Repair of Communal Lift

[bjemeney]

I have a first floor apartment in Paralimni. It is one of 9 apartments on two floors. We bought the flat in 2006 and haven't any Title Deeds yet. The developer did not set up a management committee and in 2009 the owners set up an unregistered voluntary committee to cover electricity bills and the maintenance of the communal lift (which was damaged in 2009 by the Fire Brigade because residents were trapped inside). I am on that committeee, but have been outvoted on repairs.

Therefore, we cannot agree on repairing the lift. It will cost in the region of 1300 euros. Some of us are prepared to make substantial contributions, but others adamantly will not.

Of course we have no Title Deeds; no insurance; have no official committee ; have a property that will not pass inspection, and the developer claims that our two year honeymoon period is over.

My wife and I are holiday visitors, but she has had difficulty climbing the stairs because of an incapacity. Also, a UK resident on the second floor wants to sell their Penthouse, but without a lift and without title deeds believes (rightly) that the chances of a sale are less than slim.

Can you give us advice here, because the lift obviously needs fixing, but not everyone wants to pay towards the repair. The matter needs a resolution, can you advise on possible remedies.

Brian

[Nigel Howarth]

Hello Brian and welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately there isn't an easy way out of your situation. Even though you do not have your deeds, you can set up an 'official' committee - and you can read more about this (and the responsibility of the committee and 'owners') at http://www.news.cyprus-property-buyers. ... /id=003397 .

You may also find the law on the subject useful - you can get a copy from http://www.cyprus-property-buyers.com/f ... gs-law.pdf

So the first thing you and the other residents need to do is organise yourselves into an 'official' committee. Once you have done that you can formulate the regulations to manage and run the place.

One aspect these need to address is repairs and maintenance. You are required, by law, to have lifts inspected regularly by registered contractors. You can read more about this at http://www.mlsi.gov.cy/mlsi/dli/dli.nsf ... enDocument - I believe this inspection needs to take place annually.

There's a company called Ma-Stro Ltd in Strovolos who can undertake lift inspection & maintenance. I don't know anything about them, but their name has come up on another forum.

Regards,

[bjemeney]

Thank you Nigel

I accept what you say - but the problem is that apart from 2/3 of us at the apartments nobody wants to take the route of an officially registered committee or indeed participate in a voluntary one. It really is 3 versus the rest and we are in a state of inertia here. What you suggest relies on a majority taking action - we are outvoted here and in the minority. The other residents are Cypriots.

Brian

[Nigel Howarth]

Hello Brian,

You are required by law to have a committee - the other residents cannot just ignore the law.

Rgds,

[bjemeney]

I have affirmed that we need to be registered and I accept what you say about the law and that the others cannot ignore matters. However, they do ignore these things and refuse to cooperate - so we are in a terrible loop that we cannot break out from. And the lift remains unrepaired!

[Nigel Howarth]

Brian,

You could try getting a lawyer to write a 'stiff' letter, in Greek & English, advising residents of their responsibilities. This may ease the problem.

Regards,