Initially we could think that this question has a very simple answer, “The Owner”, but things may get very complicated.
I would like to concentrate in two different cases that are very common: a) The property belongs to more than one person; b) The owner has agreed the payment of the community fees with someone else.
A) Many people think that when a house is in a condominium situation, every co-owner will be only obliged to pay according to the share he has got in the property, and the community would be obliged to claim for the rest of the debt to the other co-owner. I am afraid that this thought is completely wrong.
According to the general opinion of our Courts in Spain, the debt is binding on all the co-owners and the community will be free to claim for the whole amount to any of the co-owners.
The community will be able to claim for the debt in full to just one of the co-owners and this one who pays the debt in full will have the right to claim to the rest of the co-owner for the part of the fees he has paid in excess, but this does not affect to the community.
This rule is important because the community will tend to claim for the outstanding debt to the co-owner who is more solvent.
B) It is quite normal to establish in many letting contracts that the tenant will be obliged to pay the community fees. It is also that the real state companies which are usually renting properties get an agreement to the owners to assume the payment of the community fees.
From the community point of view, no matter who is the one who has got the compromise to pay the fees and pay them. The problem arises when nobody pays the fees. Then, the community need to know to whom should claim in court the outstanding fees.
According to the LPH, in the article number 9, the payment of the fees is part of the proprietor’s duties, so the community is obliged to claim to the owner.
The community is not authorize by law to start legal proceedings against the tenant or the real state agents, so even in the case the community is aware there is an agreement between the owner and them about it, the court procedure will have to be with the owner.
Some communities offer to the owners a prompt payment discount when the fees are paid within a period of time, so when the tenant does not pay the fees, the owner will not be entitle to enjoy the discount and will have to pay a higher amount. Even more, supposing the community takes the owner to court, he will even have to pay the cost of the solicitor and procurator, plus interest, recharge, etc.
We should never forget that the owner is the one be obliged to pay the fees to the community, so what the owner can do when the tenant or the real state agents do not pay the fees, is to start legal actions against them to recover the fees previously paid to the community.
Taking into consideration all of this, should you be the owner of a property rented, please be sure that your tenant or the agent are paying the fees on time to avoid a higher amount plus cost, recharge, interest, etc.