Living on a complex in Tenerife
Complexes in Tenerife are governed by the Law of Horizontal Division (Ley de propiedad horizontal) – there are links to the Spanish law, and an English version, on the links page. It seemed to me, though, that it might be useful to itemise on one page some of the questions I’m most often asked. If anyone has any other questions that aren’t covered in the following, please do post them in the comment box below and I’ll transfer them into the post and give an answer at the same time.
Q: Can I have an animal on a complex in Tenerife.
A: Spanish law legislates against loose animals in ALL places, and this includes communal areas of complexes. Moreover, Spanish law is only ever concerned with owners, so by default, only they have an automatic right to keep pets on complexes: tenants may do so, but only if their contract expressly permits it or, at least does not prohibit it. The law requires any pet, however, to be kept on a lead in communal areas. This applies to cats as much as dogs.In a nutshell: it does not matter at all whether a community has rules about animals because the issue is covered by Spanish Law.
Q: What can we do about an horrendous problem with dog noise? Can we modify the statutes to restrict the numbers of dogs people have? Must they be registered/can they be left unsupervised for hours on end/can people have as many dogs as they like? Is there any legal redress for owners who are disturbed by dogs barking day and night?
A: First of all, the issue is one of disturbance, and there is no need (nor ability) to revise the statutes because there are rules in the Law of Horizontal Division against nuisance. This is additional to whatever internal rules your community has (internal rules are different to the LHD and the statutes). So you will already have rules concerning the problem. The problem is enforcement. (Please also see the answer above on dogs in general on complexes).
Whether the dogs are registered, the number of dogs that someone has, the length of time they are left, all of this is nothing to do with the community, I’m afraid. All that concerns the community is the level of disturbance and nuisance caused … unless it’s a case of animal cruelty, which is how a dog left all day on a balcony is likely to be classified. In such a case the police need to be called, and will attend.
In terms of noise problems, the community could introduce a fine system, or it might be constructive to create an informal owners’ interest group against dogs, and all contribute to hiring a lawyer to approach the Ayuntamiento’s environment department (which is the place to start): in my experience they only listen to lawyers. This is probably the most effective response to a situation that will have the sympathy of many, I suspect.
Q: Are community fee debtors precluded not only from voting at the AGM but also from standing for election as officers?
A: The only thing community debtors can’t do is vote. Presumably they won’t get too many votes if they do stand for office!
Q: Can a president be elected without his/her consent?
A: Yes. If no-one agrees to stand for election, then an owner can be co-opted.
Q: Does the committee have any legal status?
A: No. Every owner on a community is a part of that community, and a committee is simply a mechanism to streamline the management.
Q: Can I build a brick outdoor cupboard on a shared wall?
A: No, at least not without 100% agreement from the community, and planning permission from the Ayuntamiento. This is because you are talking about a permanent fixture.
Q: At what age is a child able to use a smimming pool unaccompanied?
A: The law specifies that niños must be accompanied, and these are defined by Spanish law as 13 or under.
Q: What can a community do about perpetual debtors?
A: The agenda of every AGM should have an item authorizing the president to take legal action against defaulters, plus the authorization for him/her to use whatever legal assistance necessary to do this. This then allows the community actually to take action. There is little that can be done outside this legal route, however, and despite being widely rumoured, a community cannot deprive a defaulter of their rights to communal facilites, e.g. swimming pool.
Q. I disagree with the minutes of our last AGM and think they’re wrong. No-one is prepared to do anything about this. What can I do?
A: The minutes must be signed by the President, first of all, so if they are not as you remember, this needs to be addressed with the President in the first instance. If you get nowhere, remember that the minutes must be approved at an AGM/EGM, so if there are issues, make sure they are raised at that point before they are approved.
Q: The President keeps telling my children off just for playing. They must be allowed to play, surely? Isn’t the President harrassing us?
A: Unfortunately, the fact is that children are generally not allowed to play in a complex. Obviously, if the children are quiet it’s likely that no-one will complain, but the children have no actual rights to play. From the point of view of a complex, those who are disturbed by children are the ones being harassed, not you. Remember that the principal functions of a complex are basically the management of the community and communal areas, and usually, there is no designated play area. Complexes in Spain are not child friendly, which is why so many children in Spanish areas tend to play in play parks.
Q: How do I call an Emergency General Meeting?
A: You need a petition by owners representing more than 25% of the voting power, presented either to the President or administrator.
Q: Does the administrator have to be a specially qualified person?
A: An administrator can be any owner, or anyone professionally qualified as an administrator.
Q: What course of action can be taken when urgent work needs to be undertaken and there is no money in the community kitty?
A: There will need to be a derrama, a one off charge levied to pay for the works. These payments are divided by the original coefficients assigned to the apartments, though a community can vote to allow them to be divided in equal parts among the properties.
Q: Do the officials (e.g. President), have to be owners?
A: The President must be an owner, but the secretary/administrator does not. They can be the same person. If they are not an owner, the administrator must have a particular professional qualification.
Q: Who establishes how much the community fees are and on what grounds?
A: The community fees are set at the amount agreed for the budget at the AGM. This sum is then divided among the owners according to their coeficient, i.e. their percentage share of the community. This coefficient is determined as part of the building licence procedure before apartments are ever sold, and then should appear in every annual statement of accounts.
Q: Is there is a time limit after an AGM for the minutes to be signed off’ and circulated?
A: The minutes must be signed by the President and the Secretary within ten days of the AGM, though the law does not mention a deadline for distribution.
Q: Our AGM minutes are in Spanish. Is this the law?
A: The law doesn’t say anything about this, and Spanish is naturally the default language, but the community can, at an AGM, decide to make them available in other languages.
Q: How do you get people to keep quiet and behave properly? Is this a duty that the President performs?
A: If the nuisance is just to one or two neighbours, it is up to those neighbours to sort it out directly as an issue between neighbours, because each owner is a part of the community. If the disturbance is greater than this, though, then the president should be contacted with a view to organizing police involvement. The fact is, though, that all owners form the community, and it is up to the community as an entity to enforce decent behaviour. This means that any owner can, and should, enforce standards, and is entitled by law to do so – indeed expected by law to do so. The President is not the “complex police”, but a legal figurehead.
Q: If debtors don’t pay, won’t they just get away with it when they sell?
A: No. Their community fees must be paid up to date or whoever is doing their buyers’ conveyancing won’t be able to get the required certificate from the administrators saying they are not in debt. Their unpaid community fees will be registered as a debt against their properties and will need to be cleared before a sale is notarized. At that point, they will either have to pay them before the notary will allow the sale to go through, or they will be deducted from the purchase price. Either way, they will pay then if they have not paid before.
Q: Our administrators refuse to do any work to supply TV for anyone who isn’t Spanish. Can they do this?
A: By law, communities have to provide national Spanish TV channels, and anything else is entirely optional. It is not a matter of discrimination against anyone of any nationality, just a legal requirement to provide basic TV coverage of the main channels in the country we are, after all, in! So yes, your administrator is correct, but your interpretation of what s/he said is not.
Q: Is there any legal time limit that questions can be put forward to the agenda before an AGM.
A: Yes, there’s a deadline to give an issue to the administrators for inclusion on the agenda. I’m not certain what that is, but think a week – the administrators will be able to confirm for you. Of course, if you miss a deadline, then you can bring an issue up under “other business” at the end of the meeting, but for an important matter, that’s not desirable because meetings are often running out of steam by then.
Q: How much can the President spend?
A: Technically, the president can’t spend anything without agreement from an AGM or EGM. In practice, this is unworkable, so it is informally understood that he/she may spend on a day-to-day basis on items essential for the running of the complex, provided these expenditures are of a modest nature. The extent of this freedom is undefined, but 10% is reasonable. Non-urgent and unnessary items are most certainly not included in this figure, and the commissioning of expensive artwork would certainly require prior approval from owners. Unless, of course, a previous AGM has formally agreed such a freedom.
Q: What can we do about multiple owners who can outvote us every time?
A: Votes in an AGM are counted two ways – first as quota, but also individually, and in this second vote multiple owners count as just one member of the community along with every other owner. If there is no way of reconciling the two types of votes, then it goes to Court for an independent judgement. I have known many owners group together to take their own lawyer to such meetings to ensure they run as they should, particularly where there are possible conflicting interests in those who are running the meetings.
Q: Can debtors be named and shamed?
A: The only time debtors can be announced and publicly displayed is in the call to an AGM, where they and the amount they owe have to be listed in order to determine who has a right to vote at that AGM. AGMs normally coincide with the end of communities’ financial years (different to the Spanish tax year which is always Jan-Dec), and so AGMs are when a community’s financial year closes and its accounts are signed off – inevitably, then, this is the only time that the community can determine who is actually “in arrears” in a legal sense. The list can only be published, in individual communication to owners and on the public notice board, at the call for an AGM. There are many communities, however, who forget to take such notices down so in effect they are they on display the whole year.
Q: How much notice must a president give of an AGM?
A: Six days.
Q: Can I alter the external appearance of my terrace, or build an extension on it?
A: No, this is in complete breach of the conditions of living in a community as part of the Law of Horizontal Division which you signed when you signed the escritura to buy your apartment. You cannot alter the external appearance at all, and any works (e.g. installation of sun blinds) must conform to complex standard designs, and have communal approval.
As I said at the top of the page, if there are any other questions, please post them in the comment box below and I’ll transfer them into the post and give an answer at the same time.
can you tell my what % interest is added to a derrama that is not paid. we have a terrible problem, 5000 derrama that we could not pay at the time, due to me being on maternity leave, we have offered to pay now, if interest removed, the interest has amounted to nearly 9000 over 3 years about 33% per year 7.5% per 3 months, WE are good payers never miss our community fees etc, we are worried sick regarding the whole thing, you see we were not refusing to pay we just did not have the money to pay, we are a good living family and this has caused us alot of sleepless nights
thanks in advance for any help, i have sent you a email with more details
Hi Kim, I’ve replied to your email, but since you’ve posted here as well, what I said was that I would have thought the interest would be at the “legal interest” rate, which is a legal Spanish concept applied by the Courts, and can’t just be arbitrary. The current legal interest rate varies depending on what it’s applied to, but is between 5 and 8%! Nowhere near the 33% demanded! As I also said in my email, I would ask to see where the interest rate is referred to in the community’s official paperwork, and to request a copy … you are welcome, as I said, to send that copy on to me to help translate/interpret in the first instance to see if you would benefit from employing a lawyer.
Our community consists of 8 blocks of apartments, of ground, first and second floors. In 6 of the blocks, the garages are at basement level, and in 2 of the blocks are at ground floor level. All blocks have lifts which serve all floors and all apartments currently contibute to the annual lift maintenance charge within their community charge.
A ground floor apartment owner in one of the blocks which has a garage at ground floor level, is disputing that he should have to contribute to the lift maintenance charge as he doesn’t use it, as he is on the ground floor and so is his garage. I believe our president is to accede to this, and remove the lift maintenance component from his and similar apartments on the basis that this is covered by the law of horizontal division that they shouldn’t have to pay.
The lift maintenance charge will then be divided by the remaining aparments. I believe that this must be wrong, as the building in which these ground floor apartments are located has a lift, which they therefore have use of. What if they wish to visit their neighbour upstairs? Surely anyone in any of the apartments could make the same argument that they don’t NEED to use the lifts – they could use the stairs! I am sure that the law of horizontal division can’t differentiate, but dont know where to look. Can you advise?
I am pretty certain that this cannot happen. The community pays for services pro rata with each owner paying a specified portion of costs as defined in the statutes (or elsewhere) with the total being exactly 100%. So for example on a complex of 100 1-bed and 2-bed apartments, the portions allocated to each unit might be 0.8 to 1.3% depending on apartment size. This portion cannot change. I’m not sure how this is calculated in the first place with respect to lifts, but it’s possible that the formula gives a greater portion for apartments most likely to use them, so top floor apartments pay more than ground floor. I might be wrong here.
In any case, the amenities are paid for in that predefined ratio, unless specifically defined in the statutes. All of them. The ground floor owner accepted these conditions on purchase and he can’t change them. Nothing would work if they started exceptions like this one. It is like someone not paying for swimming pool maintenance because they can’t swim. In your position I would ask the President which clauses of the LPH s/he is referring to, and would stress that a President can only act on a resolution passed at an AGM/EGM – such a decision could not be made unilaterally.
I am led to believe that the President of a complex can spend 12 per cent of the annual budget without any consultation with the community. Is there any restrictions on the type of expenditure this should entail or can it used for non essential items? E.g commissioning of expensive artwor
Technically, the president can’t spend anything without agreement from an AGM or EGM. In practice, this is unworkable, so it is informally understood that he/she may spend on a day-to-day basis on items essential for the running of the complex, provided these expenditures are of a modest nature. The extent of this freedom is undefined, but 10% is reasonable. Non-urgent and unnessary items are most certainly not included in this figure, and the commissioning of expensive artwork would certainly require prior approval from owners. Unless, of course, a previous AGM has formally agreed such a freedom.
We have an Apt in Tenerife. The present President is going to step down at the next AGM. None of the owners have express an interest in taking his place and we have been told all the owners name will go in a hat and a name drawn out has to be President or face prosecution. My husband had an accident 10 years ago which caused him to have brain damaged and can not work and claims benefits for his injury. He cannot drive. Surely he would not be expected to take on the job. We do no live in Tenerife.
Thank You
That procedure for choosing a president is legal and explicitly specified in the Law of Horizontal Division. If the apartment is in joint names, you could of course put your own name forward in place of your husband’s. Failing that, I think that anyone chosen as president by ballot when they have valid reasons for refusing the position, such as is the case with your husband, may appeal to the Courts to have the ballot voided.
This means, of course, that there would be legal expense for the community, and the burden would then fall on another owner anyway. It is clearly in a community’s best interest that someone is prepared to stand. In your own circumstances I would recommend that you write to the administrator giving medical reasons he should be excluded, if possible, from the ballot. This would at least give you ammunition should it be needed were he by some fluke to be selected.
Our President is proposing to install a WIFI system on our complex with access to owners and their guests and to be ” managed” by an outside company .
He is proposing that the cost of this and it’s management be met entirely by community funds whether individuals use it or not ( it will be password controlled by management company) .
I have my own private ADSL line installed and have no need or intention to use this open system – capacity restrictions, security and some other considerations.
The overall cost to the community will be around €2500 per annum !
I have emailed and inform both him and the administrator that under section 17 of Horizontal Property Law I do not need to contribute to this system but he is insisting that I have to pay as it is a community facility !
What steps can I legally take to prevent him from taking money from my direct debit account?
The president can’t do this without a resolution from an AGM (or EGM), but once it’s done, provided there’s no installation cost of a derrama greater than 3 months’ community fee, I don’t think there’s too much you can do about it. Crucially, you don’t say how many units there are on the complex, so it’s not possible to know how this overall cost divides up between individual owners. If it’s approved at an AGM, however, then the rental cost would simply be part of the community fee incorporated into the annual budget. The best you might be able to do, assuming it is generally favoured as a measure by the community, is to insist at the AGM that at least three quotes are obtained.
Thanks for your interpretation, we have around 140 owners, a number of whom don’t want involved in the system – some elderly people who wouldn’t be able to use it.
I’m not sure if you are just looking at section 11 of Law and not Article 17 part 2 which talks specifically about telecommunication systems in the second paragraph, my interpretation is that I can dissent from paying ?
No, I was looking at article 17. The question is whether wifi is an element of telecommunication infrastructure covered by Ley 1/1998 (27 de febrero). I think not.
internet is covered under Telecommunications regulation surely Janet ?
http://www.usuariosteleco.es/Derechos/TelefoniaFija/Paginas/Normativa
Yes, it’s covered by telecom regulations … but for your purposes, I fear it’s not the right telecom regulations.
The Law of Horizontal Division says that the telecommunication facilities that allow you to opt out of paying (article 17) are those defined by Ley 1 (there’s a link in my previous comment).
Article 1.2 (definitions) of that Ley 1 says:
In a very summarized and rough translation, this means that the facilities you can opt out of paying under the law of horizontal division are telecommunication and network systems for television and basic telephone provision.
As I say, wifi isn’t covered by this law, even though it is covered by different laws. Article 17 of the LHD, however, is only concerned with those services defined in this one, and so wifi isn’t one of the services you can opt out of paying if it has been agreed by the community.
I have not received any notifications of AGM or EGM community meetings for several years, or copies of minutes of meetings, when I ask why I have not been notified, I am told it is because I owe community fees and therefore a debtor who does not legally require notification.
Is the correct
No, it’s not correct. You’re entitled to notifications, and minutes, and you also have a right to attend … it’s just that as a debtor you have no right no speak other than at the president’s discretion.
what can owners do if after repeated requests over several years, to see the community accounts the requests are ignored. The problem here is, One owner,which is a company has 33% of quotas, the adminstrator of the community is also administrator of this company. It is just about impossible to get enough owners together to out vote them. As they have majority vote they can pretty much do what they want. Quite a few owners have not paid their community fees because of this problem.
You can, ultimately, issue a denuncia because it is a legal obligation to supply accounts … not least in every AGM where their approval is the first item on the agenda. They can hardly comply with this legal requirement if the accounts aren’t physically there to be approved!
Bear in mind that for all their 33% weight in terms of quota, when it comes to votes in an AGM, the law requires that they are counted two ways – first as quota, but also secondly as individuals, and in this second vote they count as just one member of the community along with every other owner. If there is no way of reconciling the two types of votes, then it goes to Court for an independent judgement … a measure which is expressly designed to stop bullying by multiple owners.
I have known many owners group together to take their own lawyer to such meetings to ensure they run as they should, particularly where there are possible conflicting interests in those who are running the meetings.
thank you very much for answering my questions. I have another:-
what would a comunidad pay Servicios De ordenanzas for, it is not for water?
It is impossible to say specifically because it could be a range of things. You will need to clarify with your administrator, or it will need to be challenged and clarified when the accounts are approved at the next AGM.
Janet -With regards to debtor owners on a Touristic Site who haven´t paid their community charges , electricity and water charges , some for over 2 years , is it legal to cut off their water and electricity – they do not stay in the apartments but rent them out to tourists frequently ?
We have raised court action but it is taking so long !
No, ‘fraid not …
Sorry, it’s the simplest answer. You can’t.
As I say HERE, though, I have known an administrator disconnect the water to an apartment which was heavily in debt; apparently there was a problem with “flooding”, and the entire water supply needed to be disconnected for, oh, about five seconds. Everyone who was then up to date with community payments was, of course, immediately reconnected ………
Can’t understand why John isn’t happy with the President wanting to install wifi. Surely, at the figures he has quoted, he is talking about around 30 euro per apartment?
Yes I know he doesn’t need it personally but anything that is done to improve a complex and drag it into the 21st century can only be a good thing – all improvements keeps the value and desireability of the complex high, so even if John is happy just living there one never knows what is around the corner and who knows, he might have to sell at some time in the future. Don’t hold back from any progress.
Hi, Murphy49 I’m far from being a Luddite! My friends and I offered a system virtually free apart from cost of materials several years ago but the President “opted” for something different that costs users €40 per month and every one is complaining .
My principled objection is to him making me pay for something I do not need – I already pay €500 per annum for Internet, but what is being proposed is a poor option – I’m not stopping the installation, just challenging rule 11 & 17 of Horizontal Property Law where I believe I do not have to pay !
I hope I’ve clarified, though, John, that LPH 11 & 17 unfortunately do not give you exemption.
Thanks for your comment on services Janet – what doesn´t seem right is that the Electricity Company here can disconnect you fairly quickly if you don´t pay and charge a fortune to re- connect without recourse to courts .
Communities chasing people through courts for debts seems to take forever !
Janet,
Could you tell me how I can get a copy of the Horizontal Property Law concerning Tenerife.
Thank you
Yes, go to my links page. There are links to the law in both Spanish and English.
Hi Janet,
I have a question for anyone out there who can let me know if Spanish builders have an insurance cover similar to the NHBS National Home Builders Society which pays for any problems associated with the building of the home? The reason why I am asking this question is that a major water leak occurred on our complex affecting quite a number of owners. The problem is the leaks were from underground EXTERNAL piping to individual apartments albeit within the area of the complex. These owners have received hefty bills from the water company as they have identified the individual pipes that have broken. Because the breakage was outside their apartment surely this is the responsibility of the water company, but they have said that the leak is due to the poor workmanship in the construction of the complex The owners have contacted their home insurance companies but have been told that the insurance does not cover external pipe work. Therefore getting back to my original question, do Spanish builders pay into an insurance to cover defaults with their work when building the complex? I’m sure there must be some kind of assurance that owners should not be held responsible for poor quality work. So can anyone tell me if there is such a authority that covers these problems?
Hi Terry, yes, builders should have insurance, and there should be guarantee (unless the building is over 10 or so years old). The real problem as I see it is that the water company will chase the owners, and the owners will chase the builder, and it will end up Court going round and round in circles for years.
Does the community itself not have liability insurance, or similar, to fix the problem and reimburse owners – and the community’s insurance company could then chase the builder. Whatever the actual situation is, it seems to me incumbent on the community administration to be proactive and deal with this as a community, rather than leave individual owners to take up the issue on their own behalves.
I have had a look through the Horizontal Property Law in English on the links section of your web site, but I can not see the answer to a question I have. I know this version of the law on your web site refers specifically to Tenerife, but wondered if on Tenerife people living on a complex have to have a “uniform model” to adhere to when making any alterations or additions to the external areas of their property? Is the use of a model compulsory on all complexes? If a model is initiated several years after a complex was built, would any alterations or additions done by owners before the model was introduced be subject to legal action if the said alterations or additions did not conform to the model?
I have asked the question “is it a legal requirement under the Horizontal Property Law to have a uniform model in place on a community” to our community administrators via email. The answer I got back via email was to ask the question to the lawyer who will present at our AGM next month. The lawyer that was referred to in the email is the owner of the administration company responsible for our community! So it didn’t seem like an unreasonable question given that there is an item on the agenda for the AGM which states that there will be “The formation of a committee for choosing the models”, so I really didn’t think my question was unreasonable.
Any information you might be able to give me with regard to the question of models on a community ( I realize the information is only relevant to Tenerife and may not be applicable to Fuerteventura where I live), would be gratefully received.
Many thanks,
Carol Woodrow.
Hi Carol, the law I give a link to is the national Spanish law, no particular reference to Tenerife at all. The law applies equally to all complexes in Spain, therefore, and so yes, there needs to be uniformity, and permission (and licence) for any external alterations. I am not 100% certain on this, but understand that any model introduced subsequent to a community being established, should be based on any existing alterations. Those who predate any model, certainly, would have a good argument for being excluded from a model that was different to any alteration they had already undertaken.
On the other hand, you cannot do anything without the agreement of the community in the first place, so a community could argue that any pre-emptive alteration was in fact illegal. In my own personal experience, however, models adapt to any existing alterations. In answer to your question, however, yes, it is a legal requirement to have a uniform model in place on a community. This is true throughout Spain, not just the Canaries, as I said to begin with.
Hi Janet,
Many thanks for your reply. We will just have to wait and see what happens at our AGM!
Carol.
Our urbanization president has recently changed. The new president and administrators have stopped displaying the house numbers and amounts owed by them on a monthly debtors list on the community notice board. When I asked for this practice to be re-instated, the administrators told me that it was against the Data Protection Act, even though it had been approved by majority vote at previous AGM’s and not revoked that way. The last list published showed around 5,000€ outstanding, mainly owed by three houses who the community had taken to court. Now, the list of debts has disappeared and every house has been asked to pay a lump sum of 195€ over 2 months in addition to the normal 90€ quarterly charge to cover the cost of services. If we cannot see how debt collection is progressing, what incentive is there to keep paying ourselves? It just seems as though we are paying to allow the defaulters to go Scott free – AND still use the facilities!
I’m afraid that your new president and administrator are technically correct. The only time these debts can be announced and publicly displayed is in the call to an AGM, where debtors and their debts have to be listed in order to determine who has a right to vote at that AGM. AGMs normally coincide with the end of communities’ financial years (different to the Spanish tax year which is always Jan-Dec), and so AGMs are when a community’s financial year closes and its accounts are signed off – inevitably, then, this is the only time that the community can determine who is actually “in arrears” in a legal sense.
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The fact that a community passes a vote for something does not mean it must happen if that vote was for an action contrary to the law. The list can only be published, in individual communication to owners and on the public notice board, at the call for an AGM. There are many communities, however, who forget to take such notices down so in effect they are they on display the whole year. The key difference, of course, is that they are not updated monthly.
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I’m afraid that the situation you describe of a few significant debtors, and the other owners asked to stump up, is entirely normal here, and not a reason in law for the other owners to be able to refuse. Whether the debtors pay up or not, the community still needs a supply of working funds. In Spain, something that many foreigners are culturally confused by, one cannot refuse to pay on the grounds that something hasn’t been done, or someone else hasn’t paid: this is a very standard British response, but it doesn’t work in Spain.
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I would also point out that 90 Euros every quarter seems to me an incredibly low figure, which suggests to me that the community is under-funding itself.
Thank you for this very comprehensive answer. It has clarified the situation entirely. By the way, our little urbanization comprises only 34 houses and the “facilities” are just a tiny pool & garden area with a mail box and TV mast – so as a rule, the 90€ quarterly fee covers all expenses – except of course when 2 or 3 houses do not pay! This has a bigger impact for us than it would if we had 100 or so houses. We have tried setting up a reserve fund in the past but an ex- administrator absconded with it! Ah well! Bite the bullet and pay up, as usual!!! Advice much appreciated.
Hello Janet
On our residential complex there has been an on-going problem with dogs for some years. The situation has been a regular item at AGMs and some owners have been sent official letters from the President via the Administrator, but these letters seem to have been ignored. Over the last year or so there has been an influx of new owners/tenants with noisy dogs, that bark at all hours of the day and night. Some of these dogs are left unattended in gardens or on balconies for the entire day or through the night. Once one starts to bark it sets off the others and the noise is horrendous. There is no reference to dogs in the Community Statutes. Several owners have 2 or 3 dogs and these dogs seem to be the main culprits.
I was wondering if you could offer any suggestions for a way forward. Are dogs required to be registered? Is it legal to leave dogs unsupervised and unattended for hours on end? Is it acceptable for owners to have have as many dogs as they like? Is there any legal redress for owners who are disturbed by dogs barking day and night? Can new rules be added to the Statutes that allow existing pets but forbid new owners from moving in with them?
I would appreciate any advice that you can offer. Thank you for all your efforts on our behalves. Your website is a wealth of helpful and useful information. Thank you Janet
Hi Gwyn, this is so frequent a problem that I’m surprised to see I’ve not included it above. I’ve done so now, and made yours the “question about dog noise” that should have been there before. I hope the answer I’ve given at the top of the page helps.
Thank you for your kind comments!
Our complex has 100 apartments. Half of the apartments are in 3 story building. The rest are following a slope in the terrain.
We are talking about installing an elevator in the 3 story building. Not possible down the slope.
Is it possible to differentiate communidad, so only the high rise building pay for the elevator. I was thinking about an amorticization over 6-8 years of the investment and adding maintenance cost divided by the 50 owners who can benefit from the installation for high rise owners to pay more in communidad.
A community needs a vote of 60% to install lifts where they were not included in the original construction, so in the situation you describe, it would seem that such a vote would not be passed in any case. You can’t divide up a community, it is what it is, but in such a case, negotiation would be needed for the 50% who want something that requires a vote of 60%. Your administrator would be best placed to advise the most appropriate way forward given the circumstances in your particular community. The issue is not just one of installation costs, but of ongoing running costs – in this respect please could you also see my reply to SHARON THOMASON above.
Four of the apartments on our complex have a problem with drains backing up and depositing waste and water onto the patio and into the apartment itself. The administrater promised to have the pipes dug up and sorted out.
The president decided that replacing the white lights in the pool with very expensive coloured ones was more important, and the owners have been advised that the community cannot afford the work.
One of your replies states unnessary should not be carried out without prior approval. Is ther any course of action we can take.
Any expenditure has to be approved at an AGM, so from that description, the President cannot do this.
Can the president of our community declare that debtors who have not paid their fees up to date, cannot use the pool, garage or lifts.
MC
Hi Martin, could you have a look at Question 7 or 8 above? It’s been answered above in the main section. (Answer is no).
Has the law regarding the green certicado de registro de cuidadano de la union changed.
My wife and I were among the first to receive the green form in 2007, at the time we were advised that it did not need renewal, however an artical in a newspaper suggested that it has to be renewed after five years. Can you advise please.
regards
Wally
Wally, I’ve copeid your question over to the “Q&A Being legal in Tenerife” page HERE, and answered it there.
If there is a water leak in the mains pipe leading to your property but not on your property is the community or the home owner responsible for the repair costs .
If the leak occurs in a pipe in a communal area, then it is the community’s problem.
Thank you for that, i have contacted the community but they still say it is the home owner who is responsible as the leak is between the water meter and the property.
Ah, it’s slightly different if it’s between the meter and your property … I was working on the assumption that it was a mains pipe leading TO your meter.
My insurance company say i’m not covered as the pipe is not on my property so it seems i’ll have to pay for the repair myself, The pipe from the meter too the property appears to be in no mans land . thank you for your help
We have an apartment in a small community of 33 apartments. We have a mixture of Nationalities there. Over the years some apartment owners have erected tv aerials on the front facade which is unsightly. There was a extraordinary meeting called a few years ago to have communal antenna on the roof and I seem to remember that this was going to be a law. At the time of the meeting, only the residents who attended voted as to whether they wanted this or not and the result was to keep it as it was. A few weeks later one of the nationalities erected an antenna only for German TV and was wired into all the Germans apartments. We were never consulted about this meeting as we were in the UK at the time. We do not want British TV, but would have liked a communal antenna for Spanish TV. How do we go about organising this amongst the rest of the residents. Am I right in saying this was going to be a law. Should all the residents have been informed of this decision? Some of the Spanish residents are behind in their community fees and may find this to be just more money to fork out. I would really like to know if anything ever came of this rule.
Spanish TV is a requirement, yes, and should already be installed in the community. Any other TV systems must be agreed at a meeting.