Bid to regulate property management firms

The Government is to set up a high-level group to consider how best to regulate the operation of property management companies.

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said the management of apartment complexes and some private housing estates and the operation of property management companies were a growing cause of concern.

He told a Law Reform Commission conference on the subject that he believed it was time the Government produced a legislative response to difficulties which included planning matters, company law, consumer protection and the regulatory environment.

Mr McDowell said various agencies were tackling issues in relation to property management. These included the National Consumer Agency, which produced a booklet, Putting Consumers First, last autumn providing guidance in layman's language for those who have bought an apartment or house in a multi-unit complex.

He also said the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement had launched a draft consultation paper on property management last December.

Around the same time, the Law Reform Commission launched its consultation paper on multi-unit developments, which Mr McDowell said was "particularly useful".

In his address to the conference, the Director of Corporate Enforcement, Paul Appleby, said many people who buy apartments did not know they were members of the management company, while the agent running the complex was their contractor.

He said the difference between a management company representing the owners and the management agent being usually a company hired to maintain the complex was blurred in many people's minds.

Another difficulty was when the developer did not devolve power in the management company to the individual owners. He instanced a case where the agm for a management company for a complex in Dublin was held in Carrigallen, Co Leitrim, on Christmas Eve.

The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement is planning to publish a final governance handbook this year which will be accompanied by a user-friendly shorter guide.