What can and cannot be reflected in the minutes of a neighborhood meeting?

Welcome to the Meridional blog, your trusted property manager in Mijas Costa. On this occasion, we are pleased to address a topic of great relevance to all owners of neighborhood communities and property owners in general: the meaning and scope of the minutes of a meeting. 

1. Introduction

Question 1: Is the property secretary-administrator obliged to include in the minutes the observations made by the community members or the president regarding any observation or opinion that was made on the day of the meeting? 

Answer: No, the property secretary-administrator is not obliged to include in the minutes the observations made by the community members or the president. The minutes should only reflect the agreements reached, as established in article 19 of the Horizontal Property Law (LPH). The possibility of including observations from the community members in the minutes is not contemplated.

Question 2: Can community members sign the minutes or add personal comments to it? 

Answer: It is not necessary or allowed for the community members to sign the minutes or add personal comments to it. The usual practice is that only the president and the secretary sign the minutes, as established by the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court. The Horizontal Property Law does not require the signature of all co-owners attending the meeting.

Question 3: What happens if a community member wishes to challenge the agreements adopted at the meeting? 

Answer: To challenge the agreements adopted at the meeting, it is not necessary to include observations in the minutes. The legitimacy to exercise the challenge action is based on article 18 of the LPH and is not conditional on comments being recorded in the minutes. The challenge can be made by following established legal procedures.

Question 4: Why are the minutes not written at the meeting itself? 

Answer: The minutes are not written at the meeting itself because it is necessary to carry out careful work of compiling and writing the relevant information, in addition to having to translate it. It would be impractical and inefficient to write the minutes at the time of the meeting, since it would take a long time and require attendees to wait to sign them or express their disagreements. Therefore, the minutes are drawn up later.

Question 5: What legal support exists to close the minutes with the signatures of the president and the secretary? 

Answer: The Horizontal Property Law establishes in its article 19.3, modified by Law 8/1999, that the minutes must be closed with the signatures of the president and the secretary at the end of the meeting or within the following ten days. This provision is supported by the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, which has clarified that the signature of all co-owners attending the meeting is not required by law.

Question 6: What is the importance of refusing to include observations or allow personal comments in the minutes? 

Answer: Refusing to include observations or allow personal comments in the minutes is important to maintain the coherence and legality of the document. Giving in to these requests could set a negative precedent and open the door to future lawsuits or unjustified requests by community members. The Supreme Court supports this decision of the administrator, because to do otherwise would be to grant rights to the community members that do not correspond to them.

2.- Meaning and scope of the minutes of a meeting

Question 1: What is the minutes of a homeowners meeting and how is it different from community agreements? 

Answer: The minutes of a homeowners' meeting are a document that records in writing what happened, discussed or agreed upon at the meeting. It should not be confused with community agreements, which are the expression of the will of the board as the collegiate governing body of the community of owners. The minutes are a documentary support that records the agreements adopted by the collegiate governing body. It is important to keep in mind that minor defects of a formal nature in the minutes cannot cause the invalidity of validly adopted agreements.

Question 2: What information should the minutes of a homeowners' meeting include? 

Answer: The minutes of a meeting of owners must include the date and place of the meeting, the owners attending, present or represented, and the resolutions adopted, indicating the votes in favor and against. You must also mention the corresponding participation fees. In addition, the minutes must be signed by the president and the secretary. Some additional elements that must be reflected are the author of the call, the nature of the meeting (ordinary or extraordinary), the indication of whether it was held on the first or second call, the positions of the attendees with their participation fees, the order of the meeting. day of the meeting and the names of the owners who voted for and against the agreements, if relevant to their validity.

Question 3: What happens if some information is omitted from the meeting minutes? 

Answer: If any information is omitted from the meeting minutes, the owner may urge the community of owners, extrajudicially, to correct said error before the next meeting of the board. At that next meeting, the correction must be ratified. Some courts support that omissions will only have significance if they affect the substance of the agreements and may render some community member defenseless.

Question 4: What is the value of the minutes of a homeowners' meeting? 

Answer: The minutes of a meeting of owners are a private document, without constitutive character or ad probationem (test) effectiveness. Jurisprudence has explicitly denied that it has a probative value established in the Horizontal Property Law. Therefore, the record should not be interpreted as having probative value in the strict sense. The signature of the president and the secretary in the minutes is important to validate the meeting, but it does not confer an absolute evidentiary character. It is essential to consider regulations and jurisprudence when evaluating their scope and value.

Question 5: Can opinions or observations be included in the minutes of a homeowners' meeting? 

Answer: No, according to the cited jurisprudence, there is no mention of the possibility of including “opinions or observations” in the minutes of a homeowners' meeting. The minutes must be limited to reflecting the agreements adopted, and the regulations do not contemplate the inclusion of other elements other than those provided for in the Horizontal Property Law.

3.- Refusal of the administrator to include opinions or observations in the minutes

Question 1: Can the president or the community members require that opinions or observations be included in the minutes of a owners' meeting? 

Answer: No, the minutes of a homeowners' meeting cannot become a verbatim transcription of what was said at the meeting. The purpose of the minutes is to reflect the agreements adopted, not the exact words expressed during the meeting. The secretary-administrator is in charge of writing the minutes and his duty is to only record the agreements, as established in article 19 of the Horizontal Property Law (LPH). Therefore, neither the president nor the community members can require the secretary-administrator to include observations or comments in the minutes beyond what is provided for in the LPH.

Question 2: Can the minutes of a homeowners meeting be considered a faithful reproduction of what was said at the meeting? 

Answer: No, the minutes of a homeowners meeting are not intended to be a faithful and exact reproduction of everything that was said at the meeting. Its main function is to record the agreements that were adopted during the meeting. It is not intended that the minutes reflect all the interventions, debates or comments made by the participants. The secretary-administrator, being the notary of the agreement, has the responsibility of writing the minutes in accordance with the provisions of the LPH, and it is not necessary to include verbatim transcripts of all the interventions.

Question 3: Is it valid to compare the secretary-administrator with a notary in relation to the minutes of a owners' meeting? 

Answer: Yes, a comparison can be established between the secretary-administrator and a notary in relation to the minutes of a owners' meeting. Like a notary, the secretary-administrator is a qualified professional who knows the requirements and purpose of the document. Just as an individual cannot dictate to the notary what must be included in a notarial record, the community members cannot require the secretary-administrator to record in the record all the observations made during the meeting. The secretary-administrator has the duty to comply with the regulations and only reflect the agreements adopted, preventing the minutes from becoming an extensive document of literal transcription of the life of the meeting.

Question 4: What is the intention of the legislator when drafting article 19 of the Horizontal Property Law (LPH)? 

Answer: When drafting article 19 of the LPH, the legislator intends for the minutes of a homeowners' meeting to focus on the agreements adopted during the meeting. The objective is not for the minutes to be a detailed record of each intervention or comment made at the meeting, but rather for it to reflect in a concise and clear manner the relevant agreements. The legislator seeks to prevent the act from becoming a very extensive document that distorts its main purpose.

4.- Impossibility of reflecting in the minutes the opinions of the president or community members

Question 1: Is it possible to include letters sent by community members or opinions on agreements in the minutes of a meeting of owners? 

Answer: No, the minutes of a homeowners' meeting must be limited to reflecting only the agreements adopted during the meeting. Letters, opinions or observations that are not directly related to the agreements cannot be included. If an owner wishes to discuss a specific topic, they can request that it be included in the agenda of the next meeting or use the means established in article 16.2 of the Horizontal Property Law (LPH): “Any owner may request that the Owners' Meeting study and speak out on any topic of interest to the community; To this end, he will send a writing, in which he clearly specifies the matters he requests to be addressed, to the president, who will include them in the agenda of the next Meeting to be held.

Any letter or writing presented by a community member to the property administrator will be returned without being included in the minutes. This position has been supported by the Supreme Court in its ruling of October 2, 2008.

Question 2: What legal support exists to refuse to include letters, opinions or observations unrelated to the agreements in the minutes? 

Answer: The Supreme Court supports the position of not including in the minutes of a meeting of owners letters, opinions or observations that are not related to the agreements adopted. There is no legal requirement to record these elements in the minutes. If a community member or the president wishes to have their opinions or comments recorded, they can be reminded that the recording of the meetings can be used to document all the details that are not reflected in the minutes.

Question 3: How can the situation be handled when the community members or the president insist on including their opinions in the minutes? 

Answer: The administrator, even if he does not want to enter into a conflict, cannot include in the minutes opinions or comments that are not directly related to the agreements. Although community members may express their desire to be registered, they can be informed that the laws do not support their inclusion in the record. In addition, it can be highlighted that recording meetings allows you to collect all the details that are not reflected in the minutes, providing a form of additional documentation.

5.- The property administrator cannot accept intervention in the content of the minutes of the president or the community members

Question 1: Can the president of a community control the drafting of the minutes of a homeowners' meeting? 

Answer: No, the writing of the minutes is the responsibility of the secretary-administrator, who has the function of transcribing the agreements adopted during the meeting. Although the president wants to intervene in the content of the minutes, the secretary-administrator cannot accept that intervention. The secretary-administrator is the one who attests to the content of the minutes, and his role is to impartially and accurately reflect what was agreed upon at the meeting.

Question 2: Is it possible for the president or the community members to send writings to the secretary-administrator to include comments in the minutes? 

Answer: No, community members cannot send writings to the secretary-administrator so that comments can be included in the minutes. The minutes must be limited to reflecting only the agreements adopted during the meeting, as established in the Horizontal Property Law (LPH). Furthermore, the minutes are not sent to the community members so that they can carry out a control or verification of its contents before closing. The secretary-administrator must send the minutes to the president solely for the purpose of having him sign the document, not for him to carry out an act of control over its content.

Question 3: What happens if the president does not agree with any point in the minutes and refuses to sign them until they are modified? 

Answer: In the event that the president does not agree with any point in the minutes and refuses to sign it, the secretary-administrator must proceed to close the minutes and send it to the community members. The secretary-administrator should not modify the minutes to meet the president's demands, as this would give the president undue power over the contents of the minutes. If there are discrepancies, the secretary-administrator can issue a document in the minute book to record the incident and ensure that he does not withhold notification of the minutes.

Question 4: Is it recommended to record owners' meetings to avoid discrepancies regarding what happened? 

Answer: Yes, it is recommended to record owners' meetings through simple majority agreements. This ensures that there is a record and evidence of what happened during the meeting. Recording the meetings can serve as additional evidence and avoid discrepancies regarding the events that occurred. In this way, it is ensured that all participants have access to reliable and accurate documentation of what happened.

6.- It is not possible to collect the opinions and statements of the “requests and questions” turn

Question 1: Can the observations or statements made during the “questions and answers” session by the president or the community members be included in the minutes? 

Answer: No, in no case should observations or statements made during the “questions and answers” session be included in the minutes. The law does not contemplate the incorporation of these issues in the minutes, since it is a phase of the meeting in which observations are made or questions about community life are raised, but agreements cannot be adopted at this stage and it is not They are part of the agenda. Therefore, these observations should not be recorded in the minutes, nor should letters or opinions related to the development of this shift be recorded.

Question 2: Should the property manager be present during the “questions and answers” session to answer questions and other issues? 

Answer: It is recommended that the property manager be present during the “questions and answers” session to answer questions and other issues that arise in this phase. Although these interactions are not incorporated into the minutes, the administrator can provide answers and clarifications to the queries raised by community members at this time.

Question 3: Why is it common practice to include the observations of the “questions and answers” turn in the minutes? 

Answer: Although it is common practice to include the observations of the “questions and answers” turn in the minutes, this is not supported by law. This practice can delay the writing of the minutes, since these additional details must be included. However, it is not mandatory to do so immediately. It is even possible to close the minutes on the same day of the meeting and then verify and complete the details so that they can later be signed by the president and the administrator on subsequent days.

7.- Refusal of the president to sign the minutes because the property manager refused to include in the minutes an opinion expressed by him at the meeting

Question 1: What happens if the president refuses to sign the minutes because the property manager did not include an opinion he expressed during the meeting? 

Answer: The absence of the president's signature does not entail the nullity of the agreements, since the minutes do not constitute them. It is an obligation of the governing bodies to comply with the signing of the minutes for the benefit of the community members, but their lack of signature does not invalidate the legally adopted agreements.

Question 2: What should the secretary-administrator do if the president refuses to sign the minutes? 

Answer: If the president refuses to sign the minutes despite the attempts of the secretary-administrator, the latter must draw up and sign the minutes himself. Then, it must be sent to all the owners, including a final diligence in which the president's refusal to sign the minutes is recorded.

Question 3: Will the agreements be enforceable despite the lack of the president's signature in the minutes? 

Answer: Yes, the agreements will be executive despite the lack of the president's signature in the minutes. The closing of the minutes with the signatures of the president and the administrator is a necessary condition for the agreements to be executive, but the lack of the president's signature does not invalidate the agreements themselves. The agreements will be valid based on compliance with the intrinsic requirements to reach the majority required in the formation of the common will.

Question 4: What does jurisprudence say about the lack of the president's signature on the minutes? 

Answer: Jurisprudence has established that the lack of the president's signature on the minutes does not deprive legally adopted agreements of their validity. The president's signature is not a constitutional or formal requirement essential for the validity of the agreements. The minutes are simply a means to document the agreements, and signing them is a formal obligation. Therefore, the lack of the president's signature does not invalidate the agreements adopted by the community of owners.

8.- Only material or arithmetical errors in the minutes can be corrected.

Question 1: Can material or arithmetic errors in the minutes be corrected? 

Answer: Yes, material or arithmetic errors in the minutes can be corrected. If such errors are detected after sending the minutes to the community members, a rectification note signed by the president and the administrator must be sent to all owners. In addition, a complementary diligence must be carried out in the minute book, making the appropriate observation about the corrected error.

Question 2: What happens if there are observations by the owners about the content of the minutes? 

Answer: If there are observations by the owners, a meeting of owners should be called immediately to clarify the errors and discuss the content of the minutes in question. It will be necessary to ratify the corrected error at the next owners meeting.

Question 3: What if it is not a simple arithmetic or easily detectable error? 

Answer: If it is not a simple arithmetic error or one that can be easily detected, a challenge to the minutes could arise. In such cases, if there is no clear evidence of error, a new board vote should be taken on the point in dispute. If there are concerns, it is important to deliberate and approve the content in question to avoid a possible challenge in court.

Question 4: Can the lack of inclusion of an opinion or comment in the minutes be corrected? 

Answer: No, the Horizontal Property Law (LPH) does not contemplate the correction of the lack of inclusion of an opinion or comment in the minutes. The LPH does not require that the opinions or comments of the owners be included in the minutes. Therefore, it is not necessary to reflect in the minutes the observations made during the question and answer session, nor is it necessary for the requirement to warn about annoying, harmful or prohibited activities according to article 7.2 of the LPH to be reflected in the minutes.

9.- The only opinion that can be recorded in the minutes is the reason for an abstention

Question 1: What opinions can be recorded in the minutes? 

Answer: The minutes must include the explanations or reasoning for the abstentions, that is, the motivations of the owners who decide to abstain from a vote. The law does not require that the motivations for negative votes be recorded. Therefore, only the motivation for the direction of the vote in abstentions should be included in the minutes, if desired, since it is only allowed to challenge the minutes by the owners who abstain if the motivation is reflected in the minutes. of his abstention.

Question 2: Why should the motivation for abstentions be included in the minutes? 

Answer: The inclusion of the reasons for abstentions in the minutes gives legitimization to the owners who abstain to challenge the agreements in the future. According to the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, the expression “they would have saved their vote” in article 18.2 of the Horizontal Property Law (LPH) is interpreted in the sense that it only binds the owner who abstains, not the one who votes against the agreement. .

Question 3: What is recommended in the case of owners who wish to justify their abstention in the minutes? 

Answer: It is recommended that the meeting indicate whether any owner who abstains wishes to justify his or her abstention so that it is recorded in the minutes. In this way, the opportunity is provided for owners who abstain to record their motivations in the minutes.

At Meridional, we are proud to be able to provide valuable and clear information on fundamental aspects of the administration of neighborhood communities. 

Meridional takes care of the entire community

We hope that this article has provided clarity and understanding about the role of minutes in a meeting and how the different situations that may arise are handled. 

We always strive to provide quality service and be a trusted ally for our owners, especially those foreign owners who trust us to manage their communities on the Costa del Sol.

If you have more questions or need assistance in any aspect related to the administration of your community, do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help you and ensure that your community functions efficiently and in harmony. Thank you for trusting Meridional as your property manager!”