Question About Problem With Administrator & Council Of Apartment Complex

Hello-I am posting this thread here, because I am having quite a difficult time with the Administrator and Council of the apartment complex that I live in.

Since I moved into the complex and bought an apartment, there have been continual increases in the monthly condo association fee 'mantenimiento', including extraordinary quotes outside the monthly for other projects.

From the beginning, I requested that there be an audit of the condo's finances and both the Administrator and Council have fought and denied that request claiming there is no money to do an audit and if we want an audit, then we will have to pay for it. Is this normal?

Looking through the rules of the apartment complex, it appears there is an article that states that the Administrator must do an annual account for the finances-audit?-to which it appears they are not doing whatsoever.

Moreover, the Administrator was delivering statements every month or 2 months with the state of the expenses for the complex, but that ended in December, 2014 and now there have been no reports for 1 year.

I would like to know what recourse, as an owner, that we have against the Administrator and/or Council, if there have been improprieties taking place in the finances?

Is it normal that the Administrator and Council do not want to audit the finances of the apartment complex?

What is the best way to proceed against them in this instance?

Thank you.

Drro said:

My suggestion is get legal advice, our condo bldg uses Guzman in Sosua. It's my understanding that in order to raise the fees, there must be a vote taken at the annual meeting or at an extraordinary meeting and all owners have a vote. And at the annual meeting the administrator gives an annual report of income/expenses and a budget for the next year which must be approved. I am not an attorney, so my strong suggestion is to contact one and see what your rights are.

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Thank you for the advice-I've been to a number of the meetings over the last several years since I bought the apartment and it never seemed that there was a 'Quorum' of the owners for them to make any votes at the meetings. Also, the last meeting, I don't remember seeing any annual report of the income and expenses for the property. I will probably have to call Guzman Ariza for counsel.

Fabio J. Guzman said:

You have the legal right to be informed about the financial status of the condo association, as well as to obtain copies of condo resolutions raising maintenance fees, etc.

You should consult a lawyer about how to obtain this information and documentation in case condo management refuses to give it to you.

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Well the problem is not getting access to the financial records of the condo association, the problem is the integrity of those records that can only be verified by a third party audit.

Secondly, the issue of the mismanagement-mishandling of monies due to a lack of a proper budget and cost controls.

Even if we get the records, the question is how to deal with the lack of an audit and budget.

bloody67 said:

According to Dominican Law Blah Blah Blah , look 1. Your are in the DR , the Administartor here employ themselves, family and friends to make end meet welll above and beyound. Yes they must show books , records etc ,,,, and they will not , forget about it ,, get a lawyer spend money and still nothing will change,,, Foreigners just dont get it. Look unless you get a HUGE amount of your Dominican owners to participate in demanding the administrator go or show , your in a slowww painfullll longggg Battle that you will wil but get no RESULTS.

Court instructions here in particular CIVIL mean nothing until you satisfy the right pockets , anyway they the administrator have bills to pay and they need that money for their car note , school fees ... party and social life ,, so they contract amongst the clicks and you are gonna pay ... now here is the bright side;;;;; you can refuse to pay for months even years ...let it accumulate and at the same time look for someone to BUY your place and just get the hell out of their.

Or stay and fight the fight , round 1 ,2 ,3 4, 5, 6,. 7,8 9 ...your a foreigner ...YOU LOSE

I am an island Boy first and foremost....I tell it like it is

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Apparently, this is why the group of owners in my apartment complex have done nothing to date about the problem. However, now I am hearing some rumblings of owners that are looking to oust the Administrator soon. This is the only real recourse that we have as owners.

jimmythegreek said:

Apparently, this is why the group of owners in my apartment complex have done nothing to date about the problem. However, now I am hearing some rumblings of owners that are looking to oust the Administrator soon. This is the only real recourse that we have as owners.

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So a few weeks ago the Administrator of the building turned off our gas, because we would not pay the monthly association fee at the exact time that they wanted and also extraordinary quotes we did not pay for the year in response to their lack of accountability with handling the money of the building.

This morning, I went and looked at the area where the gas is turned on and off for the apartments-they put a steel cover over the controls with the ability to lock the box, but it remains unlocked. This was an expense not approved in any of our meetings by the owners and now the Administrator and Council of the building are making decisions on their own without a quorum meeting of the owners.

bloody67 said:

Unfortunate , but normal here in the DR .. You may be best directed to just act like a unruly Dominican ,,, unfortunately thats what most respect , put ya foot down. If you paid your gas , and they cut it off , break the dam lock off and cut it back on, their is nothing legally they can do , just have the receipts. The administrator has the power to put a box over the gas lines , he will say to protect it , but he or she HAS NO power or business turning you off if you paid, People in life only get away with what you
allow, look knuckle him up real good , or spend a few thousand pesos to have it done for you .... belive me their are always many takers about ....stop leting him walk on you , thats your choice .....

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I do not think the Administrator or the Council have the right to make any additions to the building without a vote of the owners in a meeting with a quorum present.

In terms of cutting the gas off, even if you did not pay the entire amount being asked, the question remains about the accountability of the spending by the Administrator and Council in the apartment complex.

Fabio J. Guzman said:

Legal recourse is much more effective than what some posters above think.

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Well finally we received some reporting after 14 months on Xmas Eve day! LOL. The problem is that you can only verify certain line items like cost for water or electricity, since you can go to the source and request the monthly statements from Edesur-CAASD. Line items of labor costs, maintenance, extraordinary, other costs, etc require to pull all the receipts from the administrator and do an audit.