In the last couple of weeks we have been given a firm completion date, and also the date has been set for the first commnity meeting. Its next Wednesday, and from what I can gather there are not a lot of owners going to be able to attend.

What will happen at this first meeting? Is there anything we can do without being in attendance?

We wont actually complete until after the meeting. Does that mean we have no rights in the first meeting?

Cheers

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If you have not actually completed on your property, you are not yet officially the owner and therefore have no voting rights at any meeting. It does seem a little strange, however, that the first community meeting has been arranged for a date before you complete.

At the first community meeting the main issues are setting a budget for the forthcoming year's expenditure (from which your quota, or contribution, will be calulated) and appointing a president (from the owners) and an adminstrator.

For future reference, you will normally receive an agenda for upcoming meetings in advance, and if you are unable to attend you can give a proxy  to someone else, if you wish to use your vote on any issues being discussed.

Even though you say you will not have completed in time to attend this meeting, do make sure you get hold of a copy of the minutes afterwards so you know what was decided. Also, I recommend that you request a copy of the estatutos, or statutes, of your new community, as these detail certain rules and conditions. You may also want to trawl through the many discussions that have taken place on this forum about communities, and read the associated articles. There's plenty here to read. Do a search of the site for the English version of the Horizontal Law (PDF download) and save a copy, as it explains much of the workings of a Spanish community.

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Well, the completion of the complex was delayed by a few months until they got the LFO. Then, when they got this a week or two back, they seem to have sent a letter to all purcahsers advising them of this, and ask us all to complete on 26th March. It also advised the first meeting was also on 26th March. This letter only gave a couple of weeks or so notice to complete and of the first meeting.

Judging by our developments forum, it seems that no one is able to complete on 26th (we are completing around 21st April) and so it seems there will be very few at the meeting at all!

So, based on that info, do we have to expect that the developer will be making all the decisions, and we will just had to "go with it"?

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Superdon,

Having just experienced our first community meeting the main thing that will get done is NOTHING. After more than 3 hours sitting in a hotel room with the sun blazing down outside, all our meeting achieved was to elect the president and vice president and a lot of angry people, both Spanish and English who didn't know what was going on!!!!!

Noreen

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Thanks Noreen. I guess we arent missing much then :)

Just worried that if its just the developer there, some bad decisions might be made that have a long term affect on us all without our input.

I presume things can then be fixed at the next meetings?

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Noreen's description of first community meetings is pretty accurate. Ours actually got physical!

It sounds fairly typical what is happening in your development. While the developer is still the majority owner, he is pretty much free to make whatever decisions he likes. In particular, this is likely to include the appointment of his favourite administrator! However, you are correct in thinking that any decisions that are not in the best interest of the community, can be changed at a later date by majority votes. Do check the Horizontal Law out, it's a real yawn but worth familiarising yourself with the basics. Sorry, I can never find where it is on EOS but here's a link for it: http://www.infotorremolinos.com/horizontal-laws.pdf

Have a look also at this thread: http://tiny.cc/xjy7n and any others on the Running a Community board that may be relevant. I can't find it now, but I posted recently on a thread about changing adminstrator. I advised to proceed with caution, because in the beginning there are likely to be many issues that need sorting out with the developer, and if you sack his favourite administrator, well, you can figure it out.......

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Our first meeting ended with the then elected Presidente ( not my Hubby ) doing his nut and shouting that he wasn't having a committee or a budget and he would do what he f****** well wanted when he f****** well wanted !!!!!

My house was full that night of owners wondering why they had voted him in and asking what to do ( how was I supposed to know?)

Well I won't bore you with the details of the next few months which were horrific, but then some owners got together and found the correct amount of signatures to hold an EGM ( I think the Presidente had resigned or something by then ) and anyway, my Hubby was voted in as Presidente. Then it was a looooooooooong haul to sort it all out !!

I think I can say now though, that despite upsetting one or two persons ( which is inevitable ) things are ok. The proof of the pudding will be at our next AGM in May.

So, things can be sorted.....but it is hard and you need to gather ALL the info you can and ALWAYS lodge your concerns ( in writing ) with both your Presidente AND your administrator.

_______________________

  ' Do unto others as you would be done by'

   

    Don't give me grief, I can find it by myself

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Superdon

You will find some useful information on these 2 links.

http://www.spainlawyer.com/guialegal/guialegal.cfm?IDCAPITULO=04070000

http://www.eyeonspain.com/spain-magazine/president-community.aspx

I compiled some notes of our community meeting that you are welcome to have - PM me & I will send them to you.

Noreen

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We are going to form a comunity for face 2 in La Canada. Face i comunity is already formed with Canova as administrator, chosen by the builder Quara. I looks like this company is as bad as the builder. Can anyone give us a hint regarding good administrators? That is: handle paperwork without delay, checking the area, puch the builder for completion of snags, i.a.w. get things running. We are  intrested in any experience of administrators in the Costa Blanca area.

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Sorry, I pressed the button twice. 

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As everyone says, in the early days most communities are at risk. its the time that people make structural and exterior changes to their apts that they know they will get away with, because nobody was there to say no.

We were lucky in some respects that our community was formed a few months after the first wave of owners had arrived and someone had previous experience of living on a spanish community and was prepared to stand up and lead the way for us, setting some ground rules in place and ensuring that people stuck to them,.

I'm sure everyone will tell you that the standards of a community are set in the first couple of years, so take care and get a strong presidente and a residents committee to share the responsibilities and the work to lead you forward, nobody buys a home in spain and wants to see the value drop because the complex is dirty, the gardens and pool overgrown and nobody cares.

If anyone needs any help about what a 1st community AGM should include, the minutes from our meetings are on our website forum www.golfgardensmiraflores.co.uk hope this helps and gives you guidance, we still have problems, but we have a great team and a good set of rules which 95% of owners now live by.

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_______________________

Maria L. de Castro, JD, MA

Lawyer

Director www.costaluzlawyers.es

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Can anyone please tell me why our builder has taken 600 euros from everyone to set up a community? what is this all about? as now having completed in April, and apparently someone has been elected and they're sending details to pass out yet again?? all we seem to do is pay out! but as it's all in spanish we're lost! did manage to work out that they are taking tax from rental!!!!!!! god,we were there once in May and the house has been totally locked up since then????????????

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Can anyone please tell me why our builder has taken 600 euros from everyone to set up a community? what is this all about? as now having completed in April, and apparently someone has been elected and they're sending details to pass out yet again?? all we seem to do is pay out! but as it's all in spanish we're lost! did manage to work out that they are taking tax from rental!!!!!!! god,we were there once in May and the house has been totally locked up since then???????????? Is this normal practiced? As I only divert fundsw as necessary??

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_______________________

  ' Do unto others as you would be done by'

   

    Don't give me grief, I can find it by myself

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_______________________

Maria L. de Castro, JD, MA

Lawyer

Director www.costaluzlawyers.es

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