There is a widespread misconception: that a community which doesn’t hire a property manager «plays by its own rules». It’s exactly the other way round. The obligations of a community of owners without a property manager are exactly the same as those of any other community: annual meeting, minute book, reserve fund, taxes, data protection and upkeep of the building. The only thing that changes is who answers for compliance: with no professional in between, that responsibility falls on the president and, ultimately, on all the owners.
In this guide we go through, one by one, the obligations your community must keep up to date, with the corresponding article of the Horizontal Property Law (LPH) next to each, and how communities that manage themselves make sure none slips through the cracks.
The obligations don’t disappear with the manager
The legal starting point is article 13.5 of the LPH: if the community appoints no manager, their duties «shall be performed by the president of the community». The law doesn’t say «they are suspended»: it says the president does them. Convening the meeting, preparing the budget, paying and collecting, keeping the paperwork… everything remains mandatory; only the person executing it changes. For the details of that split, see our guide on the president of a community without a property manager.
Ordinary meeting: at least once a year
Article 16.1 requires the owners’ meeting to gather «at least once a year to approve the budgets and accounts». It’s not optional and doesn’t depend on the size of the building: a six-neighbour community without a manager has the same duty as a two-hundred-unit one with a professional firm.
Moreover, notice of that annual ordinary meeting must be given at least six days in advance (article 16.3), stating the matters, place, day and time, and including the list of owners with outstanding debts (article 16.2). Remember that an owner in arrears who has not challenged or deposited their debt may take part in the meeting but not vote (article 15.2), and the minutes must record it.
Minute book up to date, and properly kept
The meeting’s resolutions are recorded in a minute book «certified by the Land Registrar» (article 19.1). Each set of minutes must state, as a minimum (article 19.2): date and place, who called the meeting, its ordinary or extraordinary character, the list of attendees and represented owners with their shares, the agenda and the resolutions adopted with the votes where relevant to their validity.
Two deadlines that often slip in self-managed communities: the minutes must be closed with the signatures of the president and the secretary at the end of the meeting or within the following ten calendar days (article 19.3), and the secretary must keep custody of the minute books and preserve notices, communications and proxies for five years (article 19.4). You have the full format, with a template, in our guide to the minutes of the owners’ meeting.
Reserve fund: at least 10% of the budget
Another unforgiving obligation: article 9.1.f requires funding a reserve fund, owned by the community, «with an amount that may in no case be lower than 10 per cent of its last ordinary budget». Its purpose is to cover the building’s upkeep, repair and refurbishment works, as well as the accessibility and energy-efficiency works provided for in the law. Charged to it, the community may also take out damage insurance or a permanent maintenance contract for the building.
If your accounts live in an inherited spreadsheet, check today that this 10% actually exists. How to calculate and account for it is explained in our guide to the community reserve fund and, more broadly, in how to keep the accounts of a community of owners.
Basic tax obligations of a community without a manager
Although a community of owners is not a company, it is not invisible to the tax authorities either. As a general rule, the community needs its own tax ID (NIF) to operate (open an account, contract utilities, pay suppliers), and it may have to file information returns when it earns income, for instance, from renting out the façade for advertising or an antenna, or when it pays professionals and businesses above the established thresholds.
Without a manager, nobody will file those returns «by default»: the meeting should expressly task someone with the annual tax review, even with occasional outside help.
Data protection: in the lobby too
The community handles personal data of all its neighbours: names, bank accounts, debts, images if there are cameras. The GDPR and the Spanish LOPDGDD apply to communities of owners too, with or without a manager. Two practical examples where things go wrong most often:
- Debtors on the noticeboard: the LPH does provide for the meeting notice to contain the list of owners with outstanding debts (article 16.2), but publishing debtor lists outside that channel can breach data protection rules.
- CCTV: installing cameras in common areas requires a meeting resolution and compliance with information and image-retention requirements.
Upkeep of the building and technical inspections
The community is obliged to keep the building in conditions of safety, health and accessibility. On top of that general duty come the periodic technical inspections set by regional and municipal regulations, the name and frequency vary by municipality and the age of the building, and the mandatory checks of facilities such as the lift.
What happens if the community fails to comply?
It depends on the obligation: from challengeable resolutions and liability towards third parties if someone is harmed by lack of upkeep, to administrative penalties in tax, data protection or technical inspection matters. We won’t quote fine amounts because they depend on each rule and each case; the idea that matters is a different one: non-compliance almost never comes from bad faith, but from oversight. Nobody kept the calendar, nobody kept the paperwork, nobody remembered the reserve fund. You can read the full text of the law in the BOE (consolidated Law 49/1960).
How to stay on top of everything without a manager
The list above is daunting, but look at its nature: these are calendar and paperwork obligations. One meeting a year, minutes signed within ten days, a fund at 10%, documents kept for five years. That is exactly what a system can watch for you: FixrOS keeps the community’s compliance calendar, warns before every deadline, drafts notices and minutes with the content article 19 requires, and files every document where all the neighbours can find it. And if you’re wondering whether staying without a manager is worth it, start with our guide on how to run a community of owners without a property manager.
Want to see your community’s compliance calendar on screen, with your data? Book a demo on the FixrOS page for self-managed communities: 30 minutes, no commitment.