●In recent years, topics around property fees have been brought up frequently, and disputes about property fees have become more and more frequent.
Some owners were sued because of the dirty environment, disordered public security, and refusal to pay the property fee;
●The owner's refusal to pay the property fee is often not supported by the court, but when the owner provides relevant evidence, which is enough to prove that the property service is not in place, the court staff finds that there are many problems in the property service after on-site inspection, and the standard stipulated in the contract is not met. , the court will generally uphold the owner's request to reduce the payment of the property fee
●As labor costs continue to rise, most property management companies are under enormous economic pressure, making it difficult to improve service quality.
The property owner should implement the market-adjusted price for property service charges and adjust it in a timely manner, improve the price formation mechanism, and build a contractual relationship with consistent quality and price.
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Our intern Wang Yitian
"The property in the community uses a loudspeaker downstairs every day to urge the payment of the property fee. It's too noisy." Ajie, who lives in a community in Yancheng, Jiangsu, recalled a previous experience to a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily.
There are many migrant workers and relocated households in the community where Ajie lives. Many residents have no concept of the term property. For a long time, there are not many people who pay property fees on time in the community.
In order to collect property fees, the property management company came up with the idea of using loudspeakers to broadcast the collection in a loop, "focusing on" those buildings that are late and refuse to pay property fees.
Every morning, the high-pitched sound of collections made many residents unable to rest normally.
Residents of the community protested several times, to no avail.
In the end, the residents of the community formed a property committee, and the members of the property committee unanimously approved the motion to replace the property, which stopped the long-lasting horns floating over the community.
After the new property was settled, the service level of the community property was improved, and more residents began to pay the property fee voluntarily.
In recent years, topics around property fees have been brought up frequently, and disputes about property fees have become more and more frequent.
Some owners were sued because of the dirty environment, disordered public security, and refusal to pay the property fee;
"The property service is not good, can I not pay or pay less property fees?" During the interview, many owners raised this question.
In this regard, the "Rules of Law Daily" reporter conducted an investigation and interview.
Landlord cannot refuse to pay property fee
If the service is not good, you can apply for a waiver
Li Ming (pseudonym) from Jurong, Jiangsu bought a commercial house in a local community in 2016.
Due to work reasons, Li Ming has been leaving the house idle and living elsewhere.
In the following few years, the community property has repeatedly collected property fees from him, but Li Ming always refused to pay for the reasons such as no occupancy, poor community environment, inadequate property services, and problems with housing quality.
After repeated collections to no avail, the property company sued Li Ming to the court.
After trial, the court found out that when the house was handed over, Li Ming signed the "Preliminary Property Management Service Agreement" with the property management company. Submit a written application to the property company in advance. After approval, the property company will charge 70% of the public service fee for vacant properties.
The judge in this case said that although Li Ming did not actually move in, it did not mean that the property management company did not provide property services as agreed. As for the weeds growing in Li Ming's own courtyard, it was caused by his own failure to repair it, and it had nothing to do with the property management company, even if the community property company provided services If it is not in place, it is also a performance defect, and the obligation to pay fees cannot be excluded.
Therefore, Li Ming cannot refuse to pay the property fee on the grounds that he has not checked in and the property service is not in place.
Coincidentally, in 2016, 6 residents including Li, Peng, and Zhong from Chaling County, Hunan lived in a community in the county, and signed the "Preliminary Property Management Service Agreement" with the community property.
However, after moving in, the more uncomfortable it is, there are piles of garbage in the community, and the security guards are 3 retirees, and none of them have employment certificates and health certificates.
Not only that, the community property company also undertook the advertisement of the exterior wall without the owner's consent, causing damage to the walls of five owners including Li.
In addition, the community shares the entrance and exit with a nearby kindergarten, resulting in frequent congestion of roads during peak hours.
After the negotiation failed, the residents of the community set up an owners committee to dismiss the property company by voting.
In the meantime, Li and other 6 people refused to pay the property fee because they were dissatisfied with the service quality of the property company.
To this end, the property company filed a civil lawsuit with the court, requiring Li and other 6 people to pay the 13-month property fees and liquidated damages.
In the end, the court ruled that the property company did not perform its property management and service responsibilities well, but completed certain property services, and ruled that Li and others should pay half of the property fee arrears as appropriate, and rejected the property company's other claims.
The Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Property Service Dispute Cases, which came into effect on October 1, 2009, stipulates that after a written reminder, the owner refuses to pay without justifiable reasons or fails to pay within a reasonable time limit for the reminder. For property service fees, if a property service enterprise requests the owner to pay the property service fee, the people's court shall support it.
In this regard, Bao Hua, director of the Property Management Legal Professional Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association, pointed out that the property service fee is the fee collected from the maintenance of common parts and common facilities and equipment.
The exclusive part of the house is not used, but the common parts and common facilities and equipment still need to be maintained, and the cost will still be incurred, so the property service fee still needs to be paid.
Li Ling, a professor at Beijing Union University, explained that the value of property services lies in the improvement of the quality of the entire living environment while satisfying public services, which is ultimately reflected in the service value for individual owners.
According to the Civil Code, the owner shall pay the property fee to the property service provider as agreed.
If the property service provider has provided services in accordance with the agreement and relevant regulations, the owner shall not refuse to pay the property fee on the grounds that he has not accepted or does not need to accept the relevant property services.
"If the owner is not satisfied with the property service and believes that the service does not conform to the contract, the owner has the right to require the service provider to bear the responsibility for breach of contract, but must not refuse to pay the property service fee. If the property service conforms to the contract, but fails to meet the owner's expectations, the service provider will There is no need to bear the responsibility for breach of contract." Bao Hua said.
The reporter searched relevant cases on the China Judgment Documents Network and found that the owner's refusal to pay the property fee was often not supported by the court, but when the owner provided relevant evidence, it was enough to prove that the property service was not in place. For many problems, when the standard stipulated in the contract is not met, the court will generally support the owner's request to reduce the payment of the property fee.
The above judicial interpretation also stipulates that if the property service company fails to perform or does not fully perform the maintenance, maintenance, management and maintenance obligations stipulated in the property service contract or stipulated by laws, regulations and relevant industry norms, the owner requests the property service company to continue to perform and take remedies. The people's court shall uphold the liability for breach of contract such as measures or compensation for losses.
Collection methods should not be rude
The property has no right to cut off water and electricity
"Dear owner, your property fee should be paid..." Almost every owner has received such a notice, but some owners are willing to pay, some owners can delay or even refuse to pay.
Compared with being collected by a loudspeaker, Zhang Na (pseudonym) from Yueyang, Hunan encountered a more "arrogant" collection method.
In December 2020, Zhang Na bought a second-hand house in a certain district in Yueyang, but when she moved in with joy, she received a bill of more than 20,000 yuan-this suite has been around since July 1, 2017 There are unpaid water bills, property fees and late payment fees.
Due to the failure to negotiate, the community property directly stopped the water supply of Zhang Na's house twice on November 1 and 9, 2021.
This greatly affected Zhang Na's normal life, and she had to move to a hotel temporarily.
Afterwards, Zhang Na sued the property company to the court, requesting that the defendant immediately stop the infringement, restore the water supply, make a public apology and bear the hotel accommodation and transportation expenses caused by the water cut off; Water bills so far.
After the trial, the court held that the water company and the power supply bureau have the right to terminate the supply of water and electricity only after legal procedures, and the property management company has no right to cut off water and electricity to the owner.
Even if it is a secondary water supply, the property company has no right to cut off the water.
If the owner does not pay the property fee, water fee, etc., the property company can solve the problem through legal means such as litigation, and cannot resort to rude water interruption.
As to whether the plaintiff should bear the property fee and water fee arrears of the former owner.
Due to the relative nature of the contract, the service contract between the original owner and the property management company does not involve the subsequent buyer, and the new owner is not obliged to pay the arrears of this part of the property fee.
In the end, the court ruled that the property management company resumed the water supply to the house involved in the case, compensated the plaintiff for economic losses of 1,200 yuan due to the water cutoff, and made a written apology to him.
The second instance upheld the original judgment.
South China Mansion is a high-rise relocated community in Shenyang, Liaoning Province.
According to a number of owners, there are various service quality problems in the community property, including the failure to clean the water tank in time, causing some users to turn yellow water, the garbage in the basement is not cleaned in time, the debris in the stairwell is not placed in place, and the abnormal vibration of the elevator remains unsolved for a long time. And other issues.
Some time ago, Xiao Yang, the owner of the community, went home and entered the elevator and found that the elevator card could not be swiped, so he could only walk up to the 10th floor. Later, he learned that the elevator card was stopped because he did not pay the property fee.
"I just wanted to ask, it has been several years since I moved the building and handed over the house. The corridors are messy, and there is no greenery in the community to maintain, but the property fee is 1 yuan and one square meter. What is the difference between this and no property? Why is the property fee? Will the elevator card be deactivated after one night?" Xiao Yang said dissatisfiedly.
In Bao Hua's view, the above-mentioned acts such as water and power outages are obviously illegal. As a part of municipal services, property service providers should manage hydropower facilities and equipment in accordance with the law, and have no right to cut off water and power.
The property management regulations stipulate that within the property management area, water supply, power supply, gas supply, heating, communication, cable TV and other units shall charge relevant fees to end users.
If the property service enterprise accepts the entrustment to collect the fees in the preceding paragraph, it shall not charge the owner with additional fees such as handling fees.
The Civil Code stipulates that property service providers shall not rush to pay property fees by stopping power supply, water supply, heat supply, and gas supply.
A property practitioner in Beijing told reporters that before signing a property service contract, you should read the terms of service carefully, confirm the scope and level of service, and then sign.
"There are many owners whose demands are not within the scope of the contract, but they refuse to pay the property fee on this ground. This is also one of the difficulties in our communication with the owners."
Improve the price formation mechanism
Improve the quality of property services
Why set a property fee?
Li Ling said that the property service fee refers to the property management company, in accordance with the agreement of the property service contract, to repair, maintain and manage the house and supporting facilities and equipment and related sites, maintain the environmental sanitation and order in the relevant area, and charge the owner. cost of.
The property company provides services, has cost input, and needs a certain profit as an enterprise.
At the same time, the owner enjoys the service, and it is an obligation to pay the property fee.
Today, there are still different voices in the society regarding the collection of property fees.
How to optimize the property fee has become one of the problems to be solved urgently.
In Bao Hua's view, the estimation of property service fees is a relatively complicated process.
If you want the property service fee to be worth the money, you first need to clarify the service items and standards, then agree on the management model of the service provider, understand the price level of the location of the property, and finally get the result through scientific calculation.
In the "Beijing Property Management Regulations", which came into effect in May 2020, it was proposed that "the property service charges shall be subject to market-adjusted prices and adjusted in a timely manner", which has attracted widespread attention from the society.
With the development of society, property is a labor-intensive industry, and labor costs account for most of the total expenditure of property companies.
In recent years, labor costs have continued to rise. While providing property services, property companies also need to make profits to maintain the normal operation of the enterprise. Most property companies have undertaken huge economic pressures, making it difficult to improve service quality.
Li Ling believes that the property owner should implement the market-adjusted price for property service charges and adjust it in a timely manner, improve the price formation mechanism, and build a contractual relationship that matches the quality and price.
"The realization of matching the quality and price of property services is inseparable from the government's construction and improvement of the market-oriented management system of property service enterprises, such as the establishment of the property service quality evaluation system, but also inseparable from the recognition and support of the majority of owners for the market regulation system. In addition, the imperfect access and exit mechanism of the property service market will also seriously affect the strength of market regulation, and there is still a long way to go to achieve the goal of matching the quality and price of property services through the implementation of market-regulated prices for property fees." Li Ling said.
At the same time, some people asked, why not set the property fee as a unified national or regional standard?
In this regard, Bao Hua explained that the demand for property services and the price level of the location of the property vary greatly from place to place.
Unified service content, unified service standards, and unified service prices are not only infeasible, but also unnecessary.
Li Ling said that the specific property service charging standards should distinguish the nature and characteristics of different properties and implement government-guided prices and market-regulated prices.
The specific pricing form shall be determined by the competent pricing department of the people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government in conjunction with the competent real estate administration department.
Where the government-guided price is adopted for property service charges, the competent pricing department of the people's government with pricing authority shall, in conjunction with the competent real estate administration department, formulate the corresponding benchmark price and its floating range based on factors such as the property management service level standard, and publish it regularly.
The specific charging standard shall be agreed by the owner and the property management company in the property service contract according to the specified benchmark price and floating range.
Rule of Law Daily