Has my community acted legally in removing private sunbeds from the pool area?

[almendros]

Can anybody help
We are a new community and the complex consisting of 69 apartments has been open just over a year. We had our second annual general meeting and notification of the meeting and the agenda was circulated to all owners. An item on the Agenda was regarding sunbeds. It was debated at the meeting and unanimously approved by the attendees that the committe would purchase 20 sunbeds and give owners 15 days after receiving the minutes of the meeting to remove their private sunbeds which had been chained to railings around the pool and were causing cleaning problems and also looked unsightly. After this time the community was to remove the private sunbeds and store them until they are claimed. I have just heard that one owner has accused the Committee of acting even though we all voted in favour stating "it is illegally to remove property of another who has rights under the laws of horizontal subdivision to be able to have quiet enjoyment of the facilities that are deemed to be communal ie the swimming pool. Sorry if this is long winded but who is right?

[chip]

Community Meetings.....don't you just love them

Good luck!

[Karen1234]

Originally Posted by almendros

Can anybody help
We are a new community and the complex consisting of 69 apartments has been open just over a year. We had our second annual general meeting and notification of the meeting and the agenda was circulated to all owners. An item on the Agenda was regarding sunbeds. It was debated at the meeting and unanimously approved by the attendees that the committe would purchase 20 sunbeds and give owners 15 days after receiving the minutes of the meeting to remove their private sunbeds which had been chained to railings around the pool and were causing cleaning problems and also looked unsightly. After this time the community was to remove the private sunbeds and store them until they are claimed. I have just heard that one owner has accused the Committee of acting even though we all voted in favour stating "it is illegally to remove property of another who has rights under the laws of horizontal subdivision to be able to have quiet enjoyment of the facilities that are deemed to be communal ie the swimming pool. Sorry if this is long winded but who is right?

I would have thought your community were acting legally as it was a unanimous decision. Under the law the owner is quite right that he can enjoy the comunal facilities, but your community is not stopping them from doing it.

[PeterRayner]

according to my information owners do have a legal right to "enjoy" the communal areas

but they do NOT have the right to use the communal areas to store their own private property.. ie sunbeds.

These can be taken down to the pool but must be removed at the end of each day.... and why would you bother if there are communal beds provided.

[Janet]

Originally Posted by almendros
I have just heard that one owner has accused the Committee of acting even though we all voted in favour stating "it is illegally to remove property of another who has rights under the laws of horizontal subdivision to be able to have quiet enjoyment of the facilities that are deemed to be communal ie the swimming pool. Sorry if this is long winded but who is right?

Karen and Peter are right ... at some point the other J will see this and comment, no doubt, but the committee has the absolute legal right to remove anything from the pool area. It is NOT illegal to remove the property of another from communal areas. The person who is complaining is lucky that your community doesn't have a fine system ... because in fact s/he could be fined for littering a communal area!

[JAnot]

Originally Posted by almendros

Can anybody help
We are a new community and the complex consisting of 69 apartments has been open just over a year. We had our second annual general meeting and notification of the meeting and the agenda was circulated to all owners. An item on the Agenda was regarding sunbeds. It was debated at the meeting and unanimously approved by the attendees that the committe would purchase 20 sunbeds and give owners 15 days after receiving the minutes of the meeting to remove their private sunbeds which had been chained to railings around the pool and were causing cleaning problems and also looked unsightly. After this time the community was to remove the private sunbeds and store them until they are claimed. I have just heard that one owner has accused the Committee of acting even though we all voted in favour stating "it is illegally to remove property of another who has rights under the laws of horizontal subdivision to be able to have quiet enjoyment of the facilities that are deemed to be communal ie the swimming pool. Sorry if this is long winded but who is right?

In short, you are absolutely right, and your owner does not know what he is talking about. The Law of Horizontal Division (LHD) section 14 allows the AGM (provided quorate and legal) to make such decisions about communal facilities, and then makes provision for the committee to implement such decisions. This then becomes legally binding on all owners. Section 18 of the LHD gives the right of appeal by any owner but only if 1) the resolution is against the law or statutes 2) seriously detrimental to the interests of the community or 3) seriously detrimental to one specific owner (e.g. if the AGM decided to build something in front of his apartment). None of these apply in this instance, and the decision about sunbeds is exactly the kind of decision which an AGM is designed for. If an owner refuses to abide by these decisions, the president can take legal action against the owner. If your internal rules provide for a fine, then the president can fine anyone for not conforming. The president would be entitled to remove (or have removed) any offending private sunbeds. If the owner then tries to take action about that, the police would laugh. More detail if required.