Legal advice for VvE disputes

Questioner

I recently became an apartment owner. Now a dispute has arisen between me and the VvE. In 2003 a lease agreement was signed by the VvE and an external company to rent boilers. Based on that agreement, the VvE states that I have a notice period of two months and that this can only happen by January 1 of the following year. This is indeed stated in the agreement. In addition, they state that interim removal of the boiler is possible for payment of € 100 excluding VAT. I have not been able to find this in the agreement. Regardless of what I have or have not been able to find in the agreement, I am of the opinion that I am not bound by the agreement, as it was concluded between the VvE and an external company, while this relates to private property (there is a separate boiler per apartment, unless these have been removed earlier). Can you advise me on this?

Lawyer

Under Article 2:46 of the Dutch Civil Code, an association may enter into agreements that directly bind its members, but this must be expressly stated in the association's articles of association; however, this article does not (directly) apply to a VvE. It can be doubted whether a VvE can conclude such an agreement, binding on the members of the VvE, within its statutory objective/authority. After all, as you describe, this apparently does not concern a common interest of the joint apartment owners. The VvE only manages the common interests and may only bind the members within that (management) authority. Or the VvE board was not authorized to enter into this agreement binding the members, so that you have no contractual rights/obligations towards the external company.