Condo`s Badly Needing Repair Or Replacement

[midas]

I live in a large condominium building near Lumpini and it's about

10 to 12 years old now. When it was first sold, it was most likely

quite a decent standard. But now some parts of the building

are starting to look really tired and worn out- in particular significant

parts of the " common areas " - for example floor tiles

in all the lift lobbies on each floor, the entrance foyer on the ground floor

where the furniture and the whole design is starting to look worn out.

Problems are even starting to appear with water leakages

in various parts of the building.

Even some of the doors in the changing rooms adjoining the

gymnasium are actually crumbling because they are so rotten.

My question is how does the Juristic Person who manages the

legal aspects of a condominium building like this enforce

all the owners to contribute to replacement / repair when

the total bill could be a substantial amount of money?

What happens if some owners keep wanting to postpone

such expenditure thereby indirectly allowing the building

to deteriorate even further?

[quiksilva]

Not much they can do I'm afraid. They can take the co-owners to court, but that will take for years to resolve and even then what can they do with the co-owners who are based overseas?

Certain penalties could be applied to non-payers, but even then there is really little the Juristc Manager can legally do to enforce it.

They can:

block sales,

name and shame,

cut off the water, and

restrict access to common areas.

Access control cards are useful and increasingly affordable now that some suppliers will even let buildings lease the equipment. Used creatively they can limit access to the swimming pool, squash courts, tennis courts etc, and even force residents to only be able to use the service lift.

A sinking fund is typically used to finance these major repair jobs, but if the building is having trouble collecting common area maintenance fees for what sounds like minor cosmetic repairs, I seriously doubt whether your building will have one.

Ask for a copy of the audited accounts, how are the accounts receiveable? If thats okay where are they spending their cash? As a co-owner you are entitled to know where your money is going and how it is being managed. Perhaps you need new property managers, or even a new Juristic Management Committee?

Any major change in policy will most probably have to be agreed at an EGM / AGM with a quorum in attendance or by proxy and by passing a majority vote. The condo by-laws should set out the mechanics of how this is done at your building.

Bottomline:

Only buy condo's in low-mid rise established projects, with good property management consultants appointed, who will happilly let you check the state of the project's finances before you purchase, and where the majority of co-owners are also residents.

If you have already brought one in a project with this stuff going on, dump it and move on. These problems tend to hang around forever and are rarely resolved quickly.

If you absolutely must live there, make your voice heard attend AGM's, EGM's etc, and get on the committee if possible, but be prepared for what could be a miserable experience.

[midas]

Not much they can do I'm afraid. They can take the co-owners to court, but that will take for years to resolve and even then what can they do with the co-owners who are based overseas?

Certain penalties could be applied to non-payers, but even then there is really little the Juristc Manager can legally do to enforce it.

They can:

block sales,

name and shame,

cut off the water, and

restrict access to common areas.

Access control cards are useful and increasingly affordable now that some suppliers will even let buildings lease the equipment. Used creatively they can limit access to the swimming pool, squash courts, tennis courts etc, and even force residents to only be able to use the service lift.

A sinking fund is typically used to finance these major repair jobs, but if the building is having trouble collecting common area maintenance fees for what sounds like minor cosmetic repairs, I seriously doubt whether your building will have one.

Ask for a copy of the audited accounts, how are the accounts receiveable? If thats okay where are they spending their cash? As a co-owner you are entitled to know where your money is going and how it is being managed. Perhaps you need new property managers, or even a new Juristic Management Committee?

Any major change in policy will most probably have to be agreed at an EGM / AGM with a quorum in attendance or by proxy and by passing a majority vote. The condo by-laws should set out the mechanics of how this is done at your building.

Bottomline:

Only buy condo's in low-mid rise established projects, with good property management consultants appointed, who will happilly let you check the state of the project's finances before you purchase, and where the majority of co-owners are also residents.

If you have already brought one in a project with this stuff going on, dump it and move on. These problems tend to hang around forever and are rarely resolved quickly.

If you absolutely must live there, make your voice heard attend AGM's, EGM's etc, and get on the committee if possible, but be prepared for what could be a miserable experience.

quiksilva - thanks for your reply - I thought as much..............

I'm only a tenant here ( thank god ! ) but as I watch this building slowly deteriorate in standards, I am reminded what little faith

I have in condominium ownership in Southeast Asian countries. Its fine in places like Australia where you have the real power

of the Body Corporate Commissioner who can impose a whole range of penalties on owners who don't comply with communal

ownership rules and regulations - but in Thailand I just don't believe they have thought what will happen in the

future and what many of these buildings could look like in another 10 to 20 years time ?

In office buildings and shopping centers, its well accepted that in order

to retain their good appearance and standards - buildings have to be refurbished / upgraded every 10 to 15 years.

But in communal ownership buildings in this part of the world-particularly where the laws are

substandard - people wont pay unless they have to.

Although is not as bad as condominiums in Mumai, India where individual apartments may be worth several million

dollars but where the communal areas outside are like toilets ! In one building there were red beetlenut stains

on the floor and walls where people had spat out pan that all Indians seem to enjoy eating. The management advised me

there was no money to clean or repaint simply because individual condo owners refused to pay their contributions.