€1,900,000: Total debt from defaulting owners

€3,568: Spent on lawyers in 2025

How much was invested throughout 2025 to recover that money? According to the community's official accounts: exactly €3,568 in lawyer and legal fees.

The approved budget for legal expenses was €18,500. That means nearly €15,000 was available to initiate collection proceedings. The money was there. It was approved by the Junta. But it was not used.

€1.9 million uncollected. €18,500 budgeted for lawyers. €3,568 spent. The difference is not an accounting error — it's a decision. Or a deliberate omission.

How much is €1.9 million?

To put this number in perspective: the community's total expenditure budget for 2025 was €705,974. The accumulated debt from defaulters equals more than 2.5 full annual budgets.

Put another way: if those debts were collected, the community could operate for over two and a half years without charging a single cent in fees to any owner.

Or from the perspective of paying owners: while defaulters owe nearly €2 million, the owners who do pay on time watch as the centre deteriorates, services don't improve, and fees increase year after year.

Budget vs. reality in 2025

Total debt from defaulting owners: €1,900,000

Total annual budget 2025: €705,974

Approved budget for lawyers: €18,500

Actually spent on lawyers: €3,568

The red bar at the bottom is almost invisible. That is exactly the effort the community made to recover €1.9 million.

The payment order procedure: fast, cheap, and designed exactly for this

Spanish law provides an instrument created specifically for property owner communities to collect debts: the payment order procedure (procedimiento monitorio), regulated by Article 21 of the Horizontal Property Act and Articles 812 to 818 of the Civil Procedure Act.

How does it work? It's simple:

Step 1. The General Meeting approves the debt settlement of the defaulter and authorises legal action.

Step 2. The defaulter is notified by certified letter (burofax). Cost: approximately €25–40.

Step 3. The claim is filed with the court. For debts under €2,000, neither a lawyer nor a solicitor is required.

Step 4. The court demands payment from the defaulter: 20 days to pay or file an objection.

Step 5. If they don't pay or object, an enforcement order is issued: bank accounts, wages, and even the property itself can be seized.

And there's more. Law 10/2022 strengthened the tools against non-payment: communities can now impose interest above the legal rate and the temporary suspension of access to services and facilities for defaulters. Legal tools that exist and that at C.C. Cita have not been used.

Important legal fact

Community debt has legal priority over mortgages. This means that if seizure proceedings are initiated, the community gets paid before the bank. It is one of the strongest guarantees in Spanish law.

Furthermore, the statute of limitations is 5 years (Art. 1964.2 of the Civil Code). This means that every year that passes without action, the community permanently loses the right to collect the oldest outstanding fees. With debts accumulating for years, some of that money may already be lost forever.

What does a well-managed community do?

In a property owner community with professional management, the debt collection process follows a clear and well-known protocol:

First month of non-payment: reminder sent to the owner. Second month: phone call from the administrator to seek a payment agreement. Third month: formal demand by certified letter. Fourth month: the General Meeting approves legal action and the payment order procedure is filed.

From the first missed payment to a court claim: four months maximum. And if the defaulter does not object, seizure can be executed within weeks.

What happens at C.C. Cita? Owners who owe more than €100,000. Some over €200,000. One who owes more than €307,000. Debts accumulating for years. And legal spending of €3,568 in an entire year.

According to the Spanish Bar Association, communities even have an additional tool: registering defaulters in the Registro de Impagados Judiciales (RIJ), which is connected to financial institutions like INFORMA D&B and EXPERIAN. A defaulter listed in the RIJ will see their creditworthiness and access to financing affected. A powerful incentive to pay. At C.C. Cita, this has apparently never been used.

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Who pays when defaulters don't?

The answer is simple: you. Every euro not collected from a defaulter is a euro missing from the community's funds. And when money is short, services are cut, maintenance is postponed, and eventually fees go up.

The 2025 results confirm this: the community closed the year with a loss of €173,730. Not because the budget was insufficient, but because what should have been collected was not collected.

And there's a risk that few are aware of: the statute of limitations. If the community does not claim a debt within 5 years, it permanently loses the right to collect it. With debts accumulating for years without anyone taking action, it is possible that the community has already irretrievably lost part of that money.

Every day without legal action is one day closer to those debts becoming money lost forever.

Questions for the March 7 General Meeting

1. Why were only €3,568 spent on lawyers when the approved budget was €18,500?

2. Against how many defaulters was a payment order procedure initiated in 2025?

3. How many debts have become time-barred because they were not claimed in time?

4. Who decided not to use the remaining €14,932 of the legal budget?

5. Does a debt collection protocol exist in this community? If so, is it being followed?

6. Has registering defaulters in the Registro de Impagados Judiciales been considered, as recommended by the Spanish Bar Association?

Your vote counts on Saturday

Agenda item 4 of the March 7 General Meeting specifically deals with information on the collection of debts from defaulting owners. It is your right to ask questions. It is your right to demand concrete answers. It is your right to vote against a management that does not protect your investment.

If you cannot attend, delegate your vote. According to Article 26 of the statutes, you can even do so via WhatsApp. What matters is that your voice is heard.

Don't let others decide for you.