When a property in Spain is part of a development with shared common areas, it falls under the jurisdiction of a Community of Property Owners. Each owner is required to pay community fees, which are essentially service charges. These fees contribute to the upkeep of communal areas such as gardens, pathways, pools, and other shared parts of the building. If an owner fails to pay these fees, it can place an unfair financial burden on the other residents.
Your Spanish Solicitor in Spain can provide advice on dealing with delinquent debtors and assist in recovering unpaid fees from owners who have not fulfilled their obligations.
Role of the Community
The Community is responsible for the daily management of the property and enforces self-drafted bylaws that all members must follow. One of its key roles is to collect the mandatory service charges, or community fees, which fund the maintenance of the development’s shared areas.
Your Spanish Solicitor in Spain represents several Communities of Property Owners across Spain, helping them recover debts from property owners who have not paid their community fees. If you are an administrator or president of a community of property owners, it is crucial to pursue unpaid fees to ensure fairness for those who do pay.
Dealing with Problem Debtors
When one or more property owners within a Community fail to pay their community fees, it can place a significant financial burden on the other paying members. In such situations, Your Spanish Solicitor in Spain can assist in locating the defaulting owners and ensuring they fulfill their legal obligations under the Community’s terms. We can pursue property owners in the UK and Ireland, initiate court proceedings in their home countries, enforce judgments against their properties and salaries, and even petition for bankruptcy for the most severe cases.
Recovering Community Fee Debt
Your Spanish Solicitor in Spain represents several Communities of Property Owners across Spain, helping them recover debts from owners who have not paid their community fees. If you own property in Spain and are affected by others’ failure to meet their obligations, we can help you recover unpaid fees and maintain standards.
For Presidents or Administrators of Communities, we offer comprehensive services to recover these debts, including locating debtors and negotiating settlements to secure payment.
Amicable Phase of Debt Recovery
Our primary goal at Your Spanish Solicitor is to recover unpaid community fees without resorting to legal proceedings. However, we are prepared to take swift legal action against defaulting owners and enforce debts in their home countries using the most effective methods based on each debtor’s circumstances. We distinguish between amicable and judicial phases in our debt recovery process.
Not all debtors can be persuaded to pay amicably. For such cases, Your Spanish Solicitor has developed an efficient and cost-effective method to navigate the legal system, ensuring a swift resolution. If a debtor fails to pay or defaults on a repayment plan, we will work with the Community to decide whether to initiate legal proceedings in the UK or Ireland. Legal processes in these countries are faster than in Spain, and judgments can be directly enforced against the debtor’s assets in their home country.
Starting legal proceedings involves court fees, which vary based on the debt amount. These fees can be added to the debt and recovered from the debtor after a successful claim.
European Order for Payment and European Enforcement Order
We specialize in debt recovery through a European Order for Payment, obtainable from courts across the EU (excluding Denmark) without a prior judgment. This allows for quick and cost-effective debt recovery.
If you have an uncontested judgment, we can help enforce it in the debtor’s country of residence via a European Enforcement Order, speeding up the process and reducing costs.
Enforcement
Obtaining a judgment is just the first step. Enforcement is necessary to receive payment. Various enforcement methods are available, tailored to each debtor’s circumstances.