Cyprus Property Forum for Buyers, Sellers & Investors

Dear Nigel

Would we legally be able to form a Management Committee prior to our title deeds being issued? Are the Management Company legally obligated to carry out their duties until our title deeds have been issued? I understand that the management agreement has to be lodge with the Land registry. Is this the case?

I know of two other developements where the residents have formed their own Management Committee prior to their title deeds being issued. If the management agreement has to be lodge with the Land Registry how is it possible for a new Management Committee to be formed prior to the property owner recieving their title deeds? Would the new Committee be legal? What about insurance?

Thank you.

Dear Laura,

There appears to be no set rule as to whether those who have bought property and have yet to receive their Title Deeds can form a 'legal' management committee.

The law does not actually say who is responsible for setting up a committee - only that there must be one. Regarding insurance, the management committee is responsible for insuring the commonly owned parts of the building, but it's up to the individual buyers to insure their own properties.

I suggest you download a compy of the law, the Jointly Owned Buildings Law of 1993, from my website. You can find it at http://www.cyprus-property-buyers.com/f ... gs-law.pdf - this explains how to set up and register a committee as well as the responsibilities of the committee.

I know of people living at the eastern end of the island without Title Deeds who have set up and registered their committee without any problems - and I know of people in Paphos who have tried and failed.

Regards,

Hi, Laura.
Our Management Company (the Developer) has given notice that they will be terminating their responsibilities for our 12 unit block in Polis, in September. We are still awaiting our Title Deeds. We have formed a Management Committee and will be opening a bank account and taking on responsibility for the communal electricity and water meters and useage charges. Projected figures for the individual Common Costs have been prepared in readiness, and are on the required proportionate basis. A quote has been obtained for the insurance in respect of the cover for the common areas and the policy will be put into effect once the current Management Company cease their involvement. I will say, that I had to carry out considerable research before finding an insurance company who would offer the type of cover we required, however. Most insurance companies will only take you on if they can insure all units as well as the common areas.

We have yet to discover if we will be able to register the Committee at the Land Registry without our Title Deeds. If this is not possible, then it is still my understanding that we will have fulfilled the criteria up to that point, in line with the requirements stated in the Jointly Owned Buildings Law of 1993, and will just have to function without registration until the Title Deeds are available. As I see it, this is as much as we can do and will be as compliant with the Cypriot law as the current system allows.

Good luck if you become involved with setting-up a Committee. It's very interesting, challenging, but quite hard work. I'm sure all the effort will be worth it if it all works out!

Thanks Ruthie

I wish you every success with getting your committee registered - please let me know how you get on.

Regards,

Dear Nigel & Ruthie
Thank you both so much for your replies.
I have been told in no uncertain terms that the Management Agreement has to be registered at the land registry to be legal which is where the original is held and until the new one is registered it is not legal. I have a copy of the PDF file thank you.
From what you have written Ruthie I can only assume that your Management Company does not consider themselves to be legally bound until you have your title deeds? I would be very interested to know how you get on with depositing the agreement at the land registry. I would also be very interested in the insurance company that you have found. I have been experiencing the same difficulties. I have found one company (in the UK)that offers £5 million public liability which will also cover the pool against damage however, as you have discovered they want all of the properties to be insured with them which is proving extremely difficult as most people do not seem to want to do anything. The companies that I have found in cyprus do not offer nearly as much cover and are far more expensive.
Do the majority of people on your development live there? I would be grateful for any help, advise or suggestion on setting up our own Management Committee. Although we do not actually live in Cyprus which will obviously present problems for us.

Laura.

Hi, Laura.
As members of the Management Committee we have recently formed, we believe that all the steps we have so far taken are within the current law. Should we not be able to register the Committee until we receive our Title Deeds, we intend, and will have to operate the Committee, within the confines of that law.

We are in between a 'rock and a hard place' really, because we were told that we would HAVE to form a Management Committee. Cleaning, maintenance and repairs will still need to be carried out on the building and it needs to be insured - and this obviously costs money. In order to facilitate all of this, each of us will need to contribute. It all really does need to be done in a business-like and correct manner, which is why we have had to organise ourselves by creating a Management group. Although nobody really wants the responsibility of organising anything, we have had to do this as there is no other way unless we are prepared to let chaos reign with everything just being left. The other alternative is to employ a professional Management Company, but we feel the cost of this would prove to be prohibitive. To answer your query, although we do not yet have access to our Title Deeds - yes, we do consider ourselves to be legally bound in respect of our Management Committee. As Secretary/Treasurer, I have a strong sense of also being morally bound in terms of trying to operate things correctly on behalf of my fellow owners.

There appears to be only one U.K. based insurance company who are willing to insure common areas. However, they will only do this if at least 75% of the owners have their individual properties insured with them also. From what you have said, you have already discovered this company. However, I have found two U.K. companies, based in Cyprus, who do insure jointly owned buildings for the common areas only. The rebuild costs are covered for fire and earthquake, etc., and the Public Liability cover is €170,000. If you would like details (not allowed to 'advertise' on this site), please email me - RuthHawkins1@aol.com

To answer your other query regarding our 'residency' status. All but one of the flats are used as holiday homes only. We all live in the U.K., spending 8/12 weeks per year in Cyprus, spread over two or three visits per year, usually at the same times as each other. I can understand your reservations about trying to manage things from a distance - it will be the same for us, too.

Sorry this post is a bit lengthy, but I wanted to answer your queries and to let you know that there are others out there encountering the same 'experiences' !

Regards.
Ruthie

Hi Ruthie

Thank you so much for your kind and detailed reply.

I will e-mail you shortly. Thank you.