Service
If you own in Spain but live elsewhere
You do not live here. Your comunidad decides anyway. It approves the budget, extra payments and building works at a meeting you probably cannot attend, in a language you probably do not read, with six days' notice.
What goes wrong today
- The notice arrives in Spanish, on the legal minimum of six days.
- The agenda is written in trade jargon and does not say what majority each point requires.
- Nobody explains that abstaining, in certain votes, counts towards the majority.
- The minutes arrive weeks later, without saying what you now have to do.
- Paying the fee from a foreign account turns into a recurring piece of admin.
The Non Resident Protocol
It is the schedule to the management contract that sets out the ten commitments of the Veridia Standard. The four that matter most if you live outside Spain:
Notice in both languages, fifteen days ahead instead of the six day legal minimum.
15 days before
An explained voting sheet: each agenda point in one paragraph, with the majority it requires and what abstaining does.
With the notice
A twenty minute call in your language before the meeting, to any owner who asks.
On request
A summary of resolutions setting out what you now have to do.
Within 48 hours
Proxy voting, done properly
Article 15.1 of the Horizontal Property Act lets someone attend and vote for you, if you put it in writing. The paperwork is never the problem. The problem is that your proxy does not know how you want to vote on point seven. When every point is explained, your proxy is no longer a blank cheque.
Where the limit sits, plainly. Point ten of the Standard is a calendar of reminders: we tell you which dates affect you as a non resident owner. We do not calculate, we do not file and we do not advise. That needs your tax adviser, and it is better that it is yours.
Questions
Is the community obliged to communicate with me in English?
No. The Horizontal Property Act imposes no language other than the official one, and a notice in Spanish is fully valid. Bilingual communication is either a decision of the community or a commitment by the agent. Veridia puts it in the contract.
Can I give my proxy to the managing agent?
You can, but it is not advisable, because the agent is usually an interested party in at least one of the points being voted on. The cleaner and more usual route is a proxy to another owner or to someone you trust, with written authorisation and a voting instruction for each point.
What happens if I neither attend nor appoint a proxy?
The meeting goes ahead and the resolution binds you. In addition, article 17.8 of the Horizontal Property Act provides that, for certain resolutions, an absent owner who does not express disagreement within thirty days of being notified of the minutes is counted as being in favour.