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.