Statutes for HOA or housing cooperatives

Why is this service worthwhile?

Finding model bylaws that do not conflict with the law is not such a problem in the Internet age. However, the validity of a statute does not mean that it is not effectively a piece of paper. A document copied from an internet template does not necessarily contribute to the proper management of the house.

Each house and its inhabitants (unit owners or members of a cooperative) have their own specificities which must be taken into account. Different needs may be triggered, for example, by the design of the common areas (whether it is the pavilions, attic, terrace, fallout shelter or common laundry room), the previous experience of living together (for example, the completely different approach of each owner to repairs in the house), the age of the house and the need for extensive investment and renovations, the number of housing units (a six-unit house occupied by an extended family vs. a two-unit house with forty lots), a house occupied almost exclusively by the owners of the housing units vs. A house with flats for investment and renting, etc. The management of a house can sometimes be made very uncomfortable by querulants who protest against everything on principle, simply because they can (think of the movie The Owners).

Moreover, with cooperatives it is essential to take into account that the owner of the flats is the cooperative itself, not the individual members of the cooperative. The flats are leased to them on the basis of an indefinite lease agreement for a cooperative flat.

Our attorneys have extensive experience with all of the above and can draft the bylaws in a manner that is appropriate to the situation and allows for the operational functioning of the housing cooperative or HOA.

What can we do for you?

Depending on the chosen service option, we will either draw up the articles of association of your JVU or housing cooperative, coordinate their adoption with a notary and prepare everything necessary for registration in the commercial register.

If you choose the premium service option, we will arrange for the complete establishment of your HOA or housing cooperatives, including all minutes of the meetings and committees of the HOA or housing cooperatives membership meetings. We will also prepare the registration in the commercial register including affidavits of the members of the HOA committee or housing cooperatives board. We can also help you file ordinary and extraordinary accounts. We will also help you with the registration of the ownership of the house in the real estate register and negotiating a loan for the acquisition or reconstruction of the house.

What are the variants of establishing an HOA under the law?

Previously, an HOA could be established automatically by law, but the legislation no longer allows such options. As of 1 July 2020, it is not possible to establish an HOA when taking stock of the owner’s declaration or when concluding a construction contract. The law now provides for the following possible options for establishment:

• at a constituent meeting of unit owners,
• by approval of the bylaws by all unit owners outside of a meeting,
• by a single owner of all units.

How does the cooperation work?

What have we already helped clients with?

We have helped our clients within their HOA or housing cooperatives to set rules for:

• exercise of membership rights and obligations of owners of condominiums or cooperative apartments,
• occupancy, number of members and rules for decision-making bodies, including voting,
• creation and management of the budget, the so-called repair fund, energy billing (typically heat) or bookkeeping,
• management of the house, cleaning of common areas,
• transfers of cooperative apartments to personal ownership,
• life in the house, including nighttime quiet (domestic rules) or the functioning of the camera system,
• rentals of apartments including rentals for shared housing (e.g. Airbnb),

We regularly advise dozens of condominium associations and unit owners’ associations with all legal issues. Do not hesitate to contact us, whether you are a chairman of a condominium association, a member of the board of directors or the control committee of a housing cooperatives or a regular member.

What can we protect you from?

We will ensure that your bylaws include a detailed procedure for recovering arrears from landlords and a very useful option and procedure for a special per rollam vote so that everything is in compliance with the law. We will insure the enforceability of the statute through a penalty assessment system.

If you are concerned about disturbing the peace or order in the house, we can also help you to write house rules, which we always recommend having in the house. Firstly, because the law only deals with more fundamental offences and not the normal rules of the house and also because this will better establish a consensus on what rules the homeowners consider essential and what they insist on. Here you can define the rules concerning night-time quiet, security in the house or the keeping of animals.

Why use the services of the Affordable Advocate?

• The service is provided by licensed attorneys– so you will be assured that it meets the best standards and the change or registration will go smoothly..
• The quality we stand for – you will always be attended by a specialist lawyer who understands the area and has handled hundreds of legal assignments.
• We will eliminate all legal risks – we will warn you of all possible complications.
• We will elaborate comments according to the specific requirements of the client.

Client Service Guarantees

We guarantee a detailed knowledge of the legal norms and case law related to the functioning of the HOA. We keep up to date with the latest changes in legislation that need to be reflected in the documents.

Every attorney is legally insured, so the price of the service also includes the attorney’s liability for the accuracy of all documents prepared.