Legal Challenges in Ensuring Regular Maintenance and Repairs of Common Parts of Owner-Occupied Apartment Buildings

Abstract

The way in which apartment block ownership and administration can be effectively managed is a problem that has come to the forefront because of the mass privatization and sale, or granting, of apartments to former tenants in new EU member states. In these cases, there are inadequacies in the law ensuring the continuous maintenance and renovation of common parts, such as the roof, walls, stairwells, and lifts, and of utilities such as water, sewage, and electrical systems Gruis et al. 2009 . Several old EU member states, such as France, are also interested in legislative solutions for home ownership problems in apartment blocks Association des Responsables de Coproprietes 2009 . The issue is, however, broader—the lack of a well-functioning legal ownership is also a problem in, for instance, Russia and in Balkan, Central Asian and Caucasus countries, as well as in China. This article reviews what is meant by apartment ownership in condominiums, and how these apartment blocks are governed. This raises issues concerning the decision-making process for such governance, how to finance repairs using ownership as collateral, how to enforce payment of charges for current and future repairs to common parts and facilities, and how to ensure that governance is transparent. The Finnish model for apartment ownership provides solutions to many of these problems. Looking at this allows an analysis of the factors, which can be used to assess apartment ownership in different countries. There is a general lack of comparative work of the law in this area, and such an assessment would provide a basis for comparison and help improve legal structures of apartment ownership in many countries.