For the successful management of condominiums in Bulgaria, it is undoubtedly necessary to know and apply the established rules, and in the event of problems to know who to turn to for assistance and successful resolution of disputes between owners.
Changes have been announced in April 1, 2016, new texts and new deadlines have been added to the ZUES/CMMA/. They are published in the State Gazette and with this article we will briefly introduce them to you.
The Government passed a Law on Amendment to the Bulgarian Condominium Management Act. Changes were proposed for the owners’ obligations regarding the maintenance of the building and it’s technical condition, meeting the basic requirements under Art. 169, paragraph 1 of the Spatial Planning Act (SPA), as well as a prohibition not to carry out construction activities, which will worsen the condition of the building or damage it.
One of the major changes concerning the condominium rules is the recruitment of a manager of the condominium. This may be a legal entity that is not the owner of an object in the building and is hired to carry out the maintenance work and management of the building. The approval of a person to carry out the activity of a manager must take place during a General Meeting attended by representatives of objects/flats which represent not less than 67% of the common parts of the building. If this percentage is not gathered, the meeting is postponed for 1 hour and then it is necessary to be attended by representatives of 33% of the common parts of the building.
Once appointed as manager or chairman of the board of directors at General Assembly of owners, the manager is entrusted with responsibilities related to the maintenance of the building, the payment of the bills and the collection of the fees. If he fails to perform his duties as such, the manager is liable to a fine of 500 to 1000 levs.
One of the most difficult tasks for a house manager is to collect monthly fees in time.
Under the Condominium Act, all residents are required to pay the costs of repairs, renovation of the condominium building, replacement of common installations, equipment, and to collect funds to the “Repair and Renovation” Fund in accordance with the shares they own.
In addition to the changes, new subparagraphs have been added to the CMMA. For example, in Art. 21 of the Condominium Act creates para. 4, which reads: “In the case of newly-built condominiums, the election of a board of directors / manager / shall take place within 6 months of the building being put into operation.”
To control the work of the Management Board and in case of abuses or violations, the manager of the condominium shall be punished with fines of BGN 800 to 1,500 or a property sanction from 1000 to 2000 levs for established offences and violations of the law if a question about a legal entity.
In order to facilitate and improve communication in the condominium has been presented the possibility to communicate by e-mail, when available, and to receive messages via an address in the country indicated by the owner or the user.
For the sake of clarity, the powers of the general assembly to assign and prepare a technical passport for the building are specified. The powers or part of them of the management board (manager) of the condominium and of the association of the owners can be assigned to legal entities for a period of 2 years, which will allow the condominium / the owners’ association to give up the management of the common parts at their desire to specialised companies.
An obligation has been made for newly-built condominiums to elect a board of directors (manager) within 6 months after the building’s put into operation. The amendments will allow owners’ associations to be registered for several buildings/blocks/ built as condominiums. The association,which only operates under Art. 25, para 1 or does not carry out any activity shall be exempted from the application of the Law on Statistics.
In case of hanging the ownership of a separate object also transfers the membership in the association to the new owner, as for the obligations to the association that have become due before the change of ownership, the old owner is responsible for them, unless it has been otherwise agreed between the new and the old owner.
The texts concerning the urgent repairs had been amended. A procedure has been introduced for ensuring access by the owners for realisation of activities under Art. 6, para. 1, item 12 of the present CMMA, which are related to the carrying out of the necessary research, design, measurement, construction and assembly works related to maintenance, repair, reconstruction, reconstruction or renovation of common parts or other premises; to check the condition of the installations and elements of the building.