Hello.  We haven't received any notification yet.  Thought I'd share some UK experience of this type of activity as this is certainly not just a spanish thing......

We have experience of this situation in the UK.  Basically we bought a new house from a well known homebuilder.  We were paying ground rent and service charges for 3 years before the first meeting called by the management company - and not for want of trying of many residents....interestingly neither the builder or property management company would take responsibility for caling a meeting....and until we sorted it out staff of the homebuilder were the directors of our management company and the management company appoint the property managers (called CPM at the time)...chicken and egg you'll find...!!!!  At this point, all the owners were called to a meeting.  A person from the management company went through a very similar agenda to the one I have seen in this thread.  In that first meeting it was chaos with more questions than answers and AOB was basically a chance for a number of people to complain about the builder, the property managers, their neighbours.... oh and we all refused to vote as effectively we refused to nominate for the directors and people were considered of the legal position of accepting directorships without due consideration. 

What was interesting was that the management company clearly didn't want to upset the builder (don't bite the hand that feeds you) and therefore where we had complaints about the completion of the site facilities (ring any bells) the management company wouldn't act on our behalf (note about who the directors were above) and the builder kept referring to management company needing to approach them.....this was driving us nuts....  Ultimately a group of us took legal advice and in fact our site issues were directly with the builder (as contract of sales was between owner and builder) and the management company was to maintain what was already there

Until residents/owners were appointed to the management company, the property management company had increased their management charge element of our service charge by over 10% per annum and the directors (Wimpey employees) signed this off.   Now residents are in control we have not had a service charge increase for 2 years and all services are competitively tendered.

I for one can't attend the meeting but I do welcome the fact this is happening and with the passion displayed by people on this forum I will be happy that whoever is voted to represent us will have our interests at heart.  

Morning everyone

There seems to be rather a lot of people that haven't received emails, don't know if this is on purpose, or not.  I do know that at least one  owner on the penthouses that has completed but had not received notice, contacted RPM and has now received it. He seemed to think that he wouldn't have got it it he hadn't asked.  This may be a ploy to keep numbers down, or just an oversight.  According to the email that PGM had back, although abrupt, RPM seem to be saying they have the same problems with PW as us, so lets hope this is true and we can all stick together.

We did ask about the different times quoted on our form, just noticed that the one PGM(Phil) posted has the same problem, and they have confirmed that Naranjos meeting is at 16.00 & 16.30

Have tried to do a search on RPM S.L. but without luck, so still don't know anything about them as a management company

Hi June

Yes I think you are correct, I definitely got the impression they don’t like being tarred with the same brush, well not yet anyway.

Ann and me would be grateful if Martyn would vote for us as well at the meeting, I will PM you about it. Not sure about the timings you mention, do I need to amend the times on the form before I send it to you?

Phil

Hi Phil,

Martyn is very happy to take your vote, I'll PM our email address.

When we asked RPM about the times, all they said was that the 16.00 & 16.30 times are correct,  so as long as you put your apartment no and sign it, it should be ok, although I don't think  it will  cause any problems if you change it. Don't forget, in case the opportunity arises, let us know if there is anything you want bought up.  Still a bit in the dark about exactly what will go on, so will have to go with the flow.  Carol is going to try and get some more info today.  So fingers crossed.

Cuz,

Who are rpm?  Do you have any contact detaisl for them. We are in the same boat as Simon - not heard anything from PW at all.   Despite being informed COH will be issued today following visit by Alahama Town Hall.

Thanks

Nick

Hi Nick

Email Victoria at Resort Property Management, S. L. general@rpmspain.com

Tel: +34 968 101949

Regards

Phil

Thanks Phil,

Will do so now

Cheers

Nick

Hi All

I know i`m getting old & the brain is becoming more befuddled by the minute but I am very confused.

( does`nt take much )

I know that we can elect or should I say request that some one takes our proxy vote to the meeting but how do we know who to vote for.

Am I being a bit ( sorry a lot ) thick.

Am I right to presume that before the meeting takes place, we, the none  attending owners can put a name forward & that person can then eiher says yay or nay.

Or do we wait to see who puts themselves forward.

Also If the morgage, deeds etc are only in one name can only that named person vote or can the spouse , partner vote too.

looking forward to your repkys

Jan

With regard to electing officials for the community -

The first stage is that volunteers will be requested from those present at the meeting.

If no-one volunteers then it is basically a lottery & anyone can be chosen & legally they have to accept.

Noreen

Thanks Noreen

However I still see a problem. If I do not know who is going to put themselves forward How can I vote.

Are there any takers.

We have some  one., Well two people actually that we would happily give our vote to but until either put their  names forward we wolud not be presumptious to give them a push in that direction.

Jan & Ham

Hi Jan & Ham

At this stage all you have to do is give someone your permission to vote on your behalf. You don;t necessarily have to give your proxy vote to someone who is going to stand for office. You need to find someone you feel you can trust to use your vote in the manner you would had you been able to attend.

It is my guess that at this stage, or at least for the first year,  we need to trust most of the people that are running things now, after all this is what they do professionally. If we can get an owner or two in that will be able to attend all the required meetings, all the better. Its more a case of not wasting your vote than voting for the election of an officer.

You only get one vote per property by the way and not one for each person in that property.

Good luck

Martyn

Thank you Martin 

I think Its much clearer now.

I`m sure Ham would have understood it all anyway.

But as I`m the Eye on Spain Geek. He leaves all of this to me.

Ah Bless.

Thanks

Jan & Ham

Just to clarify- what exactly will we be voting for at this meeting? Initially I thought I understood but the more I read.............?

Are we merely voting in officially the people who are managing and deputy managing the present community set up (as put in by PW) at that point I feel we have misunderstood whats happening at this meeting. We dont know what is planned, expected charges etc so what are we to vote for?

Or are we hoping there will be a representative from each Jardine- and therefore they could be officially voted onto a community committe- at this stage that number of representatives seems unlikely?

Advice welcomed. 

This is the agenda that someone else has printed further down this thread.

Items 1-3 will be the only issues that you will be able to vote on.

Item 1 looks to me as if it will a discussion & vote on whether you accept the community statutes & rules.

Item 2 is where the administrators will tell you what it is going to cost to run your development for the next 12 months. Again you will discuss & vote on whether to accept these budgets.

Item 3 is where you will agree (or not) to keep the administrators that have been appointed by Polaris World. You will also appoint a President & Vice President(s)

1. Information about the organization of the Community of Owners, outline and operation of Community levels.
2. Information about Annual Accounts and budget for the Community. Distribution of the budget according to the Statutes.
3. Renew, if approval, of the Community representatives: President, Secretary- Administrator.
4. Any other business.

Hope that clears up some of the confusion.

Noreen

What a pity Lord Sutch isn't available to lead us into battle against the tyrants

Thanks Noreen,

Having been searching forums left, right and centre overload had occured and my other half was questioning the point of voting- as he sees the situation on community fees as fait accompli at this time. He believes the present committee will have considered all the options and unless we have someone who has had access to the accounts we cant argue the finances. We can say their figures appear high but have nothing to balance them against- as we knew other resorts had to back pay their community fes that hadnt been a surprise to us or something we expected to argue against.

Shampers maybe you are just the person to take on the mantle of leadership?!!.

One point- if there are alot of empty apartments in a Jardine are fees divided between the sold apartments, or does each apartment carry a standard fee?

PW pay for the ones that they haven't SOLD.

JHMurcia

You are quite right that it will be difficult to know whether the figures that will be put forward are a true reflection of what it will cost to run the community. However, I suppose there has to be a starting point for the first year & the experience of your administrators will hopefully bring some realism to the figures.

Of course, after the first year you will have a far better idea of what it has cost & where savings can potentially be made.

The answer given about who pays the fees for the unsold properties is correct. The developer has this responsibility until the full purchase of a property has taken place & keys handed over.

Noreen 

I've found this an interesting thread, people do get excited about stuff that for now they have minimal control over. Less than 5% of Jardines occupied, less than 20% furnished, less than 10% of owners will attend the meeting even with proxies. Don't go into battle with your enemy until you have the resources and team to beat them (how many of the other 1949 owners do we all know / or what they want ?............... and also remember to make sure that your purported enemy/friend really is your enemy/friend (UK politicians take note) !

My view for what its worth is to let PW and the administrators run the place for at least 12mths. From what I've read on here every time someone has had an issue with their apartment then the workmen have been back en masse to try and sort it (they have reacted far quicker than UK builders of new homes to new build property issues). They were in to fix my boiler asap and on the few occasions i have been to or e.mailed customer services/administrators they have been fine with me and done what i asked. Granted they haven't yet fixed the lights at the back of Jardin 4 (my Jardin), but i know the layout of the car park, my car has headlights and i have a torch if it's really dark and I'm walking, ohhh and i also tread carefully when walking (more to avoid the dog shit - haven't seen any yet !) as i would in the UK. As for the UK i pay a community charge here as well (and it's a bit more than what I'm expecting in Spain), my roads and paths are a disgrace, the street lights are intermittent, the local services are bobbins, and the weather is crap - I know where I'd rather be living !!!!

I have no idea of the cost of running such an estate (1950 apartments / 13 swimming pools for Jardines alone, only 50 are owned by PW and no doubt they will be having a 'sale' to shift these at some point) but I have a budget on top of my mortgage to cover community, electric, water and insurance. I also expect to pay a premium for what the site is and what it is compared to all the other estates in Murcia - it is the best. Eventually i expect that the owners will take over the appointing of administrators but for now I'm content to leave it to those who have some experience.

I for one will not be voting for an individual who i don't really know who purports to be an expert in this area. I'd rather see how the PW appointed administrators run with it as the site develops and if they don't run it properly (everyone will have issues with how they do, and they won't be the same issues, so probably everything they do will be not right for someone) then ultimately they will be voted off as has happened at La Torre (a battle i followed for months with interest). I also fully expected to have to pay my community fees from the moment of completion as i could have moved in if I'd wanted to and availed myself of the property and beautiful surroundings (and the free electric and water that PW were paying for !!).

For the record one of my clients manages UK apartment blocks, mixed use blocks (retail ground floor, apartments above) and shopping centres. I've discussed this situation with them. Whilst not giving direct advice what they did say was as follows. Their most 'expensive' contracts are the ones where the residents have took control coz they weren't happy with the administrators (usually a minority picking on 1 or 2 issues and rallying support for their own selfish personal crusade), and within months are in disarray due to infighting ultimately leading to them desperately handing back the reigns to an administrator of a site in total disarray so that it costs even more than ever to get it back under control. Remember that whilst independent administrators may not be perfect at least they are independent of any one resident's personal views or desires ........ don't let the vocal minority get their way to suit themselves coz you'll wish you hadn't !

You raise several good points Shampers.   Do you know if PW have any desire to run the show for an iterim period or will they be looking to off-load it to the owners quickly?   

We should also be able to get good feedback from other PW sites - Good & Bad. - form the various forums dooted about.   I certainley have no major complaints with PW so far - just that there general communication is a bit shite........for example the notice given about this mtg (I still have not got an e-mail).  As you say, we all knew the Communidad was coming as well as the obvious cost of the utilities, so lets just understand the facts & get on with it.  One things for sure PW have far more experience than any of us lot in running such a complex.    In my block (Penthouse 9) I think I am the only one who has completed, so need more more time, a few holidays at different times of the year, meet the neighbours etc before we can establish what issues need addressing.  

However I do think it is useful if a few owners can get to the mtg.....Personally I am more interested in PW's current plans for Condodo, effect of the Credit crunch on sales, growth of the development, Foro opening, Oasis starting, course opening, Still building the other 2  etc etc etc.  I think the mtg is a very good opportuntuy to try speak direct with PW to get some answers to thos type of questions.....??

Skell