Community Fees by Direct Debit

 Many owners pay their quarterly fees by direct debit.

The actual amount is decided by the AGM each year.

Sometimes we suffer the odd disaster and after an EGM we may be asked for an extra payment, often of several hundred euros, to cover  emergency work/water bill etc.

Can this new direct debit be taken from the owners account without notification or a specific agreement?

 If it's direct debit I would say yes but you should get notification of how much and when they are going to take it, at least that is what would happen in the UK! You should get at least 14 days notice.

 The Spanish direct debiting system is different to the UK . The UK system works on the bank taking a authorised payment on a authorised date by  a signed authority. All of this is by passed in Spain if you pass your account number to the administrator. Our practice will only accept to carry out these transactions with a signed authority due to professional body compliance but most administratores will.

The system in Spain involves the administrator entering his own bank's platform to take the funds from the payers account using his own personal codes via the internet. The funds are then blocked for a number of days depending on the administrator's bank system but removed immediately from the payers bank account. Normally the funds are blocked for 14 days then 90% are released ; the remaining 10% stays blocked for 90 days. The payer has a limit of 30 days to reclaim the funds then the transaction is not reversable. Banks like the system as they get the administrator to process the payments rather than paying their own staff & also get to use the money free while it is blocked. The only down side risk for the bank is if the transaction is reversed by the payer between day 14 & 30 but they will cover this by seeking a security deposit from the administrator or the community if it is a community account (direct to the community account is the only way it should operate in my view) .If the community already has a deposit account then this will normally suffice. The size of the deposit depends on the calculated risk of the bank.

In terms of paying extra money after a approved " Fundos Extraordinaire" from a EGM this is able to be taken in the same way & has the same legal status as a outstanding community fee.These are normally paid over 3 months after the EGM.

My recomendation is to set up a standing order from your own bank in Spain direct to the community account ( not the administrators)' for all payments.This way you have control ; know what date & what amount is being paid also the community is benefitting from the payment credit immediately .In this instance you have legally discharged your community fee without question .

I hope this helps.

F.Parkinson . Administradore.