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Thread: Community quota calculated incorrectly in our apartment in Spain

  1. #1
    Andy
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    Default Community quota calculated incorrectly in our apartment in Spain

    My wife and I own a new build apartment on a golf course we found out at our first AGM what our community charges were ours is 2050euros per annum. everyone else in our block pays about 500euro less. We have found that our quota has been calculated wrong by the developer and there architects. They have our unground parking space down as 35m2 when it actually measures 15.8m2 This also affects eight other blocks on the resort that are the same style. The developer is refusing to do anything about it. what are our rights and our best course of action.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andy View Post
    My wife and I own a new build apartment on a golf course we found out at our first AGM what our community charges were ours is 2050euros per annum. everyone else in our block pays about 500euro less. We have found that our quota has been calculated wrong by the developer and there architects. They have our unground parking space down as 35m2 when it actually measures 15.8m2 This also affects eight other blocks on the resort that are the same style. The developer is refusing to do anything about it. what are our rights and our best course of action.
    Dear Sir,

    Following art 16 of theCommonhold law on the next AGM you may request to have the wrongly assigned quota amended.

    Following art 5 regarding the modification of the Communities Statutes or Bylaws require the same rules as for their constitution (unanimity).

    Following art 17 such a modification will require unanimity of all fellow communers. Any dissident vote will disallow this modification.

    If your fellow communers do not vote unanimously this amendment in the assigned quotas, following art 18 c) you will then be able to initiate a legal process requesting from a judge that the quotas be correctly assigned.

  3. #3
    Sarah
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    Default Cuota Assessments

    Just following on from Andy's query about the assessment cuota. We live in a small community of 14 apartments, all the lower floor apartments cuotas are 8% and above (to 12.33%) and the upper apartments are all 4.73%.

    Lower apartments have gardens ranging from 36m2 to 90m2, upper apartments have a driveway of 36m2 plus a 20m2 roof solarium.

    The local conveyancing lawyer (who did all of our properties) has looked at our Master Deed (we don't have statutes as we are small) and our Escrituras to determine if the cuotas were correct as the upper apartments have bigger advantages over some the lower apartments with smaller gardens.

    He concluded that the cuota's are incorrect and that all apartments should have the same cuota as they are all the same size and that under the Horizontal Property Law, gardens should not be included as part of the assessment. Would you agree with this statement? I seem to be getting conflicting information from all different sources.

    We have tried to equalise the fees last year but we did not achieve unanimity, we have another meeting very soon where the opinion of our lawyer is made to everyone in the hope of achieving unanimity but we're not confident that this will still happen.

    Thanks

  4. #4
    Senior Member
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    Dear Madam,

    Frankly conflicting advice doesn't really surprise me in the least. You may ask five lawyers on the same matter and they will all give you five perfectly plausible explanations and according advice. Thre are always many angles to a matter.

    In my opinion, and judging only from what you've written, the lower apartments have exclusive gardens which are not communal as they are only accessible and enjoyed by the lower flats. Therefore these gardens must be included, as it stands to logic, on the assigned quota of the ground floors. Likewise, and following the same logic, the solariums on the higher blocks are also privative elements that can only be enjoyed by them so they should also form part exclusively of the higher blocks as they are not communal.

    Regarding on the driveway I'm unsure, I would need to see it to give you an opinion.

    Frankly I would be very surprised if all flats have the same assigned quota, this seldom happens. The sum of all quotas must tally 100%, as it's logical. Art 5 of the Commonhold Law describes the process of assigning quotas.
    Last edited by Lawbird Lawyer; 02-20-2009 at 12:10 PM.

  5. #5
    Sarah
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    Default Community of Owners - Quotas

    Thanks for your reply, to clarify the position of the driveways, these are for the exclusive use of the upper apartment owners and one at least has tiled and installed a store cupboard on theirs. The lower apartments gardens are deemed to include parking as they have double gates to allow a vehicle through.

    Having read through the Master Deed again, someone helpfully jotted a note on the front of it of the square metre of all the properties and driveways and I was able to establish from this that the upper apartments were only calculated on their apartment size and the lower apartments were calculated on the plot size (to include the garden belonging to them).

    On this, would you say that the driveways should be included?

    Thanks

  6. #6
    Senior Member
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    Default

    I would say yes, they ought to be included only for the quota of the upper apartments as they seem to be of exclusive use to them.

  7. #7
    Unregistered
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    Default Community Fees

    Can someone please advise.

    I would like to know how community charges are calculated on a mixed golf resort? This does not include the direct costs just the general resort costs. These figures are in my deeds. I am just trying to find out how I can confirm if my community fees are calculated correctly.

    Our budget for the year is 3,000,000.00 (general resort budget)

    Our Parcela cuota is 2,044019 %

    Our cuota de partisipation is 11,204674 %

    My apartment cuota is 4,307176 %

    We have been told by our administrator that the fees are being calculated by this method:

    there are two types of shares: one is the sub-
    Community quota (based on the surface of the plot that a given sub-Community
    occupies within the General Community); and another based on the square metres of the
    property itself (living area).

    In 2006, only the plot quota was used since most of the Resort was not completed yet. A
    quota that still did not exist could not be used yet. However, the specific expenses for
    the apartment blocks were assigned to each block, as it had to be done according to
    Law.

    At any rate, any comparison must use the same parameters. You cannot compare the
    apartment surface with plot surface of the villas. There are expenses distributed
    according to the plot quota, and others according to the property surface quota.

    Six weeks ago, This document related the calculus of the shares with a document from the
    Town Council, and this was like that because they coincide. However, our calculus is
    not based on the Town Council documents but rather on the property deeds, where the
    same square metres are collected as in the Town Council documents.


    With regards to the sharing of the cost, I would like to a paragraph from article 5.2 of
    the Spanish Law of Horizontal Property, which reads as follows:

    “The quota of participation will be based taking into account the usable surface of each
    property or unit in relation to the total of the building, its location interior or exterior,
    and its location in relation to the rational use expected of the common services and
    elements".

    This Administrator has made an interpretation with respect to the Administration fees,
    thus dividing them on equal shares to all, and this has been done for the following
    reasons:

    1.- Because it is already anticipated in the Law since the rational use of the
    administration services is the same for an apartment and for a villa.
    2.- Because the Law that applies to Official Boards of Community Administrators (the
    sole profession specialized in Community of Property Owners administration) speaks
    of one same price per property.
    3.- Because this has also been established by rulings of the Spanish Superior Courts of
    Justice.
    4.- And most important of all: Because no one would accept that a villa would pay
    eight times more than an apartment for the same 20 page letter issued by this
    Administration, or for an invoice sent to the bank, or for a reply to an email

    Sorry its a long posting, but can anyone help with this?



    Thanks

    Ian

  8. #8
    Senior Member
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    Is this a Polaris World resort you are writing of?

  9. #9
    Unregistered
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    Default Polaris World

    Yes,

    Have you heard about it? Could you please give some advise.

    We now have mini community AGM's in the next week, we have asked for contracts, quotes received and the administrator will not provide it, how can we vote on something we have not been able to see?

    Owners have even been told to leave their proxy forms blank and the administrator will always act in their best interest.

    We can't even change our administrator for our mini-community as they have distributed the administration fees equally by each owner @ 8.70 each per month, can you please help, we are being run by a committee and an administrator that block every door, is their a quick fix?

    I thank you for your time and hope you can please help

  10. #10
    Senior Member
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    Marbella
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    Default

    We have received like over 40 queries on PW within the last weeks. Always on the same point.- how they've changed the process of calculating the Community quotas.

    In our opinion you should all group together and appoint a law firm to have the Community quotas correctly calculated and upheld before a law court if neccessary.

    Everyone cannot pay the same, that's just not possible nor fair. Each of you will have to pay in proportion to your share in the Commonhold.

    We have the suspicion that the rules have been amended so as to benefit the developer which still has a large number of units to offload.

    We believe your administrators, appointed by PW themselves, are acting in the best interests of...PW.

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