My neighbor has spent more than $80,000 to buy his apartment in a condominium in Tirana, but refuses to pay the monthly common area maintenance fee of $5. He may be the defaulter, but the government is the one to blame!
If you don’t pay your electricity or your water bills, it is a certain thing that you will run out of both, as it is certain that your internet, phone, TV cable will be abruptly disconnected if you do not pay for them. However, there are other cases, where the consequences are not so explicit or not fully feared. Not paying for the common area maintenance charges is one of them.
Even though since 2010 there is binding legislation regulating the administration of the common residential areas, joint building administration is still malfunctioning, especially in Tirana, because of the vast number of new buildings. Having kind and responsible neighbors is a blessing for apartment block residents. The more considerate people are, the easier it is to have a fair share of the maintenance fee, required for the upkeep of the facilities that everyone uses. The problem is that not all the neighbors are equally considerate and some of them refuse to pay their share.
Residents who default on their common payments are a regular phenomenon that has been around as long as share-resourced systems have been in place. In more regulated societies, such irresponsible residents would be fined, banned from using common facilities, and even jailed (Singapore).
The legal framework
In dysfunctional societies, as the one we have jointly developed here, there may be an existing legal framework for the way in which management of joint buildings should happen, but its implementation is almost non-existent. So, law no. 10 112 (2009) “On the management of joint ownership in residential buildings” and model regulation no. 447 (2010) “For the management of joint buildings” explicitly present procedural rules to ensure smooth upkeep of common residential areas.
Accordingly, these laws foresee the establishment of an association of property owners as the main management body, which is responsible for appointing an administrator, regulating fees, and designing specific regulation for the residents. Likewise, the administrator is responsible for eliminating eminent damage to common properties, collecting and checking the monthly fees in the specific bank account, taking measures and legal action in cases of defaulters on monthly fees, keeping the books for maintenance and repair expenditures, checking costs and payment of all invoices on behalf of the management body, etc.
Failure of local government
The local government in Albania has spectacularly failed to enforce the law for the last six years. Since 2010, it has not taken a single step or measure to improve the situation.
Nowadays, many of the buildings have trouble meeting operating expenses, worsening the life of thousands of inhabitants. Problems such as littering, broken elevators, dirty condos, and conflicts between neighbors are very common. Many of the residents are not even aware of their legal obligations. Having for a long time cultivated a culture of non-payment for communal services (electricity or water bills have been largely defaulted for years in Albania), some of them refuse to pay common fees out of ignorance. Others are unhappy with the way the system currently operates (unplanned and voluntarily organized) and refuse to pay out of frustration.
Law provisions, moreover, lack a fundamental component, such as the existence of an article that specifies the penalties against violators. Even though the law foresees fines and penalties against errant residents or abusive administrators, it fails to define them accordingly.
Current Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj promised in July that a new campaign of registering the official administrators of each of the buildings will start in the fall of 2016:
We will begin a process starting this fall in each building where the municipality will make official announcements and all residents of that building, which are also automatically members of the assembly, will vote for 3-5 member of the management board. The management board will be mandated by the people and will be responsible for contracting, interviewing, setting prices and fees paid by each and assign an administrator in a contractual relationship.
However, winter has come and there is no publicly displayed information about any municipal action on this matter. If we can’t count on the local government to resolve an important issue such as the management of common residential areas, let’s name and shame the worst collaborators in the process, and publish their names on a notice board in the main entrance of the building! Will Mayor Veliaj be on the top of the list?!
