Hydralia Incompetence and Town Hall Negligence

We  moved in to Manilva Heights/Royal Manilva in 2007 and were on Builder's Supply for water due to apparent problems between the developer and Hydralia, or so we were led to believe. Now nearly 9 years later we find that we, as an Urbanisation, are €33,000 in debt thanks to the negiligence of the Town Hall and the incompetence of Hydralia, and the dishonesty of the developer. We, and the Administrators (allegedly), have only just found out that when the urbanisation was built the developer installed the wrong pipes supplying the water to the estate. Apparently, the Town Hall knew about this and did nothing, and Hydralia knew and also did nothing. The developer continued to pay the water bill while the mess was supposedly sorted out, until last March when he said he would pay no more. Nobody told us that he wasn't paying even though, over the years we had all approached Hydralia to put us individually on water meters, an offer that they refused. 

NOW; after all this time they are telling us that we all have to pay €18,000's for installing the new pipes and €15,000's for the water used since March. We called a Community meeting in December, at which a representative from the Town Hall and Hydralia attended. The 2 of them sat there giggling and whispering in each othre's ears like a pair of little girls. The meeting was a disgrace, where they basically said if we don't pay what they demand, they will cut off the water.

This whole situation is none of the residents doing, and we did what we could to have the supply metered properly, but thanks to these clown's negligence and incompetence we are stuck with a huge bill that they refuse to accept is in any way their fault.

To those of you who are going to say "Well you had free water for all that time", I say this. We tried to get Hydralia to put us on meters and THEY refused. Water isn't expensive here, but when a debt mounts up like this, it becomes a hardship.

Have you taken legal advice to check if cutting off the water under these circumstances is legal?

What is the legal situation if your community were not forewarned in writing of your liabilities since March?

What are the community's legal rights given you have been denied water meters through no fault of your own?

Is the community legally liable to make provision of pipes under this circumstance?

Do you have any legal rights to make the developer and Town Hall jointly and severally liable for these negligences?

On the other hand would it be expected for the community to have made provision for a "sinking fund" in the interim period?

Just a few thoughts....

The United Nations designated water as a basic human right some years ago and as such in the UK, France and the US it is against the law for water to be cut off for non payment. Not so in Spain however! although the unions are fighting hard for it. When push comes to shove I don't believe they will cut off a whole community which do doubt would include the young, old and infirm.

Thank you Ads and Team GB. I don't know what rights we have and the urbanisation has no funds for emergencies due to huge amounts that we are owed in Community Fees. The developer alone owes us €102,000's and others owe €45,000. 

Hydralia have already, on several occasions when the Developer didn't pay, cut the water off for up to 3 days, usually in the height of summer. The developer is liable for the Community fees, on the empty houses,because one half of the urbanisation (about 45 houses) has no First Licence of Habitation, and has been standing empty for 8 years (all completely stripped and burgled now) and I think this is where most of the problems stem from. 

As a community we have told them we are not paying anything until we have more quotes for the installation. I don't really know if the Administrators are stringing us along, or not, but they seem very pally with both representatives who attended and they say they weren't informed of any of this until recently..

What a dreadful postion to be in! there is no easy answer. If it were me I think I would be looking for a professional second opinion away from the close network of Town Hall/Developer/Administrator. What is your president doing about it? 

Again I don't know what the President is doing. He wanted to pay the installation bill in 3 instalments and, after my stand, we all said no! I know he's had meetings with them,but he doesn't speak English and my Spanish is minimal. The Vice President speaks English, but only holds the position merely for the 'title'. At the meetings many of us stopped going because they were, like a private club of 5 people, plus they were carried out in Spanish and any attempt to translate was rudely shouted over.

Builders Obligatory Insurance lasts for 10 years after building is finished ( wich means once it is handed over to you with full licenses)

Is there any lawyer representing/ defending your rights/position?

Is there any debtor Bank of community fees?

You may negotiate with the debt the developer have with you?

In any case... a strong legal representation is necessary in a case like that

The trouble is we Brits worry too much about this thing the Spanish dont worry about such things our water was off for three months we survived we washed our bits in the neighbours pools and filled the bog with a jerry can none of you have paid for the water its just what you owe the Spanish water anyway is full off Coliform someone told me.

Most communitys are heavily in debt I dont know a single one that isnt Camposol is in debt for millions I here but we all just get on with it remember its the community in debt not you bit like a Ltd company you are not individually responsible

Off to pub its happy hour soon

Love Hugh

Admire your bulldog spirit Hugh and respect cultural differences.... but unfortunately in reality it's not always so simple.

To ignore these instances without holding those responsible to account can lead to a downward spiral that sadly magnifies distrust, promotes disharmony and insecurity (water supply is pretty basic requirement), increases community debt (disincentive to pay community fees to cover costs of others who refuse to pay), impacts general standard of development (restricted maintenance), which ultimately has knock on effect on rentals and ability to sell (info re community debt etc required upon sale), which ultimately negatively impacts local economy. Lose/lose scenario which only perpetuates abusive behaviour.....

Maria is right to focus on establishing rights and where necessary gaining strong legal representation.

Good luck Orda and sorry to hear of your situation.

Once again thank you Ads for the sensible comments. Much appreciated. You hit the nail on the head. Our monthly Community Fees are only €42's per month and still some won't pay, so they certainly won't pay their share of this little lot. Another shame is we have people who have moved in to their houses only a couple of months ago and are being saddled with the whole 'so-called' debt.