Housing companies
Issues concerning a housing company are not consumer matters. The Consumer Advisory Services do not handle disputes between a shareholder and a housing company or problems with renovations or other services ordered by a housing company.
If there is a dispute in a housing company
The activities of a housing company are directed by the Limited Liability Housing Companies Act and the articles of association.
Issues concerning a housing company are not consumer matters. The shareholder is not a consumer, and the housing company is not a trader. The consumer authorities cannot handle disputes between a shareholder and a housing company or, for example, assess if decisions made by the shareholders’ meeting or board of directors in a housing company are legal. Similarly, disputes with a building manager or maintenance company basically are not within the consumer authorities’ competence.
No public authority provides guidance in disputes between a housing company and a shareholder.
In case of problems, the shareholder may contact the housing advisory services of the Consumer’s Union of Finland
Housing company’s charges
A shareholder in a housing company has the obligation to pay the housing company’s charges to cover the company’s expenses. The basis of this payment (including the flat’s surface area, the number of shares, consumption) is determined in the articles of association. The amount of the charge is approved annually at the housing company’s general shareholders’ meeting. The consumer authorities cannot intervene in the grounds for or amounts of the charges a housing company collects.
The charges and other fees you pay to the housing company are not consumer receivables. This means that, for example, the limits on consumer claims in euro amounts laid down in the Debt Collection Act do not apply to the collection of a housing company’s receivables.
Under the Debt Collection Act, good debt collection practices must also be followed in these cases, however.
Read more about the Consumer Ombudsman’s guideline on good debt collection practice (in Finnish).
Renovations commissioned by the housing company
When a housing company commissions renovations from a contractor, this is not a consumer contract. A shareholder cannot address claims based on renovations commissioned by the housing company directly to the contractor, as there is no contract between the customer and the contractor.
If a shareholder agrees directly with the contractor on additional work or alterations which are carried out in connection with renovations commissioned by the housing company and pays for this work to the contractor themselves, this is a contract between the consumer and a trader, and the shareholder may contact the Consumer Advisory Services about a dispute if necessary. A housing company’s broadband subscription
A housing company’s broadband subscription
In many housing companies, the residents can use a broadband connection provided by the housing company. In this case, the housing company concludes a contract with the operator, and the residents do not need to have their own contracts. The housing company usually invoices the residents for this service as part of the management charge or rent.
The Consumer Advisory Services cannot help a resident in a dispute over broadband services purchased by the housing company, as the resident does not have a contract with the operator.
The residents can usually subscribe to a connection that is faster than the basic connection offered by the housing company’s broadband subscription as an additional service. In this case, the resident contacts the operator themselves to order the service and pays the fee for it directly to the operator. This is a contract between a consumer and a trader, and the resident can contact the Consumer Advisory Services for help in any problems if necessary.
Parking disputes
A housing company may have concluded a contract on parking control with a private company. The Consumer Advisory Services cannot handle disputes over fines issued to residents or their visitors in the housing company’s area.