1. Why do I need an administrator?

• A quality property manager knows all obligations, technical standards, dates for revisions and services. Monitors changes in legislation.
• It will guarantee the smooth running of the building, including accounting and tax consulting.
• The administrator always acts impartially and acts with professional care. He regularly accounts for the expenses and income of the house, ensures that the individual owners control the accounting and other activities of the committee.

2. Why must there be a community of owners?

• The community of owners determines the rights and obligations of individual owners.
• The community must ensure the management, operation and repairs of the common parts of the house and land.
• The community must comply with all applicable legislative regulations and comply with the adopted statutes.

3. What is the Community of Owners Committee and the President of the Community for?

• Each Association of Owners has either its own committee or its own chairman.
• A third person can also be the chairman.
• The committee or chairman is elected for an agreed period. The election takes place at the Owners’ Meeting.

4. What to do if no one in the house wants to exercise?

• This situation is very common lately. No one from the house wants to take over the position voluntarily, either because of the workload or because of the responsibility.
• Here comes the help of a professional chairman who will fulfill the same function as one who would be directly elected from among the members of the SVJ.
• From January 1, 2014, when the new Civil Code entered into force, it must be, according to the provisions of Act 72/1994Coll. §9, paragraph 9 committee elected. However, a third person can be a member of the committee (if the statutes allow it).
• In the event that the community of owners is looking for a professional chairman, we are ready to perform this function by agreement.
• In any case, there must be a chairman in every SVJ. If there was no such person, SVJ is not able to deal with suppliers, cannot properly perform its duties, communicate with the tax office, banks, etc. This can lead to further problems.

5. Is there a difference between cooperative and personal ownership?

• In the case of cooperative ownership, the owner of the real estate (apartment) is the housing cooperative. The buyer becomes a member of the cooperative and is thus the owner of a cooperative share in the housing cooperative and the associated lease right to use the given apartment. Along with advance payments (e.g. for energy, water, heating), the housing cooperative also pays the bill for the apartment, and usually after it is paid off, it is transferred to personal ownership (if the member wants it).
• The advantage of cooperative housing is greater affordability. In the case of new projects, it is enough to deposit 10-25% of the purchase price of the apartment, and the rest is paid in rent. At the same time, the cooperative does not check the creditworthiness of the applicant like a bank.
• Another advantage is the fact that a member of the cooperative can easily sell his membership to a third party, while he does not pay tax on the acquisition of immovable property and the contract is not entered in the real estate register.
• The transfer is not subject to the approval of the cooperative’s board of directors.
• In the case of personal ownership, the owner of the apartment is a specific person.
• An apartment in personal ownership – each such unit – can be traced in the land registry.

6. Are the articles of association of owners necessary?

• Yes, they are. Every Owners Association must have valid articles of association. They should be in electronic form on the justice.cz website justice.cz.
• The statutes clearly describe the chairman, the idea of what rules they are governed by, members or professional.

7. How to plan and conduct an Owners Meeting?

• All owner associations must invite owners to a meeting at least once a year.
• The date, place and agenda of the meeting must be set.
• All owners must receive the invitation at least 15 days before the event date
• An attendance sheet must be prepared. Finally, the presence is carried out, participation and quorum are calculated (at least a majority of the owners present is always required).
• Voting is done according to co-ownership shares.
• The chairman of the meeting, the recorder and the verifier of the minutes are elected.
• All scheduled bodies are discussed
• In the case of voting, the procedure is in accordance with the applicable statutes.
• After the end of the meeting, minutes of the meeting will be drawn up

8. How to report a defect in common areas?

• If there is a defect in the common parts of the house, you will notify the administrators, who will contact both already contracted and new companies from the portfolio. The contact for the administrator will always be posted on the bulletin board located in the managed object.
• For better clarity, there is a contact form on the administrator’s website, which is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

9. Payments

• Every owner of an apartment in SVJ (apartment unit, non-residential space, etc.) or a member of a housing cooperative with the right is obliged to pay advance monthly payments.
• Owners and tenants always pay advance payments to the SVJ or BD account.
• The prescription and instructions for payment are always properly marked on the so-called calculation sheets. This is given in hard copy, for greater control…
• Each owner will be assigned their own unique or variable symbol so that they are always 100% identified.

10. What do we do to not have a debtor?

• We regularly check received payments for you.
• We will contact the potential borrower immediately.
• We always send processed reminders by registered letter with delivery note.
• We will propose financial sanctions for debtors.
• In agreement with the board of directors, we hand over debtors for collection to a cooperating law firm and executor.

11. Billing dates, billing submission, overpayments x arrears

• We always issue invoices once a year, in such a way that they are handed over to all SVJ or BD members against their signature no later than 30. 4. of the given year.
• When changing a member, tenant or sub-tenant, we record the current statuses and split the bill (if agreed in the transfer agreement).
• After receiving the bill, all members have the opportunity to complain about the bill – within 30 days of receiving the bill (unless otherwise stated in the statutes).
• By law, all overpayments or underpayments must be paid by July 31 of the given year at the latest.

12. Does the owner of the residential or non-residential unit change?

• In this case, it is necessary to contact the administrator as soon as possible. For these cases, we have a Registration Sheet where we enter the contact details of the new owner. Here is the difference, when the owner changes with SVJ and BD. In the case of SVJ, we are
  waiting for the registration of the new owner in the KN. At BD, we need a contract on the transfer of the cooperative share with a confirmation of takeover.
• Ownership is transferred to the day when it is registered in the National Register of Deeds (usually the day when the deposit proposal was accepted by the KÚ). This date needs to be documented by the administrator. With BD, the transfer takes place on the day BD registers the contract – the date of delivery.
• Metered services will be entered in the handover protocol and will only be billed at the time of mass readings. (unless otherwise stated in the contract). If SVJ or BD has installed meters with remote reading, we will have them read remotely. However, they will be billed at the end of the year with the other owners.
• Other advance payments will be transferred to the purchaser from the first day of the month.
• Individual services are transferred between the seller and the buyer (telephone, electricity, gas…)

14. Does the owner have to report the tenant to the administrator when he rents out
       an apartment?

• Each unit owner is obliged to notify the administrator of all changes regarding his unit (change in the number of people, change in contact details, change of address, etc.)
• In the case of a housing cooperative, the approval of the board of directors is required!!!
• Some housing cooperatives may charge a fee for subletting approval.
• The administrator always monitors the term of any subleases – in the case of a fixed period.

15. Can the tenant or subtenant check the bill?

• Yes, but only if they receive a power of attorney from the apartment owner, which can be proven to the administrator.

16. What should the owner or tenant observe?

• Use the apartment and common parts of the house properly.
• After prior notification to SVJ, allow access to the apartment or non-residential space due to planned readings, checks or replacement of meters.
• If the owner or tenant causes damage to the equipment, they must remove it themselves at their own expense.
• The owner or tenant is also responsible for damage caused by pets. He should also ensure that there is no disturbance to other residents of the house.
• The owner or tenant should maintain order and cleanliness in the house.
• The owner or tenant follows the house rules and applicable legal regulations so as not to disturb other residents with excessive noise, especially at night, on weekends and public holidays.

17. Why should everyone look after their property (apartment)?

• The Civil Code, valid since January 2014, imposes on every property owner the obligation to check the entry in the real estate register. If the owner discovers any discrepancy, he has 20 days from the submission of the proposal to express his disagreement with the registration. However, they must know about this change!!!

18. What does a professional chairman have to do with the duty of a good steward?

• According to the Civil Code, every member of the committee, including the professional chairman, has the obligation to act with the care of a proper householder. According to Section 159 of the Civil Code, he acts with the necessary knowledge, carefully and above all with the necessary loyalty.

19. Can the community of owners suffer damage?

• Damage can arise, for example, from the fact that the Community does not timely and properly recover debts from a co-owner who does not properly and timely pay for services related to housing.
• Additional damage can occur if the owner is selling his unit and has arrears. If the Community does not find out about the sale in time, it will not close the account and settle the liabilities.

20. Is there any danger to the committee or the chairman if they commit damage to
       property?

• If damage occurs that could have been avoided, the chairman and the committee are responsible for this damage. The community should recover this damage through a lawsuit and demand compensation. This damage can be recovered 3 years retroactively. In specific reasons, up to 10 years retroactively.

21. What is an Owner Declaration?

• The building owner’s declaration about the division of an apartment or family house into individual residential and non-residential units (hereinafter referred to as the owner’s declaration) can simply be called a legal act by which the building (or land) owner, if the building is part of the land, defines the units in question in the given property in a legal in words of meaning. So, for example, an office, workshop, garage, etc., including accessories and equipment, with which the right to use common parts of the house is associated. The house will thus be divided into units that make up the housing co-ownership and which can be further freely disposed of, i.e. sold, donated, mortgaged – encumbered with a lien, etc. The ownership of a unit defined in this way is also associated with shared co-ownership of the common parts of the house.
• To simplify – a flat (non-residential space) + a share in the common parts of the entire property (i.e. also the land, if it is also jointly owned) is considered a unit.
• Here we follow §1158 et seq. of Act No. 89/2012 Coll., or the previous legal regulation, specifically in the sense of Act No. 72/1994 Coll., the Act on Ownership of Apartments.

22. What is an energy label?

• The energy label of the building (according to the decree “Certificate of the energy performance of the building – PENB) determines how much energy the building consumes per year – in MWh.
• The energy label is valid for 10 years.
• The obligation to have an Energy Label is regulated by Act No. 406/2000 Coll., with a subsequent amendment made on 1 July 2015. This amendment modifies and specifies the obligations of who and how to use this card.

23. When does the heating season start and end?

• The heating season is determined by the Decree of the Ministry of Industry and Trade No. 194/2007 Coll., which determines the rules for heating and the supply of heat and hot water.
• The decree specifies two dates that are important for heating. They are September 1 and May 31. The first date indicates the beginning of the heating season, the second its end.
• It does not mean that it will start to melt on September 1st.
• The decree further states that the supply of heat will start at the moment when the air temperature drops below +13°C for two consecutive days and it is not expected to increase.
• The same applies to the termination of heat supply. If the temperature rises above +13°C on two consecutive days and is not expected to decrease.