Co-ownership in serious difficulties: backup plan

Verified 09 July 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

When the co-owners' trade union faces serious difficulties (social, technical and financial), a safeguard plan can be implemented. Who can call for its implementation and what can it advocate? We present you with the information you need to know.

For a safeguard plan to be put in place, the co-owners' union must face serious difficulties:

  • Social (defaulting co-owners)
  • Technical (degraded building)
  • Financial (number of significant outstanding payments).

These serious difficulties may in particular result from legal or technical complexities which may, in the long term, jeopardize the conservation of the building (or buildings).

The prefect who is aware of serious difficulties encountered by a condominium may entrust a committee, which he shall set up, with the preparation of the following measures:

  • Conduct situation diagnosis
  • Completing a backup plan to resolve issues.

The prefect may also act on proposal one of the following persons (or groups of persons):

  • Mayor of the municipality
  • President of theEPCI: titleContent housing authority
  • Associations of inhabitants, associations of owners or co-owners
  • Provisional Administrator if it has been designated.

This commission is chaired by the prefect and is composed of the following persons or groups of persons:

  • Representatives of the owners and tenants of the property concerned
  • Mayor of the municipality
  • President of the EPCI responsible for housing
  • Chairman of the departmental council of the department
  • President of the trade union council or their representatives
  • Provisional administrator if appointed.

Where the condominium does not have a trade union council, the general meeting of the condominiums may appoint a representative to represent it on the committee.

FYI  

The prefect may decide to entrust the chairmanship of the commission to the mayor of the municipality or to the president of the EPCI responsible for housing when one of these authorities is the initiator of the conservation plan.

The Commission must draw up a draft safeguard plan.

The condominium trustee shall submit to the commission all documents relevant to the preparation and implementation of the safeguard plan.

The documents shall be submitted at the request of the Commission, free of charge.

Failure to provide documents shall be the responsibility of the joint-ownership trustee 1 month after a letter of formal notice with a request for notification of receipt has been unsuccessful.

The project backup plan must be approved by the prefect.

Subsequent speakers must also provide their opinion on the draft backup plan:

  • Mayor of the municipality
  • President of the EPCI responsible for housing
  • President of the county council which has signed an agreement to grant public aid for the benefit of co-ownership.

The draft backup plan, then the final plan are sent by registered letter with notice of receipt to the condominium trustee (or to the interim administrator if one exists).

The safeguard plan calls for measures to:

  • Rectify the financial situation of the condominium
  • Clarify and simplify the rules governing the structure and administration of the building (e.g. division of the syndicate of co-owners or creation of syndicates of secondary co-owners)
  • Clarifying and adapting the status of public goods and public facilities
  • To carry out or have carried out by a third party conservation work on the building or work to reduce operating costs
  • Provide information and training to building occupants to restore social relations
  • Organize the introduction of accompanying measures.

The condominium trustee must organize the vote on the recommended measures of the safeguard plan.

For this, and upon receipt of the plan approved by the prefect, the trustee must register agenda of the next general assembly the measures recommended in the plan.

If the next general meeting does not take place within 6 months from the approval of the plan, the liquidator must convene an extraordinary general meeting.

If the general meeting has not been held or if the measures of the safeguard plan have been rejected and the difficulties jeopardize the conservation of the building, the mayor or the president of the EPCI may refer the matter to the court of the location of the building to appoint a provisional administrator or to declare state of absence of the co-ownership and initiate expropriation proceedings.

The safeguard plan shall be the subject of an implementation agreement. In addition, a coordinator shall be appointed to ensure the proper implementation of the safeguard plan.

Safeguard Plan Implementation Agreement

The backup plan is being reviewed implementation agreement between the competent persons governed by public law (mayor, president of the EPCI, etc.), the temporary administrator and the private persons concerned, in particular to specify the following measures:

  • Timetable for the measures and the conditions for their financing
  • Methods of intervention by the various operators authorized by the signatories and their relationship with the duties of the provisional administrator
  • Methods of evaluating the backup plan and methods of monitoring the co-ownership at the end of the plan.

Appointment of a coordinator

The Prefect shall appoint, from among the members of the Commission or from outside it, a co-ordinator responsible for ensuring the proper execution of the backup plan.

The coordinator may issue formal notices to parties who do not comply with the commitments contained in the safeguard plan within the time limits laid down.

The coordinator shall establish a mission report.

The prefect may, after evaluation and consultation of the commission, edit plan initial backup when a provisional administrator is appointed or extend the rescue plan, per 2-year period, if the recovery of the co-ownership so requires.

Please note

Aid corresponding to the measures in the safeguard plan shall be withdrawn, after formal notice, if the commitments have not been complied with within the time limit laid down in the safeguard plan.

The safeguard plan proposed by the Commission shall be Five years.

Reminder

The prefect may, after evaluation and consultation with the commission, amend the initial safeguard plan upon the appointment of a provisional administrator or extend the safeguard plan, for a period of two years, if the recovery of the co-ownership so requires.

Although despite the measures advocated by the plan, the co-ownership still faces serious difficulties, the court of the location of the building may be seized by one of the following persons:

  • Prefect
  • Mayor of the municipality
  • President of the EPCI responsible for housing
  • Provisional administrator if one exists
  • 1 or more co-owners

The court may appoint a provisional administrator if he has not already been appointed or pronounced state of absence of the co-ownership and initiate expropriation proceedings.