General Assembly

Hi Debbie , Hi Paul

looking forward to another week in your fab Apartment in just over a weeks time.

But to get back to the point of this thread.

We completed in October & as yet have had no communication  from PW about the previous meeting, Costs etc. Is this because many of you completed  well before us ???

We would very much like to attend the next meeting but have a horrible feeling that unless someone posts a thread well in advance, we wont find out until it is to late

Jan & Ham

Hi Debbie and Paul,

Rpm told me that they would take this years fees by the end of March for jan feb and march, then every three months thereafter, so it appears that there will be 4 payments of approx 300 euros. The figure of 29.64 euros per month for last year is the one they are refering to when they say they will confirm at the next meeting. Thats my interpretation of the dialogue I have shared with them. Hope that helps and I hope they stick to it.

Cheers Dakey

Hi everyone,

I emailed Victoria at RPM asking what our community fees would be.  We are on Jardine 13, 3 bed ground floor.  I've been told that ours will be 118.03 per month and will be taken out some time this month. 

I can't quite understand why ours is more than the figures quoted for Jardine 12.  I think Jardien 13 is the biggest of the Jardines so thought that this may have been cheeper as there are more apartments to split the cost between?  Anyway we'll just have to get on with this until things are sorted. 

I just keep looking at the photos to keep me in a positive mood.  Condado will be fantastic when it is finished so it will be worth pay an extra few quid to keep it looking good.

As you know, I have posted on here the figures quoted to me by Victoria from rpm. 2 days ago she emailed me stating that the backpayments would be 29.64 euros per month for aug to dec last year. I think, fine, I can live with that. I have just received another email from Alejandro from rpm who now says the monthly figure is 40 euros. As you can imagine I have fired off a strongly worded reply basically asking for them to get their heads together and get their act together as I think each individual in their office must be making it up as they go along. How can they possibly manage complicated budgets if they are giving out contradictory information within a couple of days from different individuals? I will keep you posted when I receive a reply.

Cheers Dakey

As you know, I have posted on here the figures quoted to me by Victoria from rpm. 2 days ago she emailed me stating that the backpayments would be 29.64 euros per month for aug to dec last year. I think, fine, I can live with that. I have just received another email from Alejandro from rpm who now says the monthly figure is 40 euros. As you can imagine I have fired off a strongly worded reply basically asking for them to get their heads together and get their act together as I think each individual in their office must be making it up as they go along. How can they possibly manage complicated budgets if they are giving out contradictory information within a couple of days from different individuals? I will keep you posted when I receive a reply.

Cheers Dakey

Hi

Could someone please give me an email address for Victoria as my husband and I have had no communication from the admin company about any meetings or charges even though we completed last September.

Thank you

MG

Hi All,

I just received an e-mail today from RPM with the following community charges.

You first Community fee is 121,11 Eu but we do not know yet wich date 
exactly will be, but it will be at the end of this month, you willl be 
properly informed before than the payment

I am in 3 bedroom Jardin 7

Can someone tell me the answer to this question?  If PW build 5000 apartments ans sell 3000 then divide the community charge up by 3000 for us to share then would they expect the owners to pay €250,000 per month had they sold only 2 apartments?  ALL of the apartments have 'owners' some are owned by us and some are owned by PW.  This is the only thinkg that irks me in this process.  Why are PW not contributing to the upkeep.  They will enjoy the advantage of the manicured lawns and the security services whilst trying to punt the remaining lots to buyers.  They cannot, then, claim not to be benefitting in any way from these services.  If their rationale were to be applied - in that they are not resident - then neither are most of us!  I may have misunderstood the aportionment of fees but that is my current understanding of how it is being worked out??? 

The email address is general@rpmspain.com.

We had not received any information but I emailed them and got a reply the next day.

Alison

Hi Arlene,

My understanding is that once the apartments are completed they become part of the community, and if they are unsold Polaris are required to make a contribution - and they have the respective votes in community affairs!!  The main problem I see is that where they have not build as planned - ie. Mirador, Golf Suites etc - there is no contribution to the overall Condado costs - so we have infrastructure for 5-6,000 units, but only 2,500 contributing.  I am also concerned that we are paying for maintainance of roads etc. outside of the perimeter fence - this is public land, access to Oasis when complete - so don't think we should be paying for it.

Ted

For all those in Penthouses I thought I would post this info.

I e-mailed Victoria today to find out what the fees were going to be for the Penthouses.  Just received an e-mail back from Alejandro stating that our payment in March will be 79,90 euros per month and will cover Jan, Feb, Mar.  So far so good, as I had expected to pay the full 90 euros per month that was talked about at the AGM.  The next question I asked was when the next payment was due, and I was told June, which goes against everything mentioned so far about the next payment being in April for April, May & June.

Now for the best bit.  I asked them about the backdated fees and whilst they couldn't confirm when they would be taken they did tell me that the fee would be 64.09 euros per month.  Given I was expecting to pay somehere between 20-40 euros per month, I am certainly not happy about this.

Like Dakey has said earlier, it seems to me that at the moment that they are making figures to suit themselves.  I have also sent an e-mail back to them asking for justification of this higher than expected amount.

I will keep you posted when I hear something back from them.

Cheers

Simon

At least you guys have managed to get a figure . I have been trying for over a week and despite sending 3 emails, still no response !

It's not often I agree with a Man U fan, but I'm with Ted re the charges. However I think that this is a debate going forward and I am sure that it will not be resolved easily especially with PW apparently having so many votes.

Is there a reason that the penthouses are less per month than Jardines.  Given that they are of a higher value then I thought they would be more per month??

I emailed Victoria today, and have already had a response (very impressed with the efficiency!).  I asked how the costs were calculated and she has stated

"The fee are calculated with a percent that you have in your property deeds, which are delilmited by the architec on the initial proyect."

The fees quoted to me are €99pm.  I am also suprised that the penthouses are less, as there is additional costs in respect of the lifts to be allocated.  I am intending to go to the office when I am over, as I want a more detailed breakdown of the total costs and how they are being allocated.  I did ask about the areas outside of the perimeter fence and the response was "at the moment we are dealing with the Alhama council to get a maintainance from them" - my concern there is that I would have thought that was for Polaris to do, and does it mean we are paying for this until such time as Alhama council agree??  Lots to follow up on.

Ted

ps: That must have been a tough call Wiredout!

Update from my earlier post.

Alejandro has got back to me to tell me he has made a mistake as he was trying to send 2 e-mails out at the same time.  It must be true what they say about men and multi-tasking!!

The backdated fees for the Penthouses (well Block 10) will be 21,36 euros per month.  Bit less than the 64.09, first quoted.

The next fee will be taken in April and not June.

They don't exactly fill you with much confidence this RPM mob, but I suppose I should be grateful I got a reply.

I am not exactly sure why the Penthouse figures are lower than the Jardines either.  I have printed off the booklet that Ted refers to in an earlier post as to how La Torre calculated their community fees and although I haven't had a good look through it seems to be something to do with the cuota's and sq/m of the apartments as to how the fees are calculated.

I agree with Ted, that it would be a good idea to ask RPM how they have arrived at their figures.  At least that way, if you understand how it has been calculated you still might not like the amounts but you might be more accepting of it.

Simon

Obviously we need some definitive answers on all this - everything until then is speculation.

The way the charges are calculated was explained in an earlier post - it is all to do with something called the Horizontal Property Law. If your property forms part of a block of properties then the proportion of fees that you pay varies and is linked to the coefficient % that is detailed in your escritura. This all seems pretty complicated. However, it seems as though it is non-negotiable. The negotiable part is how much the total budget is and this is what we should be focussing on. I hope we are not going to get into arguments about what 2 beds pay vs 3 beds vs penthouses vs Jana villas - this same argument caused a lot of ill feeling in the early days of La Torre.

Also, it may depend how the resort is split - different Jardins may pay different to others, Naranjos may be different to Jardins, etc.

Whilst penthouse owners may have to pay for lifts do they have to pay for the gardens upkeep in the jardins that they do not directly benefit from ? Is the sq footage of a two bed jardin property (inc the terrace) more than that of a penthouse or even a 3 bed jardin ?

I certainly thought that PW had to pay the share of unsold properties for which they have a vote. Also, we shouldn't be paying for external services (roads, etc).

Simon,

Saw your post - we must have been writing at the same time ! I agree and reiterate that I feel we must focus on managing the budget to an acceptable level first. I really want to know that, whatever my share is deemed to be, I'm getting value for money and not subsidising backhanders, etc.

Totally agree with you Kevin.

It is the budget we can (and should)argue with RPM about, but apparantly not the way in which the fees are broken down per apartment.

Simon

Simon,

I think Alejandro was replying to me at the same time as you (and there was me calling him Victoria!!).  Kev, I do agree with you, my comment re lifts etc. was just expressing suprise, I am sure the formula between properties will get sorted and yes the focus needs to be on what makes up the budget, I am certainly not looking to start a battle with my neighbours around who pay what proportion.

Ted

Hi

I asked the same question today and got back much the same as everybody else.

Your Community fee to covers January, February and March, is 102.44 Eu/ Month And the back dates payment is, 25.09 Eu/Month.    

They can't tell me when I will start paying the back dates.  

I would imagine the up keep of the gardens keeping the area clean etc would be more costs than the penthouses. 

Just a thought.