Homeowners rarely throw away bills and utility receipts. This is not a useless habit from the past, but a reliable help for those who are accustomed to order in financial matters. Receipts can be useful in many cases:

• The amount of monthly payments suddenly increased. You can always compare receipts for several months and data from meters to understand why expenses have increased;
• The management company illegally inflates the bill. Sometimes the list includes services that the organization does not provide, or it adds a markup to the tariff. In this case, you should check the management company;
• I urgently needed important data. The personal account number, apartment area, benefits, as well as contacts of housing and communal services suppliers are indicated in the receipt;
• the payment was not received into the account of the management organization. The problem may be due to a computer glitch or operator error. In any case, a canceled receipt is a reliable argument;
• need to sell the apartment. To receive a certificate of no debt from the MFC or HOA, you need to provide several months of “payments”.

Storage period for payment receipts

The storage period for utility payment receipts is not regulated by any legal act. Payment documents of this kind are subject to the statute of limitations, which expires after 3 years. Hypothetically, the court may accept the claim later, but if this is stated, the law will be on the tenant’s side.

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In addition, if we determine storage periods based on the statute of limitations, then we must know something else. If the statute of limitations expires, you can still claim protection for the violated rights. Therefore, saved receipts can not only come in handy, but also become a trump card up your sleeve.

1. Not a single regulatory act specifically specifies how many years it is necessary to keep receipts with a mark or check for payment of housing and communal services, so the law on the statute of limitations for claims comes into play. According to it, the statute of limitations for disputes of this kind expires 3 years from the moment the problem situation arises.
2. This law is not an obstacle to the court accepting a claim, but if this point is voiced in court, the decision in 100% of cases will be made in favor of the service consumer.
3. It happens that management companies try to resort to various kinds of tricks, trying to forcefully extend the statute of limitations. This happens extremely rarely, only in the event of real force majeure circumstances. For example, the entire management company was on a desert island for three years and did not have the opportunity to go to court to collect the debt for housing and communal services.

To ensure the safety of invoices for payment of services, it is recommended to store them in a separate folder. This will allow you to find documents when problem situations arise as quickly as possible.

Due to the lack of properly organized work of departments in public utilities, bills are issued to bona fide payers.

The receipt may contain many numbers, but do not be alarmed. After all, these are instrument readings for previous periods. Regional authorities establish certain standards, indicating what exactly should be written down on the receipt. That is, these are not only current amounts, but also those that have already been issued previously.

If a consumer pays for utilities via the Internet (for example, Sberbank Online), it is enough to save and print the receipt, then attach it to the payment receipt sent monthly for entering readings and payment. Calculation using the terminal. In this case, you will need to have a payment card available, which must be placed in a special slot. After this, you will need to enter data into the electronic form that appears - code, information about your account, payment amount. Then you need to confirm the transaction and receive a confirmation receipt.

The information is presented in the form of a clear and simple table, so everyone can easily understand all the information.

Difficulties with debts arise in relations with all organizations in the housing and communal services sector. We are talking about a management company or HOA, companies involved in water supply, electricity supply and gas supply.

Payment of utility bills can be done in several ways. The most common of them is depositing cash into the company’s account through a cash desk or terminal of one of the banks. Payment through online accounts, that is, electronically, is gaining popularity.

Payment for utility services is carried out on the basis of a receipt provided by the contractor. Such information must be transferred to payers within the period established by law. According to the general rules, a receipt for payment is given no later than the first day of the month following the reporting month.

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Storing payment documents becomes difficult due to the space they take up. But how long are utility bills kept? And what's the point of doing this?

In most cases, the receipt itself is sent by mail. The information is also duplicated on the information resources of the management company. At the same time, the law does not prohibit personal delivery of a document to the payer. This method is mainly used in cases where there is arrears in payment.

In cases where filing a claim was impossible due to certain circumstances that did not depend on the actions and desires of the plaintiff (for example, emergency situations: flood, earthquake, military operations, epidemics, etc.) After the termination of these circumstances, the limitation period continues to run.

Legislative aspect

The procedure for providing payment documents to apartment owners, the information that must be reflected in them, and the list of data that is prohibited from being posted are recorded in the following documents:

• Housing Code of the Russian Federation (Article 155);
• Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 (clause 69);
• Order of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation dated January 26, 2018 No. 43/pr;
• Letter of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation dated June 21, 2018 No. 27125-OG/04;
• Federal Law No. 38;
• Code of Administrative Offenses (Part 1, Article 14).

None of these regulations mention the retention period for utility receipts.

RF PP No. 354 regulates what information should be contained in payment documents: about the premises, service provider, charging, etc.

The Order of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation No. 43/pr approved the approximate form of the receipt.

According to Letter of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation No. 27125-OG/04, the management company has the right to swap blocks and place in them additional information approved at the general meeting of owners.

Federal Law No. 38 “On Advertising” categorically prohibits placing advertising messages on receipts, including on the reverse side. The only exceptions are social advertising and reference information - for example, about sites where you can pay for housing and communal services.

The Code of Administrative Offenses establishes fines for violation of Federal Law No. 38 and Order of the Ministry of Construction No. 43/pr.

How long to keep housing and communal services receipts

Checks for payment for housing and communal services are issued in accordance with the requirements of Order of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation No. 43/pr, signed in January 2018. It is the property owner's responsibility to ensure that the invoice is properly formatted and includes a separate line item for each payment item. The document provides for the following information:

• payment purpose;
• volume of energy resources expended;
• established standards (if any);
• payer details;
• addresses of the apartment where payment is made;
• recipient details.

It is necessary to store only correctly completed documentation in order to avoid possible troubles if discrepancies arise when accounting for payments with the management company or resource supplier.

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The legislation does not directly establish the period during which it is necessary to keep receipts for repayment of utility bills. But, according to Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an appeal to the court regarding debt collection is allowed no later than three years from the moment of its occurrence.

Taking into account this condition, the storage period for documents confirming payments is also three years. After the specified period, the utility organization will no longer be able to go to court with claims against the consumer. But in order to eliminate possible problems, it would not hurt to extend the duration of ensuring the safety of papers to 4–5 years.

The need to provide receipts may arise for the following reasons:

• incorrect addressing of the payment made;
• improper accounting in the utility company;
• failures in the operation of computer equipment, as a result of which data may be lost or damaged.

The presence of a paper payment is a documentary confirmation of the transfer of funds, with the help of which the consumer is guaranteed to prove the fact of transferring money if there is any doubt about it.

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When can you throw away receipts?

Many people are looking for where to look at the requirements for utility payment receipts. Basically, tenants are interested in when they can throw away their canceled payments. But there are no deadline requirements as such. Since “payments” for housing and communal services are subject to a statute of limitations law, after 3 years you may no longer need them. But lawyers recommend approaching this issue carefully and, if possible, not throwing away these papers for another 2-3 years.

How long should utility bills be kept?

Since Soviet times, citizens using public services have become accustomed to collecting paid receipts in a folder and storing them for a long time.

Today, many consumers pay bills remotely, but few of them print and store payments.

So is it necessary to keep receipts for utility bills? Let's look into this issue further.

Do I need to keep receipts for more than 3 years?

The main reason why experts insist on keeping payment documents is that they have legal force. In the event of a conflict with the service provider, the user, with the help of a receipt, will be able to prove that he is right.

You can file a claim within 3 years. Following the logic, you can then throw away unnecessary papers. But it is still not recommended to do this, especially if the tenant has had rent arrears in the past.

There have been precedents when management companies sued defaulters without their knowledge. At that time, the statute of limitations had not yet expired, but for some reason the process was suspended and resumed after 3 years. However, in this case the law does not apply, and the defendant is obliged to appear in court. In such a situation, saving receipts will help you win your case. So it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves how long to keep utility bills, but it doesn’t hurt to take reasonable precautions.

Of course, documents have legal force only if they fully comply with the requirements:

• the displayed data is current;
• the invoice is drawn up in accordance with established rules;
• the receipt is filled out correctly;

To avoid conflicts, you should not delay rent payments and accumulate debts. On our website you can pay for housing and communal services without commission or queues.

How long to keep payment documents

Keeping receipts for utility bills is not the owner’s responsibility by law. The law does not clearly define when it is permissible to throw away receipts, so you can refer to the statute of limitations. We are talking about the period during which a person, if his rights are violated, can protect them in court.

In this case, the period is 3 years, but an ordinary citizen cannot always correctly determine the beginning of this three-year period, so it makes sense to store documents for at least 5 years. Since even after 3 years, the management company can make claims for payment of utilities and go to court, and if the court determines that the statute of limitations has not expired, then it will be possible to prove its case only with a document confirming the fact of payment.

Thus, despite the fact that the statute of limitations by law is 3 years, it is still recommended to keep payment documents for at least 5 years to avoid problems.

Regulations and recommendations of lawyers on this issue

A computer failure, regular changes in tariffs that cause confusion, dishonesty of employees of the counting center and elementary attempts at fraud lead to a legal battle between the consumer of housing and communal services and the management company. In this case, only documentary evidence confirming the fact that gas, water, electricity and other consumer products were paid for is used as evidence of correctness.

Some grandmothers stubbornly keep paid receipts for the last 20-25 years; this is not necessary, but you will have to take into account several nuances:

1. Not a single regulatory act specifically specifies how many years it is necessary to keep receipts with a mark or check for payment of housing and communal services, so the law on the statute of limitations for claims comes into play. According to it, the statute of limitations for disputes of this kind expires 3 years from the moment the problem situation arises.
2. This law is not an obstacle to the court accepting a claim, but if this point is voiced in court, the decision in 100% of cases will be made in favor of the service consumer.
3. It happens that management companies try to resort to various kinds of tricks, trying to forcefully extend the statute of limitations. This happens extremely rarely, only in the event of real force majeure circumstances. For example, the entire management company was on a desert island for three years and did not have the opportunity to go to court to collect the debt for housing and communal services.

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Advice: Despite this, lawyers recommend keeping paid coupons for 5 years to protect yourself from unnecessary worries. In this case, you need to make sure that all receipts have stamps. Otherwise, it is recommended to go to the bank and update the receipt or receive a refusal letter citing the expiration of the statute of limitations.

How long should I keep receipts after payment?

There is not a single law or regulation that clearly states the mandatory retention period for utility receipts. But a hint can be found in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It includes the concept of “statutory limitation” - this is the period during which you can sue to protect a violated right. It is equal to three years. This means that receipts must be kept for at least three years.

Be sure to remember: you need to keep receipts drawn up in accordance with all the rules.

If you paid for a service and noticed that the receipt does not look the same as usual, request that it be reissued.

If you pay for services by card or online banking, make sure that receipts are attached to all other receipts.

When can you throw away payments?

The optimal storage period for utility bills is 5 years. This is not regulated by anything, but, as practice shows, management companies can make claims even after three years, when the payer has already changed in the event of a donation of real estate or a change of place of residence for other reasons.

After three years, the owner can throw away the documentation, but it is better to wait a little longer. Despite the fact that in small court proceedings the statute of limitations will have expired by this time, the presence of a receipt will allow a citizen to defend his rights in pre-trial proceedings.