Community Accounts?

I am  in m in the process of buying a flat in an Aparthotel in Estepona and am requesting a copy of the accounts, as obviously I need to make sure there are no financial shocks before putting down my hard earned money. The Spanish "Administration" say this information is confidential and only available to owners, but to my knowledge this is publically available "somewhere". Is the "Administrator" correct??

Ask for the same of the seller, technically the Administrator is correct but I would always provide such information to a prospective buyer on our urbanisation were I asked.

The information is not available from any other source but the seller should be willing to provide it for you as the current owner.

Barry

Yes the seller should be able to supply a copy of the accounts, which will have had to be produced prior to the last community meeting, though they could be out of date depending when the last meeting was held.  Depending on the arrangements agreed in that community, the seller may be able to ask the administrator for an updated copy.  You are however entitled to ask the community administrator for a certificate to show whether there are any community fees outstanding on the apartment you are buying, any debt is attached to the property so you could end up being liable for the previous owner's unpaid fees if you aren't careful. 

I would certainly want to see something to evidence that the community is viable - for example if it is fairly new, and the developer still owns properties, it would be no surprise to find that they are not paying their fees.  Also if there have been a number of properties repossessed by banks, they may also not be paying their fees.  We are having to take a bank to court because they have never paid a cent on several apartments repossessed or accepted as dación en pago.  And of course in the current climate there could be unpaid fees from owners who have fallen on hard times.  All of these things can place the community budget at great risk, as I know from personal experience.

Of course a good look around will tell you if everything looks in good order, and there seem to be sufficient maintenance/gardening staff employed but, again in the case of a new development, they could be 'employed' by the developer who is charging the community inflated invoices offset against unpaid fees...... so ask plenty of questions until you are satisfied!