The community of owners' minutes book: obligation, legalisation and loss

Yes. "The resolutions of the owners' meeting shall be recorded in a minutes book certified by the Land Registrar in the manner laid down by regulation" (art. 19.1 of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal). The secretary keeps the minutes books (art. 19.4).

Under art. 19.2, the minutes of each meeting must state, at least:

• The date and place of the meeting.
• Who called the meeting and, where applicable, the owners who promoted it.
• Whether it is ordinary or extraordinary, and whether it was held on first or second call.
• Those attending and their posts, and the owners represented by proxy, with their participation shares.
• The agenda.
• The resolutions adopted and, where relevant to their validity, who voted for and against and with which shares.

The minutes are closed with the signatures of the president and the secretary at the end of the meeting or within the following ten calendar days, and from that moment the resolutions are enforceable, unless the law provides otherwise (art. 19.3). The minutes are sent to the owners following the procedure in art. 9.

1. Step 1

   Go to the building's Land Registry

   The competent office is the Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad) of the district where the building is located (art. 415 of the Reglamento Hipotecario, the Mortgage Regulations).

2. Step 2

   Submit the application

   The application identifies the applicant (who acts on the president's instructions), the community, and the opening and closing dates of the last book, unless it is stated that none has been certified before (art. 415 RH). The Colegio de Registradores (the Spanish Association of Registrars) states that the first book is submitted with an application from the president whose signature has been authenticated by a notary or by the registrar.

3. Step 3

   Bring the book with numbered pages

   Every page must be numbered in indelible characters, and the book can be loose-leaf. It must be certified before it is used (art. 415 RH).

4. Step 4

   Collect it certified

   The registrar certifies it within five days of a properly made application, or fifteen if there is just cause (art. 415 RH).

A new book cannot be certified until it has been shown that the previous one has been used in full (art. 415 RH).

A new one can be certified if the president or the secretary states, under their own responsibility, in a notarial record or before the registrar, that the loss or destruction has been communicated to the community's owners or that the theft has been reported. No new minutes can be entered in the previous book, even if it turns up (art. 415 RH).

Art. 19 of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal and art. 415 of the Reglamento Hipotecario regulate a book certified by the Land Registrar, with numbered pages. We have not found any official rule or decision regulating an electronic minutes book for communities of owners.