Even if the Consumer Protection Agency issued warnings, the dwellers in Chisinau continue to be offered to sign contracts for the management of apartment buildings. The Agency identified a number of illegal clauses in the given contracts and requested the municipal authorities to modify them.
Contacted by IPN, jurist Uliana Badarau, deputy head of the Agency’s Law Division, said the inspectors found a number of inconsistencies between these contracts and the standard contract. There is no obligatory condition for this type of contracts, namely that any consumer has the right to ask that the payments be recalculated if the services weren’t provided according to standards or norms. Another aspect is the termination of the contract. The hoisting stock managers include in this contract clauses that are convenient for them not for the consumers, without holding negotiations.
“We notified the Chisinau City Hall and asked that the signed contracts be adjusted to the standard contract. If the municipality does not review the signed contracts, we will file a lawsuit so that the court decides whether the given clauses are illegal or not,” stated Uliana Badarau.
Deputy head of the Chisinau Public Amenities Division Vlad Ungureanu has told IPN that the Division received no notification from the Consumer Protection Agency. As to the contract on the management of apartment buildings, it was drawn up in accordance with the law on the privatization of the housing stock. “This law clearly stipulates the obligations of the housing stock manager and of the dwellers. We transposed the provisions of the law to the contract as a model of such a contract does not exist,” said Vlad Ungureanu, adding that if the Agency’s inspectors inform about illegal clauses, the contract will be modified.
On August 24, the Consumer Protection Agency issued a communiqué, informing that it identified a number of illegal clauses in the contract on the management of apartment buildings. The Agency said it will demand that the responsible functionaries of the Chisinau City Hall modify it so that it is in compliance with the law.
