Community Fees - Advice please

[Rugrat]

We bought our first property in Tenerife at the end of last year on a complex of 30 or so duplex style homes

Our property sits on the perimeter away from the main pool area and gardens and as such we don’t see an awful lot of benefit from the work being carried out in the main areas but that's somewhat irrelevant. However, we have asked for a fairly small amount of general maintenance to be done in our area (not improving), replace a few broken tiles, weeding and better management of communal planting areas, repainting badly flaking walls etc, but we are getting no response from the service company or the President who we have asked before and who was quite dismissive saying, “we’ll get everything done in good time as the fees come in”. It appears because we are on the perimeter (and maybe not part of the established clique) then we are generally neglected, whilst the more central areas, where most of the homes are situated, are kept immaculate. By comparison our area is beginning to look "tatty"

We are not sure what our options are. We could wait until the next AGM in January but not only do we not wish for a public confrontation (the President is a very aggressive sort) but we suspect that any request we make will simply get the same response of 'we'll do it in good time'. At the last AGM we asked for a schedule of works but was told work is undertaken on an 'as needed basis'.

I'm at a loss to know what to do next, is there is some arbitration service we could use, or do we have to resort to a Lawyer and even then is there any point?

I don't believe I will be the first to encounter such an issue and so if anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated

[tfs1]

I do not have the answer and sadly not knowledgeable enough to give any help. If things do go quiet here I would suggest you consider asking the same question on the other well respected Tenerife website (Janet A) to see if you can get some direction.

[junglejim]

I can sympathise with your issue , we live in a complex of 160 + apts where some areas are given more attention than others despite complaints from the neglected areas , unfortunately pestering the President / committee with requests , face to face if necessary may be your only option !
Our President can be a bit of a bully but my wife is no shrinking violet and she is at his door and in his face when things need done !
If he gets aggressive with you , denounce him especially if it's against a female .
Draw up a list of requests and submit it to the AGM/Administrator , especially if the tiles for example are a tripping hazard(H&S).
You need to get support of other owners by showing the disparity in treatment otherwise he will always get away with it .
Perhaps, as suggested contacting the other site , Janet may have some other recourse for you but I am not aware of any other than getting the President voted out !
Good Luck !

[essexeddie]

Do you have weekly or monthly meetings? If so keep bringing the problem to their attention. I often myself carry out gardening and painting on our complex, and also bought plants with the Presidents approval. I enjoy it. Every little helps.

[Rugrat]

I do not have the answer and sadly not knowledgeable enough to give any help. If things do go quiet here I would suggest you consider asking the same question on the other well respected Tenerife website (Janet A) to see if you can get some direction.

Thanks for the note. I'm not aware of the other forum or Janet A. Can you send a link or email address please?


I can sympathise with your issue , we live in a complex of 160 + apts where some areas are given more attention than others despite complaints from the neglected areas , unfortunately pestering the President / committee with requests , face to face if necessary may be your only option !
Our President can be a bit of a bully but my wife is no shrinking violet and she is at his door and in his face when things need done !
If he gets aggressive with you , denounce him especially if it's against a female .
Draw up a list of requests and submit it to the AGM/Administrator , especially if the tiles for example are a tripping hazard(H&S).
You need to get support of other owners by showing the disparity in treatment otherwise he will always get away with it .
Perhaps, as suggested contacting the other site , Janet may have some other recourse for you but I am not aware of any other than getting the President voted out !
Good Luck !

I have tackled the President but with no joy. Although only recently made President (we bought the property of the previous one!) he has been there for 15 years and has strong support. I did try and raise things at the last AGM but he talked down to me (as he did one or two others) and basically got everything his own way because of a combination of his cronies and the large number of proxy votes that he had. In effect the man has total control, and unfortunately he seems like the type that revels in it. I can't use H&S as an argument I'm afraid. I am considering running for President this year, I'm certainly better qualified than him although I have no desire to do it whatsoever. I doubt I will get enough support and don't really believe getting a significant proportion will change anything, indeed it may well make it worse.

As above I am not familiar with Janet so any contact info would be appreciated

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Do you have weekly or monthly meetings? If so keep bringing the problem to their attention. I often myself carry out gardening and painting on our complex, and also bought plants with the Presidents approval. I enjoy it. Every little helps.

We don't have any meetings just the AGM. Wy wife is a keen gardener but our plot has a garden that's more than enough for her. My painting skills are ropey at best and the perimeter wall near us is up to 20' high! On top of that I guess there's an element of 'we are paying for this maintenance and therefore we should be getting it'

[junglejim]

Unfortunately this site doesn't allow links to the J A NE T AN S C O M BE site dot com but if you google her name it'll come up !
Your struggle with President will be a war of attrition , hope you're up for it - doesn't say much for other residents - been there and experienced that !

[tfs1]

Do you have weekly or monthly meetings? If so keep bringing the problem to their attention. I often myself carry out gardening and painting on our complex, and also bought plants with the Presidents approval. I enjoy it. Every little helps.

Eddie - I guess it shows you how lucky we are with our President and general attitude to improvements / maintenance throughout our complex.