Changing communal property management company

Questions about living in properties with shared/common facilities
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MattiGeorge
Posts: 3
Joined: 25 Jun 2014 11:05

Changing communal property management company

Post by MattiGeorge »

Our complex of 56 units recently undertook a fair and transparent competitive tendering exercise to compare communal management costs to ensure value for money. The current provider - the complex developer - submitted a bid (interestingly, at a far cheaper rate than that which has been the case for the last 10 years). Whilst some owners failed to return a vote, the majority voted for an alternative provider, with only 2 votes in favour of the developer's bid.

The developer says that our voting procedure did not follow the 1993 Act and could be challenged in a court of law. They say the Act requires all residents to be present at an AGM and vote "with a show of hands" and that any resident in arrears to the developer for even 10e communal charges is not eligible to vote (our management constitution also has this provision but only where the arrears are more than 1000e).

Mmmm - is this correct?

Obviously it is impossible to get all owners together in one place at one time, scattered around the globe as they are, from UK to Russia to USA. Also as the developer insists on levying charges 6mths in advance, most owners pay at the end of the period eg June for the Jan-June charges meaning most of us are in arrears all the time (hence the 1000e constitutional clause).
Nigel Howarth
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Re: Changing communal property management company

Post by Nigel Howarth »

Hello MattiGeorge and welcome to the forum,

It is essential that your Management Committee follows the letter of the 1993 law on these matters. A quorum at a meeting in person or proxy is 50%.

You can download a copy of the law (in English) at http://www.cyprus-property-buyers.com/f ... gs-law.pdf

Regards,
Nigel Howarth
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Spondoolies
Posts: 15
Joined: 30 Jan 2012 22:09

Re: Changing communal property management company

Post by Spondoolies »

So ... in your interpretation of the law ... does that mean in this example their postal votes counted as proxy votes? And if the 1000e is a constitutional change does that make it legal?
barryedwards
Posts: 23
Joined: 10 May 2012 09:23

Re: Changing communal property management company

Post by barryedwards »

Hello MattiGeorge,

Check the wording in your Management Agreement that all owners would have signed when you first bought properties on your development. It should say that the Management Services Company can be replaced if a majority of owners so wish and by giving the required notice period in writing. A simple postal vote of all owners will suffice for this and no AGM or any other meeting of owners is required. All owners can participate in this way, even if they are in arrears with communal expenses. Be specific and careful in the wording on your voting form which you can send by email or post. If you get 51% approval for change (though more would be better) then you can serve your notice. You will be required to prove you have a minimum 51% approval for change by showing your voting forms to your current provider. Our 32 unit complex has recently been through this.

Kind regards, Barry.
MattiGeorge
Posts: 3
Joined: 25 Jun 2014 11:05

Re: Changing communal property management company

Post by MattiGeorge »

We are organising a re-vote using another postal/proxy form that has been approved by the developer and expect the same majority vote (more than 51%, actually almost 70%) in favour of an alternative supplier. This has put the timescale back by a month. We are hoping that the developer will then accept our decision to terminate the contract as per the original management agreements. We just felt we'd been thrown a curve-ball when the developer said postal/proxy votes didn't count under the law and this issue about arrears so that in their view, we hadn't reached a majority. So we'll soldier on and hopefully they won't put any further obstacles in the way.

Thank you for your prompt and very helpful responses - and Barry, it's so encouraging to hear from people who've been through the process and succeeded!
barryedwards
Posts: 23
Joined: 10 May 2012 09:23

Re: Changing communal property management company

Post by barryedwards »

Hello again MattiGeorge,

Your Developer cannot, under any circumstances, disagree with a decision taken by a majority of owners provided it is a decision brought about by due legal process ie, a postal vote. You do not need an approved new voting form from your Developer when you can easily produce one yourself, but if you feel more comfortable with this then fine. Just do not be duped again by your Developer who will only want to keep the cash cow that it bred. To be really brave, and if you have owners with the necessary experience, retired skills, and time, self management is the way forward. We are just embarking on this route and the water feels fine.

Kind regards, Barry.
emgee
Posts: 44
Joined: 12 May 2008 21:32

Re: Changing communal property management company

Post by emgee »

Barry

In our experience, the novelty of "self-help" soon wears off when some residents are for example, weeding the green area and others are lording it in the pool. There are 52 weeks in every year.

Most residents who come out on holiday don't want to know about doing jobs in the development, only sea, sun, sand and......whatever!

Good luck.

Alan
barryedwards
Posts: 23
Joined: 10 May 2012 09:23

Re: Changing communal property management company

Post by barryedwards »

Hello Emgee,

I am referring to "Self Management", not "Self Help", two entirely different things. We, the Management Committee invite quotations for the various services needed to maintain our complex, pool maintenance, garden maintenance, cleaning services, pest control etc and eventually choose who in our opinion is best suited for our needs. Costs are important but not at the expense of quality. We choose to have each service with a different provider thus maintaining a stronger more versatile control of operations. This frees all of us to spend as much time as we please together in the pool.

Barry.
MattiGeorge
Posts: 3
Joined: 25 Jun 2014 11:05

Re: Changing communal property management company

Post by MattiGeorge »

Hi Barry

Our re-vote confirmed the original decision so we have a new company starting 1 August. Yay! We originally invited tenders not only for the entire management contract but also for individual elements of it but felt we could have been biting off a bit too much. So we have initially contracted with the new provider for the complete management service but they do give us the flexibility to change that in future if we want to split the contract up amongst different providers once the committee gains a bit more experience.

The other issue we are trying to move forward is communal buildings insurance which seems a bit of a no-brainer to me tho I suspect there will be one or two owners who don't agree. Any advice/comments?

Thanks
MattiGeorge
Nigel Howarth
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Re: Changing communal property management company

Post by Nigel Howarth »

Hi MattiGeorge

Please to hear you've managed to sort out the management.

As for insurance, there's an article 'Everything you would like to know about the insurance of jointly-owned buildings' at: http://www.news.cyprus-property-buyers. ... /id=003525 and you can also download the article as a pdf from http://cdn.cyprus-property-buyers.com/w ... cyprus.pdf

If you want to discuss the costs, cover, etc with someone - Andrew Stott of 3D Global will be able to advise - http://www.3dglobal.com/about/team/andrew-stott

Regards,
Nigel Howarth
Independent information & advice for Cyprus property buyers
Contact Nigel Howarth
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