GIPE Newsletter (Nº24.192) November, 24th 2025

COMMUNITY OF OWNERS:

A SPECIAL LEVY HAS BEEN APPROVED

As a general rule, once the special levy has been approved by the meeting, all owners must pay it, including those who voted against it. Important: there are exceptions when the special levy is intended for improvements that are not necessary for the conservation, habitability, safety or accessibility of the building and, in addition, the amount exceeds the equivalent of three ordinary monthly common expense payments.

• Case 1

No notice. If the owner did not attend the meeting, it is common for him/her to claim that he/she never received the notice and that, for this reason, he/she is unable to find out the details of the expense, the need for the special levy or its amount. Please note: the absence of a formal notice may be grounds for challenging the agreement, but the owner must prove that he/she  was not actually notified or that, if it was sent, it was outside the corresponding deadline.

Notice period. For ordinary meetings, the law requires that there be at least six days between the notice and the meeting. In the case of extraordinary meetings, no specific period is set, but there is an obligation to ensure that it is sufficient to guarantee that all interested parties are notified.

• Case 2

He/She attended, but his/her vote was not counted. It may also be the case that the levy was approved without taking into account an owner’s vote against it. Note: this neighbour can only challenge the decision if his/her vote would have changed the final result. If his/her vote was not decisive (i.e. the levy would have been approved anyway), he/she can only oppose the agreement if:

• The agreement violates the law or the community’s statutes. For example, if something is approved that was not previously on the agenda.
• The agreement seriously harms the interests of the community for the benefit of one or more owners; for example, allowing a neighbour to use common areas to store objects.
• The agreement causes significant harm to an owner who is not legally obliged to bear it, or has been adopted through abuse of rights. For example: preventing a premises from opening an emergency exit required for its licence when such an opening does not cause any inconvenience to the community.
  
• Case 3

Deprivation of the right to vote. The owner could also challenge the agreement if he/she was unfairly denied the right to vote. Please note: an owner cannot vote at a meeting if, at the time of the meeting, he/she is not up to date with his/her community fees, unless he/she has challenged the debt or has deposited it with the court. Note: if he/she is up to date with his/her payments, he/she has full voting rights.

Challenge

Deadlines. If the neighbour finally decides to challenge the agreement, the law establishes the following deadlines:

• Three months for agreements that do not contradict the law or the statutes.
• One year for those that do.

In general, and with some exceptions related to improvement works, the payment of the extraordinary levy is mandatory for all owners, even those who did not support it.

GIPE: Together we will be stronger