WAY LAW - Failure of maintenance fee
April 29, 2010 | 100,00 EUR | answered by Steffan Schwerin
WEG law
Owner does not pay maintenance fees - can the other owners be held liable?
Dear lawyers,
Property with 25 special units, one owner of three special units has not paid any maintenance fees since January. No explanation, no information, no warning, simply stopped payments. No response to inquiries or reminders. Even through legal action, in the long term, nothing will be collected from him.
As a result, the community is missing about 600 euros every month, which can no longer be covered from the reserves. The WEG is heading towards insolvency.
Can the remaining owners be obligated to cover both the arrears and the monthly maintenance fees in the future? The atmosphere in the building is extremely poor, several lawsuits are pending among each other. There will be resistance and refusal to pay.
Can I, as a manager, write to the owners as follows without immediately running into legal problems? Where necessary, I would ask for 'improvements'.
Dear [ADDRESS NAME],
Your co-owner [NAME] has stopped paying the maintenance fees for all three of his special units since January 2010 without explanation or information, and also does not respond to inquiries or reminders. As a result, the community is missing about 600 euros every month, which can no longer be covered from the reserves. The WEG is heading towards insolvency.
According to the WEG and the declaration of division, as an owner, you are liable for the payment defaults in proportion to your living spaces.
Settlement January 2010 to May 2010 AMOUNT Your share Xm²/Ym² = YOUR AMOUNT
Please pay this amount by [14 days after date of dispatch] to the WEG account [account number, bank code, bank].
What happens if payment is not made?
Three days after the above deadline, you will be reminded with a fee (x euros according to the management contract), a grace period of up to 10 days will be set. The day after this deadline, we will hand over the matter to a lawyer, who will initiate further steps, such as a payment order, lawsuit.
Settlement monthly maintenance fees from June 2010 AMOUNT Your share Xm²/Ym² = YOUR AMOUNT
Please pay this amount each month by the third working day of the month to the above account.
In case of non-payment, the same steps and deadlines as mentioned above apply.
Note: Do not direct your justified anger at the manager, but instead direct it at the owner who has caused this situation for you.
Sincerely ...
Dear questioner,
I will answer the questions you have raised, taking into account the circumstances described and your efforts, as follows:
Initially, the community has no choice but to sue the defaulting payer for payment of the outstanding house money and any resulting damages.
If the community encounters payment difficulties, the other owners must advance the necessary funds. However, the money can be reclaimed from the other owner through legal action.
If the owner is permanently unable to pay, the forced auction of the condominium may need to be requested. This way, the community's debts can at least be partially satisfied.
Therefore, the legal entity of the owners' association is liable for the obligations arising from contracts. While the individual apartment owners are not jointly liable for the entire water costs, they are liable proportionally, in accordance with § 10 para. 8 of the Condominium Act (WEG), based on their respective ownership shares, for the obligations of the community (Federal Court of Justice, ruling of 20.01.2010, docket no. VIII ZR 329/08).
Regarding your letter:
"Dear NAME,
Your co-owner NAME has stopped paying the house money for all three of his individual units since January 2010 without explanation or communication, and has not responded to inquiries or reminders.
As a result, the community is missing approximately 600 euros per month, which can no longer be covered by existing funds. The owners' association is heading towards insolvency.
According to the Condominium Act and the declaration of division, you as an owner are liable for the payment defaults in proportion to your living areas.
Therefore, the legal entity of the owners' association is liable for the obligations arising from contracts. While the individual apartment owners are not jointly liable for the entire water costs, they are liable proportionally, in accordance with § 10 para. 8 of the Condominium Act (WEG), based on their respective ownership shares, for the obligations of the community (Federal Court of Justice, ruling of 20.01.2010, docket no. VIII ZR 329/08).
Billing January 2010 to May 2010 AMOUNT Your share Xm²/Ym² = YOUR AMOUNT Please pay this amount by [14 days after the date of dispatch] to the account of the owners' association [account number, bank code, bank].
If no payment is made, legal action will unfortunately have to be taken.
Billing monthly house money from June 2010 AMOUNT Your share Xm²/Ym² = YOUR AMOUNT Please continue to pay this amount by the third working day of each month to the mentioned account. Failure to pay will result in the same steps and deadlines as mentioned above.
Note: Do not direct your justified anger at the administrator, but rather at the owner who caused this situation.
Kind regards..."
The letter is otherwise in order.
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Kind regards,
Steffan Schwerin
Lawyer
Law Office of Steffan Schwerin
Golmsdorfer Street 11
07749 Jena
Tel.: 03641 801257
Fax: 032121128582
Email: raschwerin@raschwerin.de
Website: www.raschwerin.de
