Communal fees - charging paying owners extra because of non payers

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Blueboy1875
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Joined: 14 Nov 2017 16:36

Communal fees - charging paying owners extra because of non payers

Post by Blueboy1875 »

Hi Nigel. Hope all is well.

Against my better judgement, and in the absence of anyone else wanting to step up, I volunteered to be a Committee member for my complex in Larnaca.

The Committee has a massive issue with non-payment which means we've run out of money with still circa EUR 9k required to keep the complex maintained until the start of the next invoicing cycle.

Although unfair to those owners who have paid, I believe the Committee now has to try and raise these monies from the paying owners by issuing additional invoices to them.

My question is - are we legally able to do this?

I've looked at Part IV, Clause 6 of the Immovable Property Law which does appear to detail what should happen in circumstances like ours, but I'd really like the comfort of knowing that this is actually the provision which entitles the Committee to act in the way currently planned, just in case we get push back from any of the owners.

As per usual, any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

Blueboy1875
Nigel Howarth
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Re: Communal fees - charging paying owners extra because of non payers

Post by Nigel Howarth »

Hi blueboy

Although it is not written into the law, those who do pay have to contribute to the communal fund to make up the shortfall.

(A revision to the law that's currently being drafted actually states that that those who do pay have to make up the shortfall. You can find the draft law in Greek at https://portal.dls.moi.gov.cy/el-gr/%CE ... 202022.pdf)

Regards,
Nigel Howarth
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susiewong
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Re: Communal fees - charging paying owners extra because of non payers

Post by susiewong »

If that’s the case, wouldn’t it encourage owners that currently pay, to stop their payments too?

I haven’t read Nigel’s link but this seems mightily unfair & could potentially make the situation worse on a site, if I’m understanding correctly.
Nigel Howarth
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Re: Communal fees - charging paying owners extra because of non payers

Post by Nigel Howarth »

I agree with you susiewong

I sent the following suggestion to the people who drafted the revised law:

Article 22 (1) - Actions for non-payment of amounts imposed by the owners.

Suggestion: Additional methods of collecting debts quickly are needed, such as:

(α) Preventing the sale, renting, mortgaging and otherwise disposing of properties whose owners have not paid their communal fees.

(β) Lodging a lien against a contract of sale in cases where no title deed has been issued in the name of the debtor.

(γ) Instigate a small court claims procedure where debts will be repaid in 2 or 3 weeks.

(δ) Restricting withdrawals/transfers from the debtor's bank account(s) until the debt has been paid.

(ε) Seizing movable property owned by the debtor and selling it to repay the debt.

Justification: In my 20+ years of experience, non-payment of communal fees is the greatest problem. If one owner doesn't pay, the owners who continue to pay have to pay the debt. These owners often refuse to pay the debtor's debt and, as a consequence, often refuse to pay their communal fees – “Why should I pay when someone else is not paying?”. This causes a chain reaction until no-one pays and the management committee resigns.

Court cases can take 3 or 4 years to be heard and even if successful it can take another 2 or 3 years and if still no payment, further court action is required. A court may also the debtor to repay the debt in low value instalments, and it could take many years to recover the debt (assuming the debtor abides by the court ruling.)

Those who do pay communal fees must be protected from paying the debts of non-payers.

Regards,
Nigel Howarth
Independent information & advice for Cyprus property buyers
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Blueboy1875
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Re: Communal fees - charging paying owners extra because of non payers

Post by Blueboy1875 »

Hi Nigel. Thanks for replying.

We’re so desperate right now that I’d personally give my right arm to have any of your excellent suggestions (a) to (e) above at our disposal to deal with this problem.

Our Committee members have had to resort to stumping up money out of their own pockets three times already this year just to keep the electric and water switched on and the management company interested. This has been made known to all of our non-payers, and yet they appear to not care a jot.

What’s worse is that we’re in a vicious circle where we want to take legal action against these non-payers but can’t because we don’t have the money to engage a lawyer because of non-payment.

I think I will propose reference to the provisions in the law regarding the Committee’s duties and obligations at clauses 38Z.1.a-c, together with Part IV, Clause 6 as previously referenced, as justification for the issuance of additional invoices.

Thanks again for your very kind help.
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