Buying a community property

Anyone who is considering buying a property within a Spanish urbanisation or community, as they are also called, should be familiar with the legal peculiarities governing such developments:

1. A spanish urbanisation can be compared with an urban settlement, which is governed by the Housing Property Law. However, in Spain, the running of the urbanisation rests almost entirely with the private Community of Owners.
   
2. The community of owners is organised in a similar way to an Association or a Limited Company and, besides holding an Annual General Meeting of all the owners, it has a Board of Directors, headed by a President. Usually, this President is not in charge of the day to day running of the Community, which is taken care of, not by an owner, but by a professional, outside Administrator or Bureau of Administrators. The President acts as the highest supervisory and controlling authority.
   
3. Internal Matters are mostly organised by the Community itself. This can include refuse disposal, street lighting, electricity and water supply, street cleaning etc. This is why an urbanisation is only as good as the solvency of its Community of Owners and the efficiency of its Board of Directors and Administrator.
   
4. If an entire development is built and sold by one promoter (or builder) only, it is essential to ensure that a Community of Owners capable of effective urbanisation management has been properly established.
   
5. When purchasing a property within a Community you have to take the same precautions as when purchasing any other type of house and be aware that you will be living in close proximity to your neighbours, especially from a legal point of view.
   
6. If any members of the urbanisation fail to pay their Community Fees, the Administrator can take legal action against them, in the name of the President, and an embargo can be placed on their house in the Property Register.
   
7. The purchase of a community property can be done via written private contract with key delivery, or alternatively - and strongly recommended - through a document certified by a public notary. Registration in the Property Register is also recommended though not a legal requirement.
   
8. The community of owners must create a reserve fund, which should not be lower than 5% of the total of the previous year's budget - a safeguard that always gives the Community a liquidity of funds.
   
9. The articles of association of a community are usually realised together with the parcelling out of the individual plots, in the independent Folios Register, often long before buyers purchase these plots. The terms are usually worked out according to the Model Articles and can be changed afterwards, usually together with what is termed as the Declaration of Partition. Before purchasing a community property, the Articles should be viewed and checked thoroughly.