fedoruk. He adds that any owner of premises in a high-rise building can not only become a member of the counting commission, but also become the initiator of the meeting. To do this, you need to come to the management company, write an application, request a register of owners and organize the procedure for voting and counting the results.

The owners can also oblige the management company to make an annex to the protocol, which will indicate the final decision of each apartment on all issues. This will eliminate any objections about the need to protect personal data, and residents of each apartment will be able to check the protocol for compliance with their decision.

In theory, any owner has the right to get acquainted with protocols and forms of environmental protection (according to Article 143.1 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation). But most management companies do not provide such an opportunity, citing the law on the protection of personal data. In practice, this right is used only by those persons who were included in the counting commission as a result of a vote of the owners. Responsibility for drawing up the minutes of the general meeting, including counting the votes of the owners, rests entirely with those persons who participated in its preparation.

Fedoruk recommends posting information in the neighbor’s chat about which apartment voted and how. Calculate whether there is a quorum on controversial issues. Although this is a conditional figure, it will give a rough idea of ​​the voting results. At this stage, you can understand whether it makes sense to arrange proceedings.

“If there are a lot of those who voted against or did not vote at all, then we can talk about possible falsification of the document, which, after amendments to Article 46 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, is the decision and protocol of the OSS. And, considering that according to Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, this violation is punishable by two years in prison, it is unlikely that the Criminal Code will falsify the results,” the expert sums up.

Every year, the courts receive hundreds of lawsuits from citizens alleging fraud by management companies, lawyers say. Including falsification of the results of general meetings of owners, which affect the amount of rent. Even more disputes between owners and management companies do not reach the courts.

“If there are no socially active citizens among the owners, there is simply no one to search for the truth. “It is this circumstance that the “managers” use,” says Head of Dispute Resolution Practice in the Housing and Public Utilities Sphere of the Moscow Bar Association “Arbat” MCA Sergey Sergeev. “On the one hand, they are outraged by the unreasonable increase in tariffs. On the other hand, they are not ready to spend money, time and energy on litigation. In terms of time, they take an average of 6-9 months, in terms of money, from 60-200 thousand and more. One examination of a signature on a form costs 5-8 thousand rubles. And already at this stage the desire to achieve justice ends. But if residents show enough persistence and come to court in the required numbers, there is a chance of winning.”