Legal provisions of service contract disputes

There are only 14 provisions in the Civil Code on property service contracts, which should not cover all disputes in daily life. Some disputes need to be handled by other laws, regulations and other normative documents. However, since the Civil Code published the property service contract as a famous contract in the form of law for the first time, it shows that the state still attaches great importance to property service.

Article 14 of the Property Services Contract can be summarized into three aspects: the scope of property services, property fees and the change of property companies.

First, the scope of property services.

The scope of property services determines the obligations or responsibilities of property companies. According to Article 942nd of the Civil Code, the responsibilities of a property management company include the following:

1. Proper maintenance, maintenance, cleaning, greening and operation of the community * * * part;

2. Maintain the basic order of the community;

3. Take reasonable measures to protect the owner's personal and property safety;

4. Stop violations of public security, environmental protection and fire control in the community in time, report to relevant departments and assist in handling.

5. Other services agreed in the realty service contract.

In addition, according to Article 938 of the Civil Law, if the property management company has publicly made a service commitment that is beneficial to the owners, it should also be an obligation that the property management company should fulfill.

Visible property management companies are mainly responsible for some parts of * * *, which is their basic duty. Therefore, problems such as corridor sanitation and street lamp damage in residential areas must be cleaned and maintained by property companies.

On the other hand, the proprietary part of the owner generally does not belong to the area where the property management company should intervene, unless the property management service contract stipulates the service content or the property management company publicly makes relevant commitments. Although in reality many owners will seek the help of the property management company because of various personal problems, and the property management company is sometimes willing to solve the owner's difficulties to a certain extent, it cannot be concluded that the property management company has the responsibility or obligation to maintain and manage the proprietary part. Of course, when it comes to the personal and property safety of the owners, the property management company should take corresponding reasonable measures.

Second, the property fee.

Whether to pay the property fee and whether the property fee is reasonable has always been a common problem in property service disputes. In particular, some owners often refuse to pay property fees on the grounds of poor property service experience and mismatch between services and fees.

There are also property companies that have exhausted their means when collecting property fees. Some netizens have raised the question whether it is illegal for property companies to prevent owners who have not paid property fees from entering their corridors.

Objectively speaking, refusing to pay property fees and collecting property fees without judicial procedures are both breach of contract and illegal acts.

Article 944 of the Civil Code gives a clear answer. If the property company 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. The implication is that if the property management company does not provide services or the services provided do not conform to the agreement or relevant regulations, the owner may refuse to pay or reduce part of the property fees, but the owner should pay attention to collecting relevant evidence.

At the same time, it is also clear that there is only one way for property companies to collect property fees. That is, the owner should be urged to pay within a reasonable period of time, and a lawsuit or arbitration can be filed after the deadline. The property company shall not stop power supply, water supply, heat supply and gas supply due to collection.

It is worth noting that Article 949 of the Civil Code stipulates that the owner can refuse to pay the property fee, that is, when the property service contract is terminated, the property management company should quit according to law and hand over the relevant materials and facilities within a time limit to do a good job in handover. If the property management company violates the aforementioned obligations, the owner may refuse to pay the property fee or claim compensation for the losses.

Generally speaking, property fees can't be collected if you want to, and can't be paid if you don't want to. Both the property company and the owner shall fulfill their obligations as agreed and resolve disputes through legal means and channels. At the same time, it should be pointed out that the property management company is engaged in property services, so it is necessary to reflect its professionalism and strictly control the service content, otherwise even if it can charge a certain property fee in a short time, it may not last long.

Third, change the property management company.

The property service contract may be terminated due to the expiration of the service period or the termination of the contract during the service period, and the original property company will no longer be used, and then the owner decides to hire a new property company, which is commonly called "changing the property". Including previous property company changes and general changes.

1. It is simpler to change to the previous property management company. According to Article 939 of the General Principles of Civil Law, the service period stipulated in the previous property service contract can be changed before the expiration. As long as the contract signed by the owners' committee or owners (referring to all owners before the establishment of the industry committee rather than a single owner) and the new property management company takes effect, the previous property service contract will be terminated.

After the expiration of the prophase realty service contract, if the owner does not agree to renew or hire a new realty company, and the prophase realty company continues to provide realty service, the original realty service contract shall remain valid with an indefinite term according to the provisions of Article 948 of the General Principles of the Civil Law. At this time, you can terminate the contract at any time, but you should notify the other party in writing 60 days in advance. This situation can be called the change of terminating the contract at any time.

2. The general change refers to the change after the change of the previous property company, and the situation that the owner decides to continue to hire the previous property company after the expiration of the previous property service contract, and then decides to hire a new property company. It can also be divided into changes during the contract service period and changes to terminate the contract at any time.

Because the change of dissolving the contract at any time occurs after the expiration of the original property service contract, it can be handled in accordance with the aforementioned Article 948 of the Civil Code, which is not repeated here.

Article 946 of the Civil Code stipulates the changes during the service period of the contract. The specific contents are as follows: if the owner decides to dismiss the original property company according to legal procedures, he can terminate the property service contract, but he shall give a written notice 60 days in advance (if the contract has a time limit, it shall be stipulated by the time limit). Except for reasons not attributable to the owner, the owner shall be responsible for compensation for the losses caused by the property management company.

To put it simply, the owner can terminate the property service contract and hire another property company on the premise of assuming the liability for compensation. If it is not the owner's responsibility that leads to the termination of the contract, there is no need for compensation. It should be said that the Civil Code gives owners more freedom of choice. For property companies, because there is no reason to terminate the right, they will be urged to provide more standardized and professional services and win the satisfaction and recognition of the owners.