Who pays for leakage in VVE? Get free advice!

Questioner

I live above a commercial building and together we form a homeowners' association. The deed of division states that the company pays 2/3 of the maintenance costs and I pay 1/3. Now there is a leak in the drain of the kitchen sink. This drain is hidden behind a wall. Who is responsible for the costs. Me, or together? We can't figure it out.

Lawyer

The division regulations describe which matters are common, and the costs of maintenance and repair of which are therefore for the account of the association. Often a model regulation is declared applicable, but this may have been deviated from in the deed of division. According to the model regulations, the following are common: 'the pipes for the drainage of rainwater and the sewerage, ..., all insofar as these installations do not exclusively serve a private section'. Furthermore, it is stated: 'If there is any doubt as to whether or not .. an item belongs to .. the common items, this will be decided by the meeting' and 'each owner is liable to the other owners .. for damage caused to .. the common items .. insofar as this damage .. is caused by the fault of himself or his housemates .. and he is obliged, insofar as this is reasonable, to take or tolerate measures that are intended to prevent the damage in question' and also 'each owner .. is obliged to properly maintain his private section. This maintenance includes in particular .. cleaning and unblocking all pipes with the exception of the pipes referred to in article ..' (namely the aforementioned drains. If, based on the above, you already believe that you are not liable for these costs, it is up to the meeting to decide on this, whereby the number of votes that each of you can cast is decisive: all decisions for which no deviating arrangement is prescribed in these regulations or by law are taken by an absolute majority of the votes cast. Good luck!

Questioner

Thanks for your quick response. The problem is that there are only two owners and therefore 2 votes. And no majority. The leak is in the lower building, probably because a coupling in the system has come loose. Does this change anything about the problem of whether to pay together or me alone. I am curious about your answer.

Lawyer

It is therefore important to know whether the management is exclusively for the benefit of a private section and if so, for which private section, but especially what exactly is stated in your deed of division, also with regard to the number of votes to be cast. It may also be the case that it states that you have 1 vote and the downstairs neighbor 2 votes in accordance with the contribution to the costs or the entitlement to the community.