Communal Fees - Making them up!
Posted: 20 Jul 2019 12:00
would appreciate advice please.
I own an apartment in Paphos built by one of the major developers. Their in-house property management company collect communal fees from us all, but I am not comfortable with how they are calculating individual shares.
As I understand is there is only one way to correctly calculate shares of communal fees in Cyprus. That is defined in the Immovable Property Act as the covered and uncovered areas of the unit as a proportion of the total covered and uncovered areas of the Development. The answer to this calculation is shown on my Title Deeds is 2.32%. We also have a Management Agreement with the developer that says that the payment of communal expenses will be in accordance with the proportion of the total extent in square meters of for covered area of the building owned by the Unit.
I can download the data for each Unit’s area for my development from the Land Registry Portal and calculate the percentage share for each of us - easy peasy
This all seemed straightforward until I got my bill.
It turns out the developer is adjusting the land registry numbers by notionally allocating areas of the communal space to each Unit. Furthermore, there is no rationale to the way they are doing this at all – in some cases the “adjustment” had actually lowered the size of some Units from the Land Registry data, and is some it has increased it. The bottom line for me is that I am being charged about 60 euros a year more that the Immovable Property Act, my Title Deeds, and the Management Agreement say that I should be charged. Others are being charged less that the Management Agreement says they owe.
I have no idea why the developer has done this, but when I have pointed out to them that they are breaking both the law and their contract with us all they just tell me that it needs a “vote” of owners to change things. I don’t think it does. The Law is the Law, and a Management Agreement is binding on us both. What I have done financially is to adjust their bill to me to reflect the correct allocation and paid that promptly. I have also asked them to explain and justify their own different calculations to me. I have also put them on 3 month’s notice (that I have to do) of my intention to refer this to the Cypriot Financial Ombudsman. Needless to say I have heard nothing from them and the three months is up in a fortnight.
Am I being reasonable? Surely there is only one way to do this calculation and surely the Management Agreement is binding on us both? Is the Financial Ombudsman the best way to go?
Comments would really be appreciated – I am aware that this would have huge impact on the developer - 1000’s of owners affected - and I am told that collections of arrears through Cypriot Courts would not progress if an Owner were to show that the original calculations were wrong.
Thanks
I own an apartment in Paphos built by one of the major developers. Their in-house property management company collect communal fees from us all, but I am not comfortable with how they are calculating individual shares.
As I understand is there is only one way to correctly calculate shares of communal fees in Cyprus. That is defined in the Immovable Property Act as the covered and uncovered areas of the unit as a proportion of the total covered and uncovered areas of the Development. The answer to this calculation is shown on my Title Deeds is 2.32%. We also have a Management Agreement with the developer that says that the payment of communal expenses will be in accordance with the proportion of the total extent in square meters of for covered area of the building owned by the Unit.
I can download the data for each Unit’s area for my development from the Land Registry Portal and calculate the percentage share for each of us - easy peasy
This all seemed straightforward until I got my bill.
It turns out the developer is adjusting the land registry numbers by notionally allocating areas of the communal space to each Unit. Furthermore, there is no rationale to the way they are doing this at all – in some cases the “adjustment” had actually lowered the size of some Units from the Land Registry data, and is some it has increased it. The bottom line for me is that I am being charged about 60 euros a year more that the Immovable Property Act, my Title Deeds, and the Management Agreement say that I should be charged. Others are being charged less that the Management Agreement says they owe.
I have no idea why the developer has done this, but when I have pointed out to them that they are breaking both the law and their contract with us all they just tell me that it needs a “vote” of owners to change things. I don’t think it does. The Law is the Law, and a Management Agreement is binding on us both. What I have done financially is to adjust their bill to me to reflect the correct allocation and paid that promptly. I have also asked them to explain and justify their own different calculations to me. I have also put them on 3 month’s notice (that I have to do) of my intention to refer this to the Cypriot Financial Ombudsman. Needless to say I have heard nothing from them and the three months is up in a fortnight.
Am I being reasonable? Surely there is only one way to do this calculation and surely the Management Agreement is binding on us both? Is the Financial Ombudsman the best way to go?
Comments would really be appreciated – I am aware that this would have huge impact on the developer - 1000’s of owners affected - and I am told that collections of arrears through Cypriot Courts would not progress if an Owner were to show that the original calculations were wrong.
Thanks