Explanations were given during the consideration of a specific case. A resident of Murmansk, a certain V., got the management company to carry out cosmetic repairs at the entrance. She was obligated to do it, but for some reason she delayed it. However, as soon as the citizen filed a lawsuit, the walls of the entrance were magically transformed. It is clear that there was no point in continuing the litigation; the lawsuit was withdrawn.
Building administrators terminated the incident. But they were wrong: the citizen sent them an invoice demanding compensation for legal expenses. The courts considered the demands fair and sentenced the management company to pay 18 thousand rubles.
This case should be a legal lesson for everyone. Lawyers emphasize that if a citizen is right in a dispute with building managers, he is entitled to compensation for legal expenses. It does not matter if a long and difficult trial was necessary or if the case was settled before trial. If a citizen had to ask a lawyer for help to restore justice and cleanliness at the entrance, the building manager must pay.
Similar legal approaches apply to rental disputes and any other proceedings with management companies.
Similar legal approaches apply to rental disputes and any other proceedings with management companies. At the same time, as the Third Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction explained, building managers do not have the right to deny a citizen payment of his lawyers’ bills because the citizen himself owes the rent.
“The court of appeal considered that the arguments of the private complaint that V. is a persistent defaulter in housing and communal services should be rejected as lacking legal significance and not indicating the unfoundedness of the court’s conclusions,” the court says. ruling of the court of cassation. .
The position of the lower authority was recognized as correct. Another interesting point: even a tenant with legal training has the right to the assistance of a lawyer.
“Seeing no basis for an appeal intervention in the sentence of the case based on the arguments of the defendant’s private complaint, the court of appeals also noted that the provisions of the law and the explanations on its application do not contain a prohibition for “a person who is a professional lawyer to use the legal assistance of a representative when bringing a case to court,” the definition says.
The main thing is that the amount of expenses is confirmed by written proof; There is no reason to believe that the applicant did not incur expenses to pay for such services, the court explained. After all, there is a receipt on file.
“The plaintiff’s arguments about abuse of rights by V. were rejected by the court of appeal as unfounded, since there were no circumstances in the case indicating that V., when considering his request for recovery of legal costs before the trial court, acted solely with the intent to cause harm to the established defendant,” the definition reads.
In other words, the building managers also tried to portray the tenant as a malicious whistleblower who makes money from such claims, but failed. There are few statements here; evidence is needed.
Candidate of Legal Sciences, lawyer Viacheslav Golenev, recalled that several years ago the plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia explained in detail how to reimburse legal expenses.
“The resolution provides examples of reasonable expenses and establishes that such expenses may include the cost of the claim, the complexity of the case, the volume of services, the time of preparation of the documents,” the lawyer explained to RG. “There are no other circumstances. excluded: all of this is for the benefit of the winning party and the practicing attorneys who represented said party.
In cases where a mandatory pre-trial procedure is provided for to resolve a dispute, the costs of attempting to resolve the issue without trial must also be reimbursed. Unless, of course, the issue cannot be resolved peacefully.
For example, if a buyer has a dispute with a store, he or she must first write a complaint. A good tent, if it is bad, will definitely accommodate the person halfway. Bad traders will start saying bad words. Then the case can go to court. After winning the trial, a person may well demand compensation for the costs of filing a claim, the costs of an appraiser, whether an appraisal was required, etc.
“A useful clarification,” says Vyacheslav Golenev. “In practice, the question of the possibility or impossibility of reimbursing costs in the pre-trial phase, if that phase is mandatory, has been repeatedly raised. The Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia. has resolved this problem positively.”
Courts of general jurisdiction usually reimburse no more than 15-20 thousand rubles for the services of a representative in the process. The plaintiff may also be reimbursed for the costs of preparing notarial documents and the like. According to the lawyer, it is important to improve practice so that courts of general jurisdiction do not unreasonably underestimate legal costs.
