What to do if you get flooded again and you don't know how to bring your neighbors to justice, says Igor Shavrov, a lawyer who manages the Shavrov and Partners law firm.
If you find yourself in this situation, the main thing is not to panic. It is necessary to determine whose balance your house is on. It can be OSMD, ZHEK or any other management company. If you do not communicate with your neighbors, you can call the city council or the hotline of the local self-government body in your town. There they will tell you whose balance the house is on. Secondly, you can shut off all the water in the riser without the permission of the balance holder before the arrival of the emergency services, and you will not get anything for it. You can also call a representative of the management company - they must respond to the call, come and fix this problem. Note that if you have hot water, the problem is most likely in the heating system, and if it is cold, it is in the water supply. After the utility workers eliminate your problem, you need to establish its causes, because the neighbors are not always to blame for everything. It is quite possible that the reason is in the technical condition of the house, then the responsibility for the flood will be borne by the management company.
There are cases when the problem arises in an apartment to which there is no access - for example, the neighbors went on vacation, and they had flooding. According to article 8 of the Law of Ukraine on Housing and Communal Services, utility workers have the right to access such premises to eliminate accidents and their consequences. But in reality, this norm is only declarative - in fact, they do not have the right to break down doors, enter someone else's apartment, eliminate the flood, and then seal the premises. Even the police can enter private property only by court order. Therefore, we advise: if you go somewhere, always leave a duplicate key with friends, relatives, people whom you trust and who can come to your aid in case of similar problems.
If you have determined the culprit of the damage, you need to draw up the act on the spot. Take a picture of everything that was damaged by water, after which, together with representatives of the management company or ZHEK, you need to draw up a report on this damage. The act is drawn up with the signatures of three people: yours, a representative of ZHEK/OSMD and one of your neighbors. In this document, it is necessary to clearly indicate what happened and when (place, time and date), as well as what damages were caused, while providing as many photos and videos as possible.
If you still decide to negotiate peacefully with the culprit of the flooding, then he can write directly in the deed that he undertakes to compensate the damage for a certain amount or simply undertakes to compensate the damage up to a specific number. However, in no case should you write in the document that you have no claims, because this phrase will be taken into account by the judge when making a decision. You can also have this fact notarized - so that the culprit does not later say that he did not sign anything.
If you still decide to go to court, you only need a few documents for this. First, the act, which is mentioned above, and secondly, the photo and video recording is damaged, thirdly, you need to appoint a construction and appraisal examination, which will determine the amount of damage. Also, the examination will prove the cause-and-effect relationship between the flooding and the resulting damage.
If you have these documents in your hands, you can ask the court to consider the case in the order of written proceedings. That is, only two months will pass from the date of filing the claim to the decision. You can even not go to court, and the court will simply send a decision by mail. You can also demand compensation for moral damages, but it all depends on the mood of a particular judge.
By the way, if you peacefully solved the problem on the spot, then we advise you to sign another act at the end - that the problem has been solved and no one has any complaints against each other. This must be done so that this topic does not come up a second time.
