Going to court on the association’s behalf: who decides and who pays

Proceedings started without a voted budget and without a strategy stop at the first call for funds. It is the most expensive way to lose.

A contractor executed works badly, an owner has not paid charges for three years, a neighbour refuses to remove an irregular structure. At some point the question arises: should the association go to court?

The subject is less legal than organisational. An action is prepared, voted and funded; a building that skips one of those three steps ends up with proceedings abandoned midway and fees paid for nothing.

Who may act

The association is represented by the manager. They cannot start just any action on their own initiative: they must be authorised by the general meeting, except for certain actions expressly provided for, notably recovering charges.

• Arrears recovery falls under routine management: see the recovery procedure.
• Other actions require a voted authorisation with a precise object.
• An owner may act individually to defend their own unit, but not on the association’s behalf.
• The board has no standing to act: it prepares, it does not represent.

The last point is regularly misunderstood, and it is covered more fully in the board’s role.

Drafting the authorisation properly

This is where most files weaken. A resolution authorising the manager "to take legal action" with no further detail is too vague; one drafted too narrowly forces a fresh vote as soon as the case evolves.

• The object of the action and the party targeted, by name.
• The courts concerned, including on appeal if the meeting so intends.
• The budget allocated, with its funding source.
• The appointment of counsel, or at least a mandate to the manager to choose.

A complete resolution avoids an extra meeting six months later. Same drafting work as for a workable agenda.

The real cost, and who bears it

Litigation costs are association charges, shared under the applicable rules. They include counsel’s fees, court-appointed expert costs — often the heaviest item — and procedural costs.

Two things deserve checking first: does the building policy include legal expenses cover, and on what terms? And are the manager’s fees for following the case inside the standard fee, or billed extra? See the policy’s cover and the manager’s billable extras.

What is decided before the courtroom

A case is won above all on the evidence. A defect documented, photographed, dated and chased in writing makes a file; the same defect recounted from memory three years later weighs nothing.

That is the board’s most useful contribution, and it is prepared years ahead: see the incident log, chasing contractors and works handover.

A case is won with the photographs taken three years earlier, not with the arguments found the month before.

Build the file with CoproHarmony

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