For every Community of owners (“Comunidad de propietarios”), the “Ley de Propiedad Horizontal” indicates what are the rights, but also the obligations of every owner.

Every year, the annual general meeting (AGM) of the owners must be held.  Indeed, the AGM should approve the accounts of the former year and vote a Budget for the following year. This budget is very important, because if  an increase in the cost is forecast, the community fees should go up too.
If you feel concerned and you feel that some expenditure is not necessary, you can give your advice and if the majority of the committee agree with you, then the work will not be carried out.
We  should remind you of the importance of the payment of the community fees : if you are a bad debtor, you cannot vote (but you can attend the AGM) and the AGM will decide whether to take legal actions against you.
In every meeting, the notice indicates where  the AGM will be held, and what time (generally it also gives the the time of a second meeting, half hour later, if there are not enough owners present ).
The agenda is very important because decisions can only be taken about its contents; if an owner is not interested because it only shows ordinary decisions, he may decide not to go to the AGM nor to be represented.
In every AGM, for one year, the AGM will have to elect at least :
1°) The President : as President, he will fulfil the decisions taken at the last AGM; he will also decide “who” carries out maintenance, “which” company will clean the complex, etc. Only an OWNER can be President; if he sells his property, the AGM should ideally elect a Vice-President for this particular case; (if this does not happen, the Vice-President does not have to do anything). It is also the President of the Community of owner’s who will call the next meeting;
2°) A Secretary : the one who will prepare the minutes of the meeting;
3°) The Administrator : the person in charge of the finances, to follow up bad debtors, and execute the President’s decisions.
Some other decisions can be decided : problems with the entrance, or in the garage, etc.
Apart from the annual general meeting (AGM), an extraordinary  general meeting (EGM) can be held at any time. Generally it is the President who takes the initiative but owners representing 25% or more of the membership (“cuotas”) can also call for this meeting.

Stéphane MERCIER, Expertos de Tenerife S.L.