Community responsibilities & constitution

Hi

Some Questions.

1. Does a community have to have a constitution?

2. In the case of flats is the community responsible for structual problems?

3. In the case of a community that used to do all the outside repairs and decoration but now does not, where, in the case of flats, does the line between community responsibility and individual responsibility for the structure and outside decoration lie?

4. If a community has several debtors thus raising the amount needed to be collected from those paying, the community is taking action to recover the money, but one individual does a calculation as to what he would pay should all be paying and pays only that amount, can he loose his vote for non payment?

I may have more questions depending on the answers if anyone can help.

Thanks

Tteedd

Most of the answers you will find in the Horizontal Law, an English translation can be found here: http://www.eyeonspain.com/spain-magazine/horizontal-laws.pdf

1. It's the master deed, or estatutos;  have a look at Sections 5 & 6

2. Section 10; the community should have building insurance of course, and depending on how old the property is, the builder may be responsible (and should be covered by insurance)

3. Again, section 10 and the definition of each property as described in the deeds

4. If a majority vote has been taken and recorded according to the rules set out in the HL, to increase the budget, meaning each individual owner must pay more, then any owner refusing to pay the new amounts would become themselves a debtor, and lose their right to vote. Of course, the quotas for the original non-payers would have to be increased accordingly too, so when the money is finally recovered, the imbalance should be corrected. Does that make sense? (It's late!)

Hope this helps a bit.

P.S. I'm no expert on these matters - watch & hope for a reply from Maria, her opinions / advice are more reliable.

Thanks for that.

We had a property in Spain before and there we did have a constitution. It amplified the way meetings and appointments were made and the way the community operated. But also I think had the info required in sect 5 and 6. Perhaps I should have asked here for the Master deed/Estatutos.

2/3. I read sect 10 as saying that the community was responsible. I doubt that insurance would cover defects that could be put down to aging or poor maintenance but I do wish to establish that the community is responsible.

4. Yes I read it that way as well.

I am hoping for some answer from a person with expertise. Perhaps this Maria you mention will reply. In our community (4 blocks of 8 flats) there are several minor problems with the staircases (which I am sure are the community responsibility) and cracks in the outer walls (which I also think are community problems but I suspect the president would wish to make the nearest owners responsibility),

I would also wish that the community continued with the outer decoration as it did in the past but the president and others have done thier own and will be resistant to the expenditure.

If we genuinely have lost our constitution/master deed/Estatutos I would be interested in knowing how it could be regenerated in the light of the fact that if it existed it would need 100% agreement to ammend it.

Tteedd

The estatutos should be registered with the Land Registry, just the same as individual property deeds. I'm not sure, but I imagine the "finca" number of your block should be mentioned on your individual deed somewhere, and presumably will be registered at the same registry as your own deed too. It may be worth enquiring if the administrator has a copy - although I appreciate they may be less than willing to co-operate. Best of luck......