Community President

Can the President of a Community just resign half way through the year and if so what procedure is then followed to replace them.

Not absolutly sure hugh, but if he/she dropped dead surley there must be some sort of procedure.

Why is why I’m asking for the procedure.

Accirding to all I have read , the Secretary, Administrator cannot call an EGM only the President, but do they have to do that before resigning or dropping dead?

Some suggest that a President cohkd be sued for not fulfilling his responsibilities to the Community.

There must be an answer.

if they had resigned or dropped dead they would no longer be the president

The so called president of a community is voted in by the residents... If he /she decides for some reason or another to resign ...then the administration would call for a new  community president to be voted in ASAP .

It is the duty of all Property owners in a community to full fill there dutys, if called upon,(we have had this in our community a few years back) somebody said they would not do the job after being voted in, when they found out they had to go in front of a judge (at their own expens) to not carry out this position they withdraw their argument for not doing it. With regards to somebody passing away, (which we have also had) while in office President/ Tresure etc, the bank would not take them off their details until a death certificate was produced, so even in death you are still classed as a President.

The so called president of a community is voted in by the residents... If he /she decides for some reason or another to resign ...then the administration would call for a new  community president to be voted in ASAP .

The President is the President NOT so called and his duties are very important to the Community of Owners and as stated by others anyone chosen, either elected or by ballot must go before a judge to appeal the decision.

The President is elected by the Owners NOT by residents.

As far as I am aware it is the President who must call a meeting mid term to elect someone else NOT the Administrator.

I can read nothing in HPA which covers death of a President.

Thanks for all the comments but

What I’m asking is the definitive answer to a President attempting to resign mid term NOT guesses or supposition of the facts.

From what i have shownby a  Administrators, their  book on HPL it is not a paper back book written by a ex pat, but a large sizeable book with all the sections and then the sub sections of HPL, like evertthing in life it´s nice to know the bascis, but laws change that as us mortals would not be aware of and only people working  in their field are up to date about, it is a fact (as we have been through it) that our new President had to supply a death certificate for the bank, not saying the bank were being funny about it but that´s what we had to do. The best thing in these situations is speak to the Administrator they know the law and will advise.  

An interesting question hugh_man.  I had to check, but under Section 13, clause 7 the HPA states:

"The term of office for all governing bodies of the community shall be of one calendar year unless otherwise provided for by the community statutes.

Therefore the President cannot just walkaway - he/she is vulnerable to a legal action if they have not completed the period for which they were elected, which I believe would be a simple matter using the local Notary.  Of course this needs to be checked through a solicitor and actual practice/custom in Spain may be different.

It would be interesting to know the final outcome please. 

If a President drops dead, then the VP immediately steps up to take charge as vP - the same as if hte President is incapacitated or unwilling to fulfil their duties.  This is the purpose of the VP.

This is my understanding of the situation.

Try this web site https://comunidadhorizontal.com  found it very informated a lot of questions and answers you may find intresting, seems to be written by people who have a  good idea.

Hi Sandra

That makes a lot of sense about having a VP. When Kennedy got shot dead they immediately swore in Johnson, but when Blair resigned Prescott did not get the job, but I suppose he was a lefty loony not fit for anything other than a waiter on a ferry.  

and when the idiot Cameron chucked it, the UK haven't had a PM since then

Hi John I would not disagree, but we are going a bit off thread.

Cameron really stuck his fingers up at the UK when he jacked. Now we have Theresa who looks like a stooped jumble sale Jane.

Not sure what paperback book (written by Tony down the Pub) nitram is referring to - nor why he/she thinks "professionals" working in this field would know the answer or even be up to date with the law....but anyway, the Horizontal Law (Section 13.2) states "Acceptance shall be compulsory, although the unit owner designated may apply to the court for his/her replacement within one month of taking office, invoking the motives."

So, assuming one month has already passed, it would appear that even a judge would refuse to absolve him of his/her duties. Legally, they're stuck with the position. On the other hand, I can't really imagine any community successfully trying to sue a president for dereliction of duty. I suppose (sorry Hugh, best I can do) a president could call an EGM to propose a change of president before his/her term has elapsed - but unless there's another owner waiting in the wings for a chance to grab the coveted position (!!!!) I can't see this succeeding in too many cases. 

Thanks Roberto & Acer

Confirmed what I had thought.

I have now discovered our Administrator has advised the President that the Law states he must call an EGM with an single item agenda.

Interesting position IF he still wishes to resign and no one wants to accept the role.

Does it go to ballot or is he forced to continue?

I believe under HPA the role of the VP is merely to stand in for the President if he is not present BUT I don’t think the VP is expected or even permitted to automatically assume the role unless perhaps the President does indeed die, when he would call for an EGM to allow others to offer their services.

For me the HPA is clear on the aspect that the President is not permitted to unilaterally resign within the year.  He can seek permission from the courts to do so, but until this happens he is bound to continue in the role.

If you interpret the HPA literally, as you say, a Vice President is not automatically promoted.  He must seek election if he wishes and presumably the reverse should be true he/she cannot be forced to accept the role without his/her agreement.

Therefore the notorious ballot becomes the method that a new President is appointed, at an AGM/EGM.

But this scenario will have happened many times in the past and there may well be an accepted procedure that an experienced solicitor can explain.  A few words from Maria would be most useful as none of us can know for sure.

Looking at this from a reality situation and not rule book Ronnie, if he/she does not want the Presidents job, would it be better to just say OK goodbye. Who would really want someone who does not want the job; just let them live with the shame of it. As for any legal action, how long and how much would that take in the Spanish Disneyland Courts?  

The Horizontal Law says that the appointment of a vice president is optional, so there's certainly no mandate for the VP to automatically assume the role. 

I tend to agree that in reality the rules, if they even exist and are unambiguous, rarely apply. However, except in the unlikely event that your community has a waiting list of eager candidates, you're probably only going to end up replacing one owner who doesn't want the job, with another owner who doesn't want the job. Simply not wanting the job is never going to be an acceptable reason or excuse for refusing or resigning from the role. On the other hand, I also agree that there's little or no point in taking legal action against a reluctant president. 

At the end of the day, every community needs a professional, honest, responsible and reliable administrator to take care of the every day running of things, and the president (who is an unpaid layman) should only be required to approve any non-budgeted expenditure or legal actions etc. And therein lies the problem......

Yes makes sense. If the community make the job knob ache no one will want the burden of it other than the idiot wanting a title and bragging rights.