The Condado de Alhama Board of Presidents are awaiting a legal report on whether or not they can amend the 2018 protocol and charge interest on late community fees.
In the Level 1 meeting minutes dated 16th November 2020, item 2 XI noted that doubts have been raised whether the 2018 protocol can be amended to include charging owners interest on late payment of community fees.
For many this will be the first time this topic has been brought to their attention but clearly its been considered by the Board of Presidents for some time as they await a report from the community Lawyer, Mr Montoya, on the matter.
On the face of it charging interest on late community fees seems a good step towards combating debtors and many will welcome such measures in the fight against non-payers, but owners should carefully consider approving such steps if and when you are asked to vote.
As the Covid-19 crisis continues into 2021 many people may find their finances squeezed further in ways they never imagined. For residents who live at Condado de Alhama this might not affect them too much if they continue to recieve their regular income but for many owners their apartment in Spain is a second home. The reality for them is potentially increased costs for something they might not be able to travel to freely because of restriction and their financial priority will of course be for their home and family in their home country.
Most owners will agree that community debt needs to be managed and that owners have an obligation to their Spanish property but owners should also be mindful what they are asked to agree to when the AGM comes and to carefully consider the impact it has on everyone.
Previous fee increase
Remember that in a previous AGM (2018) the Condado de Alhama Board of Presidents successfully managed to get owners approval for a large increase to community fees in return for discounts if certain conditions were met, for example observing speed limits. For an average 2 bedroom Jardine apartment that equated to about 20 euros extra per month if you didn’t fall foul of the rules that the Board are now looking to amend.
Payments were also due more frequently as they went from quarterly to monthly which was a significant change in how revenues were collected and how quickly an owner could fall behind.
Considering that we’re already hearing of cases where owners are losing the ‘discretionary’ discount to their community fees for not paying on time then the prospect of additional penalties seem unfair and something to be considered very carefully by those who normally don’t take an interest in AGM details.
If you have any questions about this or anything else, please get in touch with your Level 3 President or leave a comment below or on our Facebook group ‘Condado de Alhama Holiday Resort‘.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.