The current Law on housing and maintenance of buildings is the parent law in housing law and provides for two mandatory and at the same time most important bodies of the housing community: 1) the manager and 2) the assembly of the housing community.
The assembly consists of all owners of special parts of the building (owners of apartments, business premises, garages and garage spaces/boxes), and in the cases provided for by law, they can be replaced by a member of the family household or a tenant of a special part.
The most important responsibilities of the assembly are the election and dismissal of the manager, adoption of the building maintenance plan, deciding on the level of compensation for maintenance and management costs, deciding on hiring a professional manager or taking a loan, and making a decision on undertaking work on the common parts of the building.
Regarding the manager of the housing association, it should first be said that the Law contains various provisions on: 1) the so-called “ordinary” manager (manager from among tenants); 2) to the professional manager and 3) the so-called “forced” administrator, who is nothing more than a professional administrator appointed by the decision of the competent local authority (municipal or city level) in cases provided for by the Law.
The responsibilities of all types of administrators include: representation and execution of decisions of the housing association, submission of applications for registration of origin, change or termination of data in the Register of Housing Associations, proposing to the assembly a maintenance program and ensuring its implementation, keeping various records (e.g. on income and expenses housing communities or about the owners of separate and independent parts, i.e. about tenants and users of common and separate parts of the building), organizing the execution of works on common parts/land for regular use of the building and submitting work reports to the assembly.
Many tenants are dissatisfied with the work of professional managers, who have to solve numerous problems in the functioning of buildings. Professional managers are supposed to make life easier for tenants, but this is not always the case, so there are frequent complaints about the work of professional managers. Citizens complain most of all that they do not have sufficient communication with the administrators, they state that they serve only to take money, that they are often unavailable and do not respond to their calls and remarks, as well as that they are not informed about changes in the joint account.
Who to complain to?
The question arises to whom tenants can complain about the work of the manager, who controls their work and how they can be replaced. The work of professional managers is controlled by the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, the umbrella organization from which professional managers get their license, so tenants can submit a complaint to the Court of Honor of the PKS.
The work of professional managers is controlled by the municipal and construction inspection through inspections.
In order to remove a professional manager whose work they are dissatisfied with, a two-thirds majority of the total number of votes of the assembly of the housing association is required. They choose him in the same way.
Any owner of a separate part can submit an initiative to schedule a meeting of the assembly to decide on dismissal. If the professional administrator refuses to schedule a meeting, any owner of a separate part can also schedule one.
Court of Honor of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce
Proceedings before the Court of Honor of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce are initiated against the organizer of professional management, and not against the professional manager personally, because the organizer, i.e. the company where that manager works, is responsible for a violation of the Code committed by a professional manager. Disputed issues regarding the legal validity of the contract on the engagement of a professional manager, which housing associations conclude with the organizer of professional management, as well as the rights and obligations arising from it, compensation for damages, etc., can be discussed by the contracting parties exclusively before a regular court in civil proceedings.
Competent inspections
If the tenants believe that the manager or professional manager does not perform legal or contractual duties conscientiously and professionally, they can file a report against the professional manager to the local (municipal or city) communal inspection on the basis of failure to fulfill the manager’s duties prescribed in Articles 50 and 53 of the Law.
Tenants can also report a professional manager to the construction inspection if he has not adopted or does not implement a building maintenance program, as well as in the event that he has failed to organize the execution of works that would eliminate the danger to life and health of people, the safety of the building and property, traffic and the environment (Articles 126 and 127 of the Law).
Conclusion
Considering the highly questionable effectiveness of the currently prescribed mechanisms that would motivate administrators to perform their duties better, it seems that this option may be the most expedient solution. However, this procedure requires effort and time because it is necessary to collect the signatures of the owners of special parts, to achieve the required majority, which can be especially a problem in buildings with a large number of owners of special parts. Also, the dismissal of the existing manager and the appointment of a new manager does not guarantee that the housing community will be managed more adequately. It has been shown that in a large number of residential communities, it is not uncommon for up to 4-5 managers to change. Bearing in mind, on the one hand, the existing regulations that do not sufficiently regulate the position and responsibility of professional managers, and on the other hand, the often expressed dissatisfaction of tenants with their work, this topic with a special emphasis on the qualifications necessary for the work of managers and the quality and efficiency of their actions, should be normatively address more seriously.
Text about complaints about police work in Serbia you can read here.