Putting up a Debtors List in The Community of Owners Public Areas is Illegal
We have been recently approached by a client asking whether sticking ones name on a list of debtors for Community fees is a legal thing to be done by the President or the administrators office.
In the particular case the President considered that these debtors have to be named and shamed as if we were in the time of the Spanish Inquisition as in his opinion this was the only way to make owners pay.
In a case identical to the one above, the Data Protection Agency contended that the information of debtors published on a notice board allowed the public (neighbours but also outsiders) to know information on the personal financial situation of the claimant which should have been kept secret by the administration office so that only the co-owners of the complex could access such information. The Community of Owners was consequently fined with 601 Euros and will presumably demand this money from the President.
In our case we have urged our client to send a clear warning to the “President” advising him that he is in breach of the Data Protection Act and that a similar illegality was fined with € 601 by the Data Protection Agency although the fine could be stretched to a maximum of €60,101, which is what the Act stipulates.
could any one tell me if a co-owner of appartment can become community president, ie partner/brother/sister own together but only one name on tittle deeds
Helo Joe,
Not a problem, any one owner, or co-owner for that matter, can be the President of the community.
Sorry Joe, by co-owner I mean someone on the deeds, for 5, 10 or 50% of the share ownership. Someone not on the deeds cannot be the President.
As President of the Community would it be legal for me to place a debtors list inside the locked stairs and lifts (6) area of the complex which is not accessible to the general public?
Hi Derek, so long as it is not open to anyone walking in to the community, it should be fine. In any case, the list normally is made available at a certain address, or the administrators office.
I purchased a new apartment with a communal pool, which is withing property boundary and only accessible by owners. Recently the Comunidad erected a fence between the pool and other internal areas and secuired it with a electronicly opened gate for which the required owners to pay 45 each for cards to gain access to the pool. The reason given for restricting access was that it would prevent owners who had not payed their comunity charge from using the pool as they would not be provided with cards. To me this is a a sledge hammer to crack a nut and is a reaL inconvenience and restricts free access to the pool. My question therefore is, are the communidad acting within their authority or is what they have done illegal?