To avoid late payments in your community of owners, it is essential that all of them contribute with the corresponding fee to be able to cover all the expenses necessary for its correct operation.
How do fees work in Homeowners Associations?
The fees are normally proportional to the property and are distributed based on a budget of expenses previously approved by the board of owners. They are necessary to cover the costs of upkeep and maintenance of the building, as well as the contracted services, such as the doorman or the swimming pool, if applicable.
However, there are many communities of owners that have to fight with delinquent neighbors who are not up to date with their respective fees. However, there are certain solutions to reduce late payments in the Community of Owners.
Below we explain how to proceed if a neighbor fails to pay their fees.
What to do in the event of late payments in your community of owners?
When a neighbour is not up to date with his/her dues, the Community of Owners may claim these debts from the owner of the property from the moment the non-payments occur.
At the Ordinary Meeting or at an Extraordinary Meeting called for this purpose, the initiation of legal proceedings may be agreed upon.
The Administrator will send a reliable notification to the delinquent neighbor, informing him of the outstanding fees and the agreement adopted at the Meeting to proceed with the corresponding legal actions, if the entire debt is not settled within a reasonable period.
But how can late payments in the Community of Owners be reduced without reaching this extreme?
Reducing late payments in your community of owners
To reduce late payments in your Community of Owners, the most appropriate option is to carry out some actions that will prevent neighbors from failing to pay their fees.
Disenfranchisement
According to article 553-24.1 of Book Five of the Civil Code of Catalonia, owners who do not have outstanding debts with the community when the meeting meets have the right to vote at the meeting. Those owners who have outstanding debts with the community only have the right to vote if they prove that they have judicially or notarized the amount or that they have challenged it judicially.
Deprivation of the right to challenge
According to article 553-31.3 of Book Five of the Civil Code of Catalonia, in order to exercise the action of challenge, one must be up to date with the payment of the debts with the community that are due at the time of adopting the agreement to be challenged or have recorded the amount.
Therefore, managing these issues within a Community of Owners can be exhausting and can lead to a bad atmosphere in coexistence. That is why, if you need to manage your Community of Owners in a professional manner, appropriately dealing with cases of late payment, we do it for you!
At Serra manages your Community of Owners with a comprehensive service and we ensure its optimal operation. Discover everything that this service includes through our website or contact our managers through the email info@serra.immo or by filling out the contact form.
