One of the hottest topics in all Bulgarian ski and sea resorts is the problem of maintenance and management of the condominium. At the time the apartment complexes were build, marketed and sold, no one told the buyers how would their condominium investment be managed and maintained actually. Many were mislead.

The Specifics of Condominium

The truth is that the complexes consist of separate buildings, which according to Condominium Ownership Management Act (COMA), need to be managed and maintained separately. This leaves the question as of how those complexes will operate as a one single unit? there is no straightforward answer to this question.

Article 8 of COMA, provides that only separate entrances in one building can establish separate condominium and therefore be run separately:

(2) Where a building has more than one entrance, management may be implemented separately in each entrance.

The only article that brings a ray of light on this problem is Art. 18 COMA:

Article 18. (1) Where the need arises to resolve a matter related to the common areas of two or more condominiums, a joint General Assembly may be held in which the condominiums shall nominate an equal number of representatives for participation.

(2) The joint General Assembly shall be convened at the initiative of the Managing Council (Manager) of one of the condominiums and shall be held under the general rules for conducting a General Assembly set out in this Act.

(3) The decisions shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of persons present.

Managing Joint Condominium

Ok, at first glance that would solve our problem, but not exactly. The article reads about “a matter related to the common areas of two or more condominiums”. This refers to common facilities like electricity systems, water systems etc. You can’t rely on this article for individual building’s common parts such as the staircase in the respective building. If you do, all decisions on this joint GM could be successfully challenged by any owner’s solicitor in the local court.

A possible solution is that the Management Committees (or Managers) of the separate buildings to work in harmony so that the visitors of the complex don’t realise that there is a separation in the maintenance services.

The truth is that COMA was not intended to serve apartment buildings in the resorts. It was intended to serve residential buildings in the cities, where closed complexes are a rare.