Call for rights Bill for 500,000 living in apartments

The National Consumer Agency has called for urgent legislation to protect the rights of 500,000 apartment dwellers in their dealings with property management companies.

The agency has expressed concern that aabsence of regulation governing the property management sector was leaving apartment dwellers, particularly young people, open to exploitation.

The activities of 4,500 property management companies should be brought under the remit of proposed new legislation to control estate agencies and auctioneers, the NCA said yesterday, and this Bill should be introduced as soon as possible.

Anyone buying a unit in an apartment block automatically becomes a member of a management company, which is legally responsible for the upkeep of the development. Such companies usually employ a management agent to help run the complex.

A report commissioned by the agency says service charges for apartment blocks should be determined by a professional quantity surveyor, while consumers should have the right to a written summary of costs incurred by their management company.

Ann Fitzgerald, chairwoman of the NCA and director of consumer affairs, said: "We commissioned the report because consumers, primarily young people, are very vulnerable when they are unsure of their rights and don't know how the management company and management agent system works. Apartment living is now an integral part of Irish life and it is imperative that consumers are protected.

"We believe the time has come for transparency in the market and for the Government to prioritise legislation to regulate the area. The industry itself also needs to set standards which protect consumers and enhance its reputation."

The report prepared by DKM consultants says a sinking fund, ring-fenced from day-to-day expenditure, should be mandatory in all cases. A failure to provide such a fund for long-term and unforeseen outlays can only cause problems later on, it says.

It recommends the setting up of a professional association of residential management agents. To avoid confusion over names, management companies should be renamed owners' companies once a developer has handed over control of a complex.

Ms Fitzgerald said there were serious problems with some builders who failed to complete developments or to hand them over to tenants in a timely manner.

To address these problems, the report says, developers should be required to attend to the management company's snag list, as prepared by an independent architect or surveyor. Transfer of control should take place within three months and planning authorities should act speedily against developers who fail to transfer control.

The NCA has produced an information booklet entitled Property Management Companies and You, which can be obtained by calling 1890 432432 or downloading it at www.consumerconnect.ie.