Liability in VvE Disputes

Questioner

I am a member of the VvE through the acquisition of an apartment right. The apartment complex consists of 10 apartments (A1 to A10) on the upper floors and 1 apartment right on the ground floor with a commercial space destination (I will refer to this as A11). A11 has its own VvE and is a sub VvE of the overarching VvE in which A1 to A11 are represented. This situation has existed since 1978. It has recently emerged that A11 has not made any financial contributions (service charges and reserve fund) to the umbrella VvE (A1 to 11) for a long time (perhaps never) and has not made any contributions to it, while member A11 was and is obliged to do so in accordance with the applicable Property Division Regulations 1973 (both VvEs have the same Property Division Regulations). In the past, the board failed to address member A11 on this matter and all costs for service and maintenance were and are borne by A1 to A10. As I already indicated, the board was well aware of this situation but turned a blind eye to it. The conduct of the current board, but also of the previous board, is now under discussion. Member A11 was also not informed in the past about matters, annual reports, minutes of meetings, etc. Member A11 now says that he does not owe any overdue contributions based on the omission of this information. The question must be asked; who is liable for this situation and lack of financial contributions? Can member A11 simply refuse to pay the outstanding contribution? And if so; can the current board (and also the previous board) of the umbrella VvE be held liable for the financial costs (uncollected funds in the past) that have arisen as a result?

Lawyer

The payment obligation of A11 towards the main VvE is directly determined by the main division deed. This would therefore mean that there is a claim of the main VvE on A11. This claim expires after five years. Collections over the past five years can therefore (indeed) still be made. The board of the VvE of the main division will therefore have to take action for this. Strictly speaking, it is not relevant to A11's payment obligation whether or not A11 has received information in previous years.

Lawyer

Based on the applicable division regulations, A11 is in any case liable for the service contributions. The fact that these were never collected and paid by the other members is of no benefit to A11. As Mr Van Binsbergen rightly notes, such a claim expires after five years. This means that the main VvE can still claim the outstanding contributions for the past five years. The fact that the board did not involve A11 in the decision-making etc. can be considered as mismanagement. If A11 suffered damage as a result, the board of the main VvE is liable for this.