“I never understand what they are charging me,” says one owner.
“I read the monthly expense details but I don’t know that those expenses have been made and the amounts change every month,” says a tenant.
From a provision promoted by the General Directorate of Defense and Consumer Protectionthe administrators of the CABA consortia must generate a database that will contain scanned documentation related to the settlement of expenses. With this measure, It seeks to better regulate the activity of consortium administrators, whether from buildings or gated communities.
Regulatory Decree No. 551/2010 of the City of Buenos Aires establishes that consortium administrations have 60 daysfrom February 23, 2024, for include in the expenses, a QR code or hyperlink that allows owners and tenants to check, on the one hand, supplier invoices and in this way verify the application of the funds entered into the consortium, updating them monthly. On the other hand, have direct access to the AFIP page, to check that the contributions of the consortium employees (building managers) are up to date with their payments.
“With this measure we will make available all expense documentation that are being collected through expenses,” explains tax accountant Sebastián Domínguez, CEO of SDC Asesores Tributarios.
“It is a reality that There have been many complaints within Consumer Defense regarding irregular management by the consortiums. The administration is responsible for paying for the services of the suppliers and the contributions of those in charge. When this does not happen, the person responsible ends up being the consortium. If this is sustained over time, and it has happened on some occasions, consortia accumulate debts that become very difficult to face,” highlights Nicolás Baccigalupo, CEO of Octopus PropTech, a platform that provides digital solutions for buildings, countries, and neighborhoods.
The role of the administrator
The administrator is a professional appointed by the consortium (made up of the owners of the apartments) to manage all the issues common to the building, including the payment of suppliers and the manager (if they have them) and ensure the maintenance of the common parts (elevators, fire extinguishers, front, etc.).
“This is a measure that the city takes to make expense expenses more transparent, so that there can be better control of the consortium’s expenses”, says Domínguez. In this sense, based on this regulation, residents will be able to check that payments have been made and will access the invoices of each of the suppliers who carry out work for the consortium or purchases of inputs to corroborate that they are in order and match the amounts. of the liquidation.
According to a report from ConsorcioAbierto, expenses have suffered a year-on-year increase of 175.9% in CABA. “This makes many neighbors who previously did not usually review the liquidation in depth today begin to question the origin of said increases. The new regulations seek to avoid errors and guarantee transparency in expenses, the registration of receipts and the subsequent settlement of expenses,” says Albano Laiuppa, director of ConsorcioAbierto.
Increases in expenses
EThe union of building managers agreed to a 45% salary increase starting in Februaryan increase that will impact the price of March expenses if approved by the ministry, since the salaries of the managers represent around 30% of them (in the event that said person is counted on to carry out their tasks).
The agreement, made by the Argentine Federation of Rental and Horizontal Building Workers (Fataryh), representing the managers, and by the Property Administrators Union on the employer side It is national in scope, although it has not yet been approved by the ministry. It would bring the basic salary of a building employee to $441,447 for the case of the lowest category with housing in the building and $518,912 in cases of homeless managers.
“Expenses will continue to increase as this inflationary process continues, because they are tied to the value of the services contracted by the consortium, such as security, cleaning, gardening, elevator maintenance, fumigation, as well as increases in the salaries of employees. the managers and the electricity, gas, and water rates,” says Laiuppa and adds: “The new agreement reached by the building workers union, by which salaries will be increased by 45%, will generate an increase in expenses.”
According to the survey carried out by ConsorcioAbierto among more than 10,000 consortia that use its management software, in the Buenos Aires province, The average expense in buildings without including debt corresponding to February is $42,676. In January it was $37,827, so the increase is 12.81%. If the February expense is compared to that of February 2023 of $14,431, the year-on-year increase is 195.72%.
In the case of CABA, the average expense in buildings (not including debts) corresponding to the month of February is $100,794 and in January it was $93,706. If it is compared to the expense for February 2023, of $34,870, the year-on-year increase is 189.05%.
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