Three-quarters of apartment owners unhappy with management of homeowners association

Over three-quarters of apartment owners are unhappy with the manager of their homeowners’ association, Vereniging Eigen Huis, the umbrella for homeowners associations, said after analyzing the complaints to its hotline. They complain about bad communication, poor administration, and managers making decisions without consulting the members.

Apartment owners are automatically members of their Owners’ Association (VvE) from the moment they buy their apartment. The VvE is responsible for the maintenance and management of the building. The majority of VvEs outsource this management to an external service provider.

“But if they don’t work, VvEs often don’t know how to get rid of such a person or company. VvEs sometimes look for a good manager for years, and that causes a lot of frustration,” VEH director Cindy Kremer said in a press statement.

The VEH opened its hotline for reports about VvE management in February and got 518 complaints. Most were about communication - the manager shares too little information or is hard to reach. According to the VEH, managers earn less from small VvEs, so this group often gets less attention or even gets their contracts canceled.

VvEs also complain that their managers don’t have the legal, administrative, and technical knowledge needed to do their job correctly. “The manager’s profession is a liberal profession, meaning anyone can call themselves a VvE manager and offer their services. But even then, you can expect the work to be done properly. If that doesn’t happen, it’s unacceptable,’ said Kremer.

Only 24 percent of VvEs are happy with their manager, saying they pay good attention to them, communicate sufficiently, and offer good maintenance services.