Question about Community Expenditure

Hello Everybody,

Way back in 2008/9 I was President of my Community, but sadly had to resign due to tragic personal circumstances, and I am only now poking a tentative toe back in to the muddy water of community affairs !!

I have thoroughly refreshed my memory of the Horizontal Property Laws and can find nothing specific enough to answer my question, so I'm hoping someone may be able to help me with this.

Back in 2008, I was under the impression that all community expenditure had to be approved in the annual budget at the AGM by owners, and that the only permitted digression from that was in an absolute emergency when the elected committee were allowed to deal with it.

This is certainly not the case now, and there seems to be a large amount of unauthorised expenditure going on !! When I raised the matter at the last AGM, I was told that the HPL had changed and that the committee was now allowed to spend up to 5000 euros without owners prior approval.

I know there have been changes to the HPL in recent years, but I can find nothing to either confirm or deny what I was told, which I have to say I find extremely hard to believe !! Neither is there any evidence of a 5000 euro limit having been agreed by owners in previous minutes of meetings.

Any help or current information on this would be very much appreciated, thank you.

It all depends on what the €5,000 was spent on and I am sure that any money that is spent has a invoice to back the expenditure up,with finished work's or improvements meeting the approval of the comunity involved before any payments are made.

On a Mission

It is indeed quite difficult to ascertain what a President or Committee can spend without budget approval, it seems a grey area, but I believe it is normally a proportion of the previous years budget, especially as you normally allow for a reserve fund based on years budget.

This, in reality should only be spent on emergencies otherwise an EGM should be called to approve further unapproved expenditure.

I would think your Administrator should be able to answer your question or point you in the direction of the answer, I.e. Minutes or statutes.

I am fairly certain that with the updateing of HPL in 2013 certain wording was changed regarding the Presidents/expenditure.

It goes something like "if the increase (over budget) was deemed to improveing the community then the President did not have to seek futher approval"

Of course the President has to answer to owners at the community AGM. !!

There were other changes to HPL in 2013 - not all of them benfited the greater good of the community - and not all administrators are aware of the changes.

http://www.costaluzlawyers.es/blog/spain-2013-property-communities-act/

http://www.costaluzlawyers.es/blog/spain-2013-property-communities-act/

Thank you so much windtalker, hugh_man, CostaBlade and mariadecastro for taking the time and trouble to help with my question, very much appreciated

Maria's link leads to a brilliant 17 page booklet containing an English translation of the Horizontal Laws including the 2013 amendments, it will be invaluable to me and, I'm sure, to many others, so an extra big thank you to you Maria !!

A pleasure!!