HOA and Access to Private Spaces

Questioner

the apartment cannot be transferred. Neither in the model regulations 1992 nor in the internal regulations I see anywhere that it is stated that an inspection must take place upon delivery of the apartment to a new buyer. Now that I am aware of Article 5:132 of the Civil Code regarding access to the apartment, I seriously wonder whether access is necessary for the board to fulfil its task. In my experience, the only obligation of a VVE when transferring a home to a buyer is to report any payment arrears to the notary. Of course I can imagine that there are agreements about the delivery and leaving of the common areas but with regard to the private departure I find this a strange course of events and I do not intend to go along with this at the moment. Thank you in advance for your response. Response from VVE: Within our VVE it is the rule that two members of the Board assess the common areas before the transfer. This is for example the balcony, the windows etc. We do this in a 'pre-inspection'. During the inspection we discuss with the owner whether the apartment can be transferred as it is. Or whether there are things that need to be addressed before the transfer. You can think of a specific facility for charging the bicycle battery (this must be returned to its original state) or the state of maintenance of the balcony.

Lawyer

The VVE is allowed to 'pre-inspect' the common areas and of course not private areas. I do wonder if you can be held responsible for the state of the common areas. Is it unclear what is considered private and what is considered common areas?

Questioner

Thank you very much for your response. The VVE states that the balcony belongs to the common area, to view the balcony access to the private room is of course required. Every year the VVE inspects the balcony to assess the construction, I understand that. What bothers me is that in my opinion the VVE has no role in the delivery of an apartment other than reporting to the notary whether there is a payment arrears. The delivery of the apartment is between buyer and seller. Our VVE relies on article 5:132 of the Civil Code, according to which every apartment owner is obliged to grant directors of the VVE access to the private area when this is necessary for the fulfilment of the director's duties. In my opinion, an inspection of the private room is not necessary because there is no suspicion of leakage or other necessary reasons to assess the private room. The VVE grants itself rights, whereby I seriously wonder whether this is justified. In addition, an inspection is not mentioned anywhere, not in the model regulations 1992, not in the internal regulations and not in the minutes of the meeting of owners.

Lawyer

You are right. If the VVE already inspects annually, then I wonder, with you, what they are doing with you now, unless it is indicated that there is now an urgent reason. I advise you not to allow them.

Questioner

Dear Mr. Albersen, Thank you very much for your response. The VVE states that the balcony belongs to the common area, to view the balcony access to the private room is of course required. Every year the VVE inspects the balcony to assess the construction, I understand that. What bothers me is that in my opinion the VVE has no role in the delivery of an apartment other than reporting to the notary whether there is a payment arrears. The delivery of the apartment is between buyer and seller. Our VVE relies on article 5:132 of the Civil Code, according to which every apartment owner is obliged to grant directors of the VVE access to the private area when this is necessary for the fulfilment of the director's duties. In my opinion, an inspection of the private room is not necessary because there is no suspicion of leakage or other necessary reasons to assess the private room. The VVE grants itself rights, whereby I seriously wonder whether this is justified. In addition, an inspection is not mentioned anywhere, not in the model regulations 1992, not in the internal regulations and not in the minutes of the meeting of owners.

Lawyer

see my advice