(English) Monthly Newsletter - Arcos & Lamers Asociados

Community of property owners in Spain. Regime of private real estate developments (art. 24 Horizontal Property Act)

Lawyer in Spain

This blog came from a query made by a client, a homeowner who is part of a Spanish community of owners, with the particularity that each house has small garden plot and relief. At the last Annual General Meeting was agreed that the Community of owners may carry out maintenance works and repair of the properties that are part of it, although up to date had been the owners, each of them individually and to their cost, who were carrying out the maintenance thereof.

To this effect and regarding this query, the undersigning lawyer in Marbella wish to point out the following:

Liabilities in the acquisition of a company in Spain

A matter to be considered in the purchase of a business in Spain is the responsibility of the acquired company, since the mere acquisition, change of name, or reorganization of the company, does not release the liability to the acquired company.

In this regard, the Spanish Supreme Court in its Ruling of 16th December 2015, establishes that the criteria that should prevail when it comes to decide the economic responsibilities in the succession of companies, is the permanence of an economic and business activity or, in other terms, the substantial identity between the successive companies.

For this reason, it is only released the responsibility of the acquired Spanish company when the economic and business continuity is broken.

Appeal to the agreements of the community of owners in Spain

Appeal to the decisions taken at the meeting of a community of owners in Span.

In the event that you consider that your interests could be injured, you should be aware that you can present an appeal against an agreement adopted in the Board of proprietors of the Community, provided that the following circumstances appear:

• a)When this agreement is against the Law or against the By Laws of the Spanish Community of owners.

• b)When the agreement is severely injurious to the community, and for the benefit of one or more owners.

• c) Where it involves a serious prejudice for any owner who does not have legal obligation to support it, or when adopted with abuse of right.

Owners entitled to challenge will be those who have saved their vote at the meeting of the community, the absent ones and those who had wrongly been deprived of their right to vote.

Regulation of the contracts at the Spanish Civil Code

The Spanish Civil Code, in its articles 1254 et seq., states that the contract exists since one or more persons agree to force, to any service or to give something. The parties may agree on the conditions that they consider applicable, always when they are not contrary to the law, morality or public order.

In order to be able to contract on behalf of another, anyone must be authorized or must have granted by law the legal representation, otherwise, the contract in Spain will be void, unless it is ratified by the person on whose behalf the contract has been granted, and this, before it is revoked by the other party.

The article 1261 establishes the following requirements for the validity of contracts in Spain:

Possibility to examine the accountancy submitted voluntarily by the taxpayer in the limited control procedure in Spain

Is your company being subject of a limited control procedure of Spanish Inland Revenue? Then take into account the following aspects:

In general, the Tax Office in Spain may not examine the accountancy of a trade company by means of a limited control procedure.

Now, the new version (modification paragraph 2.c) of article 136 of the new General Spanish Tax Law) allows them to examine the accountancy of a trade company during a limited control procedure provided that the following conditions are being fulfilled: