What counts as an "irregularly approved" assessment?

Non-resident owners often assume that any assessment they think is unfair, badly timed, or simply too expensive can be challenged. Spanish law draws a much narrower line. Under the LPH, a community agreement approving a derrama can be annulled only when it is contrary to law or the statutes, seriously prejudicial to the interests of the community for the benefit of one or more owners, or approved through an actual procedural defect. The most litigated defects are:

• Defective convening notice (citación): the meeting notice under Article 16.2 LPH did not reach an owner, was sent to the wrong address (common when a foreign owner has not updated their registered address with the administrator), or did not state the specific agenda item covering the assessment.
• Item not on the agenda: the derrama was voted on as an ad hoc addition during the meeting without every owner's prior knowledge and consent, in breach of Article 16.2 LPH.
• Wrong majority applied: ordinary conservation works require a simple majority (more votes in favour than against, weighted by participation quota), while accessibility works above certain thresholds or works affecting the constitutive title can require three-fifths or unanimity under Article 17 LPH. Approving a derrama with the wrong threshold is a classic ground for annulment.
• No itemised budget or coefficient breakdown: the minutes approve a lump sum without specifying the total cost, the share attributable to each owner by participation quota, or the payment schedule.
• Lack of quorum at second call, or a vote taken without verifying that enough participation quota was actually present or represented.

If none of these apply and the derrama was simply approved by a valid majority at a properly convened meeting, it is binding on you even if you voted against it or were absent — that is the ordinary rule under Article 17 LPH, and it applies equally to resident and non-resident owners.

The three-month deadline — and why it matters more for overseas owners

Article 18.3 LPH gives any owner three months to challenge a community agreement in court, counted from the date they received notice of it (or, for owners who attended the meeting and voted against, from the date of the meeting itself). For owners who abstained, were absent without proper representation, or were never validly notified, this deadline only starts once the notice actually and correctly reaches them — which is precisely why a defective notification is both a ground for annulment and, separately, the reason the clock may not have started at all.

This matters enormously for non-resident and overseas owners who rely on postal notice to an address in another country, or on an administrator emailing minutes months late. If you can show the notice never arrived, or arrived defectively, you may still be within your rights to challenge an assessment approved a year or more ago. Keep every piece of correspondence with your administrator — email timestamps and courier tracking numbers are frequently decisive evidence in these cases.

The court procedure: how a challenge actually runs

Challenging a community agreement is a civil claim, not an administrative complaint to the town hall or a criminal matter. The steps in practice:

Do you have to keep paying while the challenge is pending?

Yes — this is the point that catches most owners off guard, including experienced landlords who assume a pending lawsuit automatically freezes their obligations. Spanish community agreements are presumptively enforceable once approved (Article 18.4 LPH even allows the community to seek immediate enforcement of certain agreements despite a pending challenge, subject to the challenger providing security for the amount owed). Practically, that means:

• If you stop paying without a court-ordered suspension, the community can pursue you through the monitorio process for unpaid community debts — the same summary procedure used for unpaid ordinary fees.
• Unpaid assessments accrue interest and can result in a charge (embargo) against the property, which will surface in a nota simple search and can complicate a future sale.
• Many owners choose to pay "under protest" (bajo reserva or con expresa reserva) — paying on time while formally recording that the payment is made without waiving the right to challenge and claim reimbursement if the court annuls the agreement. This protects your position on both fronts and is the approach most Spanish lawyers recommend to non-resident clients managing risk from abroad.

Some case law from Spanish provincial appellate courts (Audiencias Provinciales) has held that where the defect is a clear nullity (e.g., an agenda item never notified, affecting Article 6 of the Spanish Constitution's due process principles as applied to private associations), courts have been more willing to grant precautionary suspension. But this is fact-specific, and relying on it without a formal court order is a significant financial risk.

Frequently asked questions

Can I challenge a derrama just because I think the works are unnecessary?

Not on that ground alone. Disagreeing with the community's decision on the merits — even reasonably — is not a valid cause for annulment under the LPH unless the agreement is also seriously prejudicial to the community for the benefit of certain owners, or was reached in breach of procedural rules. Courts generally will not second-guess a validly reached decision about whether particular works are advisable.

I live outside Spain — do I need to travel back to file a challenge?

No. You can grant power of attorney (poder notarial) to a Spanish lawyer through a Spanish consulate in your country of residence, or execute an apostilled power of attorney locally that a Spanish lawyer can use to represent you. Many overseas owners run the entire process remotely.

What happens if I win the challenge after I've already paid?

If you paid without reserving your rights, recovering the money can be harder — the community may argue you accepted the charge. This is exactly why lawyers recommend paying "bajo reserva" (under protest), explicitly stating in writing to the administrator that payment is made without prejudice to your ongoing or intended legal challenge and any right to reimbursement.

Does a defective notice void the whole meeting, or just my ability to pay?

A defective notice to one or more owners can be grounds to annul the specific agreement adopted at that meeting — not automatically every other decision taken, though in practice if the notice itself was fundamentally flawed (wrong date, no agenda) it can taint the whole session. Each defect is evaluated on its own facts by the court.

Can the community charge interest or late fees while my challenge is pending?

Yes, if you have simply stopped paying without a court-ordered suspension. The debt continues to accrue exactly as unpaid ordinary fees would, and the community can begin collection proceedings in parallel with your challenge.

Is mediation an alternative to going to court?

The LPH does not require mediation before filing a challenge, but many administrators and community boards are open to a negotiated correction — for example, re-issuing a defective notice and re-voting the assessment — which can resolve the dispute faster and more cheaply than litigation, especially where the underlying works are genuinely needed and only the paperwork was flawed.