New Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou wants an amended law on jointly-owned-buildings to come into force the soonest possible so that properties are properly maintained.
The draft law aims to solve a multitude of serious issues with the current law including the lack of management committees, non-payment of communal fees, insurance and partial or total destruction of the building.
Its purpose is to provide management committees with the flexibility needed to carry out its obligations, to ensure that unit owners meet their obligations and that properties are properly maintained.
Ioannou has instructed the new bill titled “Management of Jointly-Owned Buildings and Related Matters Law of 2022” which was drafted with the active involvement of the Land Registry Department as well to be immediately forwarded to the Legal Service.
The aim is for the necessary legislative and technical review to be carried out promptly and for it to subsequently be submitted to the Parliament for approval.
From time to time, this issue has also been discussed before the House Interior Committee with the conclusion being that thousands of people are affected and the thorn which creates friction is the financial aspect.
Because some owners do want maintenance or even landscaping work to be carried out on buildings in which they live, while others do not want to spend anything, either because they do not have the financial means or because they are indifferent or because they expect the others to cover their share.
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Long overdue but I can’t help feeling that for so many years nobody either Management Companies nor developers had the powers required to manage their complexes, but now we have committees the powers come rolling in, it’s like passing the buck.
As a retiree & chairman of a fairly large complex the last thing I need in my life is to either sue or take my neighbours to court and be tasked with this responsibility, it just makes me feel that my quiet life is about to become hectic.
I hope these laws are reasonably easy to implement and the legal profession in general can give committees 100% support and take some of the load off committees.
In many cases the committees are usually foreigners and tasked with taking locals or owners from other foreign countries to task isn’t going to be easy. It’s been difficult enough to get volunteers to join committees, can’t see these changes helping this situation either.
I’ll give it a go and see what support us committees get.
About Time! We pay all our share but some do not pay for open bits of balconies or penthouse areas, or their garden area, this is totally unfair on others in the development who pay all of their sq.metre ownership share on expenses..
Even under the current law, owners should contribute towards the communal fees based on the covered area of their property plus covered and uncovered balconies and patio areas. (Currently, they do not pay on the area of their private gardens.)
There must be the ability to take people to court for a fast track resolution where they owe money for common expenses – just not paying should not be an option.
I agree. We’ll know what’s in the law once it’s been approved. There’s a much longer article on the subject in the Greek language Phileleftheros. Here’s a very rough translation:
On the instructions of the Minister of the Interior, Constantinos Ioannou, the process of promoting the bill is being accelerated, which concerns the building communities, the management of which points to absolute anarchy, which causes constant friction between owners and leaves thousands of buildings unmaintained, with all that entails .
One of the main innovations of the bill lies in the fact that it gives the management committees the power to make expenses, reasonably necessary, for the maintenance and proper operation of the common areas of the jointly owned building, which the owner neglects to pay.
This particular power elevates the role of management committees and those who have ignored them until now, if they continue the same tactics, are very likely to be called to account before a court. The Ministry of the Interior considers that the bill expands the responsibilities and powers of the management committees (their operation is mandatory in all jointly owned buildings) which will act on the basis of standards or internal regulations.
At the same time, the bill aims to resolve serious issues such as the non-existence of a management committee, the refusal to pay common users, the insurance, the partial or total destruction of the building, etc., which concern all the owners of a jointly owned building.
The Minister of the Interior gave instructions, such as the bill (“The Management of Jointly Owned Buildings and Related Matters Law of 2022”) which was prepared with the active involvement of the Land Registry department, to be forwarded immediately to the Legal Service, in order to carry out the necessary legal and technical review and subsequently to be submitted to the House of Representatives for approval.
The issue also occupied the parliamentary committee of the Interior from time to time, before which all the concerns regarding the prevailing situation were raised. The project is not easy given that thousands of people are affected, their comforts, their safety, while there is also the thorn of the financial aspect, which creates friction, since some owners wish to carry out maintenance or beautification projects of the buildings in which they live while others they don’t want to spend anything, either because they don’t have the money or because they don’t care or because they expect others to pay their share. Of course, to the above must be added the thousands of tenants who want to live in buildings with relevant amenities, but have no say in making the relevant decisions.
In the context of drafting the relevant bill, which was prepared by the Land Registry, with the input of the Ministry of the Interior and the Commissioner of Legislation, it was required to amend the Sale of Real Estate (Special Execution) Law (L.81(I)/2011) and the Transfer and Mortgage of Real Estate Law (N.9/1965), regarding the presentation (for the purposes of selling real estate and also transferring/mortgaging real estate) a certificate from the relevant management committee that the utilities have been paid for the unit.
The need to amend the existing legislation stems, according to the Land Registry department, from the following:
a) Weaknesses and certain gaps found in the implementation of the current legislation, including the need to define the rights and obligations of the main units (i.e. the owners) for the regulation of various issues, but also the weaknesses in the existing management practices of such buildings , as well as the need to ensure a more effective implementation of management considering that unit owners escape their obligations and many properties are not adequately maintained, resulting in risks for their safety and the safety of third parties.
b) The need for the responsibilities of the Department of Lands and Surveys, in view of the enormous volume of additional work, to be limited only to issues of possession and registration of jointly owned buildings.
It is noted that the proposed bill (“The Management of Jointly Owned Buildings and Related Matters Law of 2022”) applies not only to registered joint-owned buildings but extends to all joint-owned buildings that have secured a building and division permit, regardless of the fact that they are not have obtained an approval certificate and/or have not been registered in the land registry and, by extension, no separate unit titles have been issued.
Service – Authority for the management
With the proposed bill, a Service for Registration of Co-Owned Buildings and Supervision of the Operation of Administrative Committees is defined, while defining its responsibilities.
The Shared Buildings Registration Service will, among other things, be responsible for:
Registration of jointly owned buildings, as well as the mandatory registration of management committees in the service, which maintains a register of jointly owned buildings and management committees.
Establishing standard internal regulations to regulate the management of jointly owned buildings, as well as defining the rights and obligations of the owners, which will be applied in the event of no regulations being issued under the proposed law to regulate any issues.
Compulsory insurance of co-owned buildings and supervision for the compulsory insurance of units and co-owned buildings.
Registration of jointly owned buildings and the relevant management committee in a register to be kept by the service and regulation of their management.
Determining the rights as well as the obligations of the owners of the units for the regulation of various issues.
In addition, the following are provided for:
The method of dividing the costs is introduced in such a way that the proportion to the costs to ensure services is calculated based on the area of ??each unit.
It is envisaged that a suitability study, static, mechanical and electrical control of each jointly owned building will be carried out by professionals registered with the Scientific and Technical Chamber of Cyprus and for the purposes of ensuring the suitability of the buildings if and as long as this is deemed necessary by the management committee.
It is noted that the specific issue is expected to be resolved in a more complete way, when the bill concerning the regular periodic control of buildings (in terms of their static adequacy) is approved, which is also promoted by the Ministry of the Interior.
The management committee can sue to recover the amount due and at the same time register a lien on the real estate of the negligent owner.
Provisions are introduced for the process of partial and total destruction of the unit or the jointly owned building, as well as for the interest of the owners of the units in case of destruction or termination of the jointly owned building.
Moreover, in addition to the establishment of standard internal regulations for the regulation of the management of jointly owned buildings, the rights and obligations of the owners are determined in relation to the regulations that will be issued by the relevant management committees (by virtue of the proposed law) for the regulation of any issues.
OPINION
The common good above interests
What prevails with thousands of apartment buildings is anarchy, which is due to the fact that until today the absence of binding regulations and loopholes in the legislation allow everyone to act as they please. Even the obvious, such as paying common users, has not been solved because some, assuming that others will not leave the building dirty, simply do not pay. Yes, the time has come for the Bill to be passed and the ball is now in the court of the Legal Service, which I hope will give due weight and complete the process as soon as possible. Due to the different interests that are affected, the task is not easy and I hope that in the end this bill will not be lost on the altar of expediency. We are watching.