maintenance contract.

[mooseyy]

Hi Banjo
Thank you for your reply. There are many improvements need doing as the previous land owner had no interest or money for that matter to maintain the land,pool lighting, fencing etc. We are pleased in general that the new owner is acting positively in replacing these things but the way he is doing it and the manner in which he wants to charge us is very disturbing. He did not introduce himself as the new owner until we received a demand for money. He has said if we do not pay we will not be able to use his land which includes the parking and pool. I personally as are other owners prepared to pay but it must be in a fair way. The owners of property here are 60% Bulgarian to 40% foreigners and the reason he wants to charge per family is that some Bulgarian owners own more than one apartment in the complex including himself. By charging this way the large and more than one owner apartments will be much better off than the smaller apartment owners under normal per square meter rules.

[banjo]

Sounds like the new owner is trying to improve things that is a good thing,ask to see the invoices for the work carried out, can I ask how much he wants to charge you per year for your maintenance bill.

[mooseyy]

Hi Banjo
From the 1st of May till the end of December of this year he wants to charge 3000 leva extra ie not including building maintenance per family (33,000 leva in total) Up till now he has not stated how much it will be next year At a guess it will be a similar amount next year as there are more works to be done. My biggest gripe is the per family rule he has created and am not sure his rule would even be legal as we have no contracts or invoices up till now.

[banjo]

My goodness 3000 leva from the 1st may until the end of December plus building maintenance if people can afford it ok but could the cost not be spread and added to building maintenance on a yearly basis. I am seeing a legal person on Friday I will ask her if he can charge per family and post a reply on this site all the best from Varna.

[mooseyy]

Hi Banjo
It gets more complicated as he wants the 3000 leva per family only for his land maintenance in one lump sum. There are three buildings and each building has its own arrangements for building maintenance own bank account, own water and electric meters etc. In the past building and land maintenance was combined and worked out at about 8 euro per square meter.Under his new rules if he was willing to combine building and land maintenance it would work out about 12 to 13 euro per square meter for those with smaller apartments and about 6 euros per square meter for the larger apartments.We would rather keep him out of our buildings maintenance as it has worked ok in the past and we have actually got savings in the building bank account but these savings can not be used to pay his land maintenance as we would empty the bank account and still have to add more and also the two larger apartments in our building would still be paying less than the smaller apartments per square meter.
I am going to try to have another meeting with our building and the land owner at the weekend but the problem is everyone being here at the same time and also the two large apartments are owned by Bulgarians and the two small ones by foreigners so i fear i will be fighting a losing battle unless i can somehow say to him what he is doing is illegal.If need be we will go down the legal route but we want to avoid this if possible as the atmosphere in this small complex will be not good.Thank you banjo for your input. All the best from sozopol.

[mooseyy]

I did not manage to have a meeting at the weekend as there was not enough owners here.The situation has developed and one owner that refused to pay 3000 lv but offered to per per square meter(which was declined) has been told they can not use the pool or park their car here. A mafia type situation is happening before our very eyes as all the large apartment owners are Bulgarian and obviously they think the sun shines out of the new owners backside and at the moment we are powerless to stop it.
Time to seek legal advice i think though my experience in the past with legal issues here does not give me much hope either.I fear that we will end up with a worthless apartment as no one will want to buy it given the current situation. But then again that is maybe the plan of the new land owner.

[banjo]

I know exactly what is going on other complexes have done the same and refused to let people park on their land or use the pool after being told they have to increase the maintenance and if they refuse this is what happens.I think its shocking that the land owners try to blackmail people this way.People I do know have told them to stick the parking and pool and use the beach and outside parking I also know of maintenance companies that have reversed the idea and gone back to a fairer deal because no one pays and they make no money at all. Keep the forum informed.
All the best from varna.

[mooseyy]

Thanks for your input again banjo.We do have the option of using the beach and parking outside also but my car is left here all year so i will have to find a permanent solution for this.Our savior in this very unpleasant situation may come from a unlikely source. The neighboring property is owned by a very wealthy Russian businessman and he has a Bulgarian representative work for him.Last weekend there was a lot of noise in our complex from one of the Bulgarian owners teenage family members.This evening the representative visited our complex and from what i understood he told our landowners bouncer to tell them to keep the noise down. We will see in the coming weeks if this develops.
I have found a quite useful link for people who are thinking or have bought property in Bulgaria. I will of course keep the forum informed.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-buy- ... troduction.
All the best from Sozopol

[banjo]

The payment of this 3000 lev is quite a lot so lets see if people pay, as you have said one person has refused this situation could backfire on the new land owner hang in there and wait and see what happens.

[mooseyy]

We are in a really bad position now as the land owner has really done his homework. The condominium act only covers the buildings and not the land they are built on. In Bulgarian law as far as i have been told the land owner can do what he wants and is free to charge how he wants. I can not believe that there is no law to stop this situation happening.The real problem is that he is not offering a contract or invoices and can charge what he wants. Other small apartment owners are now starting to pay as they have no choice or they will end up with an apartment that nobody will buy and obviously will not be able to use the facilities here We can and probably will pay but our worries are where do his plans end and how much it will cost in the future.