In 2023 alone, at least 300,000 decisions were made in Ukraine to collect utility debts. It is not only about those who ignore payments, but also pensioners, displaced persons, Ukrainians abroad and even those who sell apartments with debts. The lawsuits are launched under the simplified procedure, without calling the defendants - and within a few days the debtors' accounts can be blocked and the money is forcibly written off.
According to the analytics of Opendatabot, more than 28% of all civil cases in 2023 concerned communal debts. For comparison, bank loans are only 12%.
The court without call and minimum terms
by law, utility companies can be sued without the participation of the debtor - and receive a court order within 5 days. If in the next 15 days the debtor does not objection, the case is automatically transferred to the executive service. There the bills are blocked, the funds are written off, and in the absence of money - personal property is arrested.
The accountant of one of the condominiums near Kiev told OBOZ.ua how it works:
"We submit a list of debtors to the lawyers. After a few months we receive court orders. Further, the executive service automatically collects money from the accounts."
In the list-even retirees and refugees,
for example, a resident of Odesa region, 84-year-old Mykola Fedorovich, found himself in the register of debtors for 7.3 thousand UAH of debt for maintenance of the house. The Vuzivsky Municipal enterprise did not even pay the court fee, explaining that it has a total debt of residents for more than UAH 42 million.
Courts stand on the side of public utilities even when people do not live in apartments. Thus, in Lviv, residents of one apartment owed 21.8 thousand UAH. The court ordered them to pay debt, penalties, inflation and even court fees - a total of UAH 27.8 thousand. One of the defendants argued that since May 2023 he lives abroad, but this was not convinced by the court.
Even the sale of the apartment does not free from debt. A woman who owned housing only from February to September 2023 was obliged to pay more than 7 thousand UAH in 2025-because it was at this time that ownership was issued at this time.
The situation is getting worse: the debtors are increasingly
according to Opendatabot, since the start of a full -scale war, the number of debtors has increased by a third. The biggest problems are water utilities that cannot raise tariffs without the regulator, but do not receive payment at the same time.
Judicial mechanisms have actually become the main way of "knocking out" debts. And the law allows you to impose penalties, penalties, arrest property and block accounts.
That threatens debtors
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Penny: 0.01% for each day of delay
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Lawsuits without call
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Seizure of property and accounts
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Removal of household appliances, furniture and personal belongings
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Disable service (if technically possible)
All this is a reality for those who do not pay payments in time. The war, moving or lack of residence in the apartment does not release the obligation to pay. The law is not on the side of the debtors.
How to avoid a debt trap?
Appeal court orders within 15 days, record the fact of disposal, monitor the payments and check your presence in the register of the Ministry of Justice.
