The "parliament" of the condominium community is the owners' meeting. Here, resolutions are passed democratically. The administrator is obliged to record these in the minutes and in the collection of resolutions ("Beschlusssammlung"). The collection of resolutions has to be compiled without delay because - unlike the minutes - it does not have to be signed by an owner.
What should be done if no minutes are received from the administrator? How long should one wait?
Owners often have to wait (too) long for the minutes. Depending on when they receive the minutes, there may be serious legal disadvantages. What options do owners have before, during and after the meeting?
Before the meeting, it has proven useful if at least one owner agrees to take minutes of the meeting. By means of a sample protocol, a guideline can already be prepared before the meeting, which contains, among other things, the agenda items, possibly already existing draft resolutions and a list of owners.
At the meeting, a printout of this guide assists the owner in taking minutes. After the quorum has been established, the agenda is introduced. Important contributions to the discussion and the results should be recorded before the vote takes place after the proposed resolution has been read out. As a rule, the discussion results in amended or new resolution formulations, which can then be recorded on the guideline.
What is the significance of the proclamation of the resolution after the result of the vote has been determined? - For a resolution to be valid, it must be formally proclaimed. Resolutions are not valid without proclamation. Promulgated resolutions are in principle valid until they are declared invalid by a court on the basis of a timely challenge.
A challenge to a resolution must be asserted in court within one month of the passing of the resolution, i.e. the date of the owners' meeting.
Only in certain exceptional cases can this be deviated from. This raises the question for the owners of how they should react after the owners' meeting within the one-month period if, despite the administrator's protestations to the contrary, the minutes are not sent or are sent in deviation from the announced resolutions.
One possibility is to send the minutes prepared by the owners - signed by as many owners as possible - to the administrator with a short deadline for receipt of the minutes signed by the administrator. This should leave enough time within the statutory one-month period to quickly identify and clarify any discrepancies in the minutes, so that one or more owners can also support the finally agreed minutes with their signature.
If nothing at all comes from the administrator, every owner can assert his or her legal right to inspect the administration documents, in particular the collection of resolutions. This is to be kept, among other things, of all resolutions completely, clearly and without delay. As a rule, this means that resolutions must be entered within one week according to previous case law. If the administrator does not fulfil this obligation properly, this is regularly an important reason for his dismissal.
If this inspection of the minutes does not lead anywhere, it may be necessary to challenge the resolutions found in the collection of resolutions. If no resolutions have been entered here, a further means could be to challenge those resolutions that were listed in the invitation to the owners' meeting.
The decision for or against challenging a resolution depends on the circumstances of the individual case and regularly requires the support of a lawyer.
By preparing and coordinating the owners in advance, it is possible to communicate quickly and clearly with the manager during and after the meeting. This article lists only some of the options to avoid misunderstandings so that what is decided in the meeting can be implemented as quickly as possible.
It doesn't matter whether you are preparing for or following an owners' meeting: Only your timely action will safeguard your interests. We will be happy to give you a free initial assessment of your situation.
The "parliament" of the condominium community is the owners' meeting. Here, resolutions are passed democratically. The administrator is obliged to record these in the minutes and in the collection of resolutions ("Beschlusssammlung"). The collection of resolutions has to be compiled without delay because - unlike the minutes - it does not have to be signed by an owner.
What should be done if no minutes are received from the administrator? How long should one wait?
Owners often have to wait (too) long for the minutes. Depending on when they receive the minutes, there may be serious legal disadvantages. What options do owners have before, during and after the meeting?
Before the meeting, it has proven useful if at least one owner agrees to take minutes of the meeting. By means of a sample protocol, a guideline can already be prepared before the meeting, which contains, among other things, the agenda items, possibly already existing draft resolutions and a list of owners.
At the meeting, a printout of this guide assists the owner in taking minutes. After the quorum has been established, the agenda is introduced. Important contributions to the discussion and the results should be recorded before the vote takes place after the proposed resolution has been read out. As a rule, the discussion results in amended or new resolution formulations, which can then be recorded on the guideline.
What is the significance of the proclamation of the resolution after the result of the vote has been determined? - For a resolution to be valid, it must be formally proclaimed. Resolutions are not valid without proclamation. Promulgated resolutions are in principle valid until they are declared invalid by a court on the basis of a timely challenge.
A challenge to a resolution must be asserted in court within one month of the passing of the resolution, i.e. the date of the owners' meeting.
Only in certain exceptional cases can this be deviated from. This raises the question for the owners of how they should react after the owners' meeting within the one-month period if, despite the administrator's protestations to the contrary, the minutes are not sent or are sent in deviation from the announced resolutions.
One possibility is to send the minutes prepared by the owners - signed by as many owners as possible - to the administrator with a short deadline for receipt of the minutes signed by the administrator. This should leave enough time within the statutory one-month period to quickly identify and clarify any discrepancies in the minutes, so that one or more owners can also support the finally agreed minutes with their signature.
If nothing at all comes from the administrator, every owner can assert his or her legal right to inspect the administration documents, in particular the collection of resolutions. This is to be kept, among other things, of all resolutions completely, clearly and without delay. As a rule, this means that resolutions must be entered within one week according to previous case law. If the administrator does not fulfil this obligation properly, this is regularly an important reason for his dismissal.
If this inspection of the minutes does not lead anywhere, it may be necessary to challenge the resolutions found in the collection of resolutions. If no resolutions have been entered here, a further means could be to challenge those resolutions that were listed in the invitation to the owners' meeting.
The decision for or against challenging a resolution depends on the circumstances of the individual case and regularly requires the support of a lawyer.
By preparing and coordinating the owners in advance, it is possible to communicate quickly and clearly with the manager during and after the meeting. This article lists only some of the options to avoid misunderstandings so that what is decided in the meeting can be implemented as quickly as possible.
It doesn't matter whether you are preparing for or following an owners' meeting: Only your timely action will safeguard your interests. We will be happy to give you a free initial assessment of your situation.