Is it legal that an owner records Comunity Meeting?

26 | 03 | 24
| Advices for you

Do you know the requirements to make recordings within the Meeting of Owners in accordance with law? 

  • If the answer is no, you will find out.
  • In the event that you do, the links in the text will expand your knowledge.

We invite you to dive into the reading!

European Regulation on 'Artificial Intelligence': the challenge of balancing technology and Human Rights protection


On March 13, 2024 European Parliament was a world pioneer in passinging the "Artificial Intelligence Regulation". At Finques Feliu we have studied the balance between technology and individual freedoms in the past:

  • In May 2018 we adapted from the beginning to the European Data Protection Regulation. 
  • In November 2023 we described how the regulation guarantees the right treatment of the information derived from the recordings of video surveillance cameras to the public road and in the community of owners. Here you can access the link.

In this text we deal with the recording during the meetings of owners.

Seven questions about the legal conditions for recording the Owners' Meeting (hereinafter referred to as the OM). 

1.1 Is it legal for an owner to record the OM 'motu proprio'?

Absolutely not. If it were to do so, it would violate the European Data Protection Regulation. It should be noted that in a trial, the magistrate would dismiss this recording due to its unlawful obtaining.

There is only one very outlandish assumption that would allow it: that the co-owner records only himself/herself,however, he/she  would still has to prove in the Court that he/shr has indeed recorded only himself/herself. 

In the OM unilateral actions are never a good idea.

1.2 Can the OM pass the recording prior to the meeting?

Yes and, unlike the previous question, we will have the legality and the majority of the co-owners in favor. Now, at the time of the vote the following requirements must be followed: 

The Catalan Civil Code we have only the first call . In this the required quorum is:

  • The owners majority  
  • These must represent more than half of the participation quotas

 

1.3 Who is in charge of the custody of the recording of the OM?

The person acting as Secretary-Administrator.

1.4 I voted against the recording - and I am in the minority-. In order to oppose the recording, can I plead the preservation of my right to privacy and self-image?

No, since the recording should not transcend outside the meeting. Hence, it is extremely important that the secretary-administrator keeps the recording properly.

In any case, you always have the right to challenge the recording.

1.5 If the main function of the minutes of the Act is to record the agreements taken, why do some owners request the recording of the meeting?

Because not everyone trusts the accuracy of the minutes. 

What exactly does the Catalan Civil Code establish regarding the drafting and signing of the minutes?

  • The person who has to draft this document is the Secretary
  • These actions give validity to the agreements taken in the OM It is compulsory that the Secretary and the President sign the minutes
  • The minutes must be authorized within five (5) days from the day following the OM   

Source: 553-27.1 of the Catalan Civil Code.

1.6 Can the recording replace the drafting of the minutes?

No: the drafting of the minutes is essential (remember that the legislator requires to sign it). However, the recording - we reiterate the obligation to approve it - can complement the minutes.
 

1.7 Is there an unlimited right to information of the owners?

Unlimited never. The information in a community of owners does not fall under the assumptions of Article 20 of the Spanish Constitution -the right to information-. Even so, the transparency to the OC is essential and in Finques Feliu we give it the capital importance that it deserves.   

The rulings of February 14, 2004 and May 20, 2004 emphasize the legal and material impossibility of providing unlimited information:

The first establishes two points:

  • Neither from the letter nor from the spirit of the Law on Horizontal Property, can it be understood that there is an authentic right of information in favor of the co-owners...".
  • The precept does not conform to a particularized and detailed requirement of the subjects to be decided in the assembly".

The second one affects in the material impossibility to provide information at any time:

The Horizontal Property Law does not grant at any time to each owner the possibility of auditing the accounts of the Community".

2. Appendix: the Community of Owners (hereinafter CP) and the OM: Key Aspects 

When we talk about the CP and the OM it is useful to review:

  • From how many owners must be constituted as an Owners Community ?
  • The five basic functions of the PDC?
  • The OM is a forum to express oneself 

2.1 When is the OC legally born?

From the moment that the Land Registry validates the Constituive Act. 

2.2 From how many owners must be constituted as a Community of Owners?

From five owners in a horizontal type OC.  Thus, from the reading of article 13.8 of the Horizontal Property Law it is deduced by exclusion. The legal provision states:

'When the number of owners of dwellings or premises does not exceed four1 provided that it is foreseen in the Statutes of the OC, we may avail ourselves of the administration regime foreseen in article 398 of the Spanish Civil Code'.

1: Exclusion from which we infer that the magic number of owners to constitute a PC is five.

2.2.1 Article 398 of the Spanish Civil Code: solution when there are less than five co-owners2

We summarize it below: 

'In order to adopt an agreement on a common property a majority is required. If there is no majority (...) the decision will be passed to the judge (...) who may appoint an administrator. When part of the property is private and another part is common, the magistrate's decision may only affect the common part'.

The alternative to constitute a PC will tend to a harmful judicialization:

  • It will delay urgent actions
  • It will be a menace to coexistence

For all that we have exposed, it will always be much better to constitute it.

2: When the PC does not reach five co-owners, it is of vertical type.

2.3 The OM five basic functions

a) Appoint: President, Vice President and Secretary (to be done at the first OM)

b) Approve the Statutes and By-laws of the PC (must be done at the first OM) 

c) To give the green light to the accounts of the previous year and the budget of this one.

d) In principle on the basis of the budget, to vote and to approve all the actions in the common spaces of the OM (works, modifications in the Statutes, to individualize the water, light and gas consumptions, etc.).

e) The president or the property manager -we recommend hiring him to assist the president in legal doubts- must inform the co-owners with transparency. 

f) The charges of the OC must ensure the right of the co-owners to:

      
We hope that we have helped you to have a OM where, on one hand, everything is recorded and, on the other hand, nobody's rights are violated.