Costa Rica Condominium Administration – Who Will Administer Your Condo?

Condominium living in Costa Rica can be very advantageous.

Nevertheless, after the first few months the first problems invariably arise: unpleasant neighbors, unknown prohibitions, structural defects, and most of all, poor administration.

Currently, what most Costa Rica condo residents do is elect one of the residents to administer the property after the developer has turned over the building administration. But often this person does not have adequate knowledge or experience to fulfill his obligations or to carry out tasks that make condominium living pleasant.

In addition, personal conflicts arise when it’s time to collect from neighbors who refuse to pay for agreed-on improvements or the monthly quotas.

One condominium administrator said that many residents sign the contract without the faintest idea of their responsibilities. Another said that when problems arise all the residents have opinions but few have even read the contact.

He added that the contract should include the job description, rules and name of the administrator, which is usually the developer until 50% of the project has been sold.

Sometimes the developer transfers the administration to a third party, other times directly to the resident so that they can elect their own administrator.

When at least one-third of condo residents are unhappy with the administrator, they can convoke a Special Assembly and remove the administrator.

Nevertheless, the law is not clear about administrators or what powers they hold. In fact, the law on delivery of condominiums (law No.7933) makes no mention of administration.

Usually the one in charge of administration (often the developer) resigns voluntarily so that residents can elect their own administrator.

Some developers suggest hiring administration firms, which among other things, supervise installations, respond to residents’ concerns, send out a monthly report on maintenance and monitor the use of common areas.

Developers suggest outside firms because this way feuds in the neighborhood don’t develop. Good administration means far fewer problems in condo living.

Once the developers have turned over administration to the residents they often continue to have an active role in assessing administration but as time passes they become less and less involved.

Knowing the rules and regulations of your condo is fundamental. To make changes in them, 100% of residents must vote for them.

Our thanks to Gloriana Gomez and our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission use this article.

[custom_script adID=97]

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.