Meeting with the Administrator

A meeting was held this morning Tuesday 8Th May 2007 at the Office of the Administrators APYME.

Attending were Alberto the Administrator, Melanie his assistant, Pepe, Committee member Mrs Pat Olive and myself.

The meeting opened with Mrs Olive asking Alberto to explain the long delay in producing the last set of Owners bills. He replied that the majority of bills were straightforward, and could quickly be produced, but that a small minority required much more attention and time spent on them by Antonio the Accountant. It was agreed by all present, that in future Mrs Olive will visit the Administrators office on a regular basis and deal directly with Antonio. This should avoid delay and confusion in the future.

Mrs Olive asked when Mi Sol would get its Web site back in order that Owners may view their accounts online, the one we used to have had been destroyed. I do not remember the exact answer to this question, but I believe it was to be discussed with Antonio.

Pepe produced a document showing the amount of Suma Mi Sol had paid on behalf of Owners who had not registered their plots at the Suma Office. The document also showed the list of Owners that this applied to. It was agreed to charge the amounts owing, to the Owners concerned, by adding the amount to their bills, plus added charges for the costs involved.
It was agreed that Owners who have not yet done so, should visit the Suma Office in Torrevieja and register their plots in their own names.

I asked Alberto how much was owed to them by Mi Sol, and as mentioned in a recent post the figure is in the region of 11,900 Euro. I then asked Alberto why Pepe would not sanction payment of this amount to them, now that there were plenty of funds in the Mi Sol Banco Popular account to cover this amount. Alberto put this question to Pepe who replied that we needed the money for repairs to the swimming Pool, new Wet room, Court cases in Madrid, Elche, and that we must pay the Lawyers fees or we would be in trouble. It was finally agreed that in addition to the normal cheque every month, 500 Euro extra would also be paid until the arrears were paid off.

Pepe then produced a document with a list of cheques and the amounts. Whenever Pepe asks me to sign any cheques he always brings copies of these documents for me to sign and gives me a copy. I always thought these documents were to authorise the Bank to pay the cheques in question, although I was never sure why the Bank needed such authorisation.
A conversation in Spanish took place between Alberto and Pepe, after which Alberto translated as follows :-

These documents are to instruct the bank to pay ONLY the cheques on the list, if Shelagh Shaw and myself signed a cheque together, without Pepe knowing, the Bank will not honour it.

Where Pepe thinks Shelagh and I are going to get cheques from, I have no idea as Pepe keeps the cheque book. The question of who should hold the cheque book, Pepe or the Administrators, I hope to clarify at the EGM tomorrow. Alberto then told Mrs Olive and myself that Pepe wants not only control but " total control " Alberto's words , not mine.

Alberto showed us an email he had received from an Owner, who said that after reading on this web Log, advice given to me by the Administrators regarding the minimum notice required to call an EGM and an AGM, 24 hours and 6 days respectively, he could find no mention of this in the Statutes. That the meeting proposed for 9Th may 2007 is illegal, because notice of the meeting shall be sent by registered letter to the domicile of each owner.

This was discussed at length, and Alberto assured me that what I had printed here was an accurate account of what I had been told by the Administrators office , and true under Spanish Law. Alberto produced documents in Spanish and English relevant to the Law on this subject and has promised to provide me with copies which I will post here when I have them.

The owner went on to say that when I urged Owners to use their proxy vote by email, this was nonsense, as he had no idea what issues were being voted on. I can only refer you to my post of Monday April 30th 2007 headed Extraordinary General meeting, after the first paragraph, under DAYORDER it shows 1. Inform of the Court cases of the Community, and situation. Take decisions. 2. Questions and requests.

The Owner then went on to say that he was registering a formal complaint to Mi Sol Lawyers and his own Lawyer and that he would challenge through the Spanish Courts any decision made at the meeting he thought undemocratic.

After reading this email I wondered if this Gentleman had been reading Mi Sol Statutes. The question of whether Mi Sol Law or Spanish Law takes precedence, may be open to debate.
I do not take sides or express opinions here, only reporting information given to me by people I believe qualified to give it. Should a challenge be made at the meeting regarding its legality, I will listen to the Lawyers answer with great interest, and report it here.

Pepe then told Alberto that he was unhappy with the work of the Gardener, and wanted to sack him. I repeated my previous stance on this subject to Alberto, that the meeting tomorrow should decide. Alberto translated this to Pepe, at which point Mrs Olive and myself left the meeting, Pepe remained.