CONDOMINIUM ADMINISTRATION IN MALTA: QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Money & Payments
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1. Whose money is the condominium's money, and who can spend it?
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The money belongs to all the owners together, and it is spent only on their building: cleaning, the lift, electricity for the common parts, repairs, insurance, the administrator's fees, bank charges and the building's other running expenses. Each condominium's money is recorded and accounted for separately, and the administrator presents the accounts to the owners. A new condominium's own bank account follows a fixed sequence: the administration agreement is signed, the condominium is registered, and only then can the bank's own opening process begin, which alone takes three to four months at minimum, so in practice around six months pass before the account is fully open. Until then, the building's funds are held in a client account, with every movement recorded separately in that building's accounts. The administrator is not a bank: money must come in from the owners before anything can be paid out. Everyday costs sit within the yearly budget. If something urgent threatens the building, the administrator acts at once, as the law allows. Big planned works are decided by the owners at the meeting and paid with the money the owners put in.
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2. Can I see the accounts and the receipts?
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Yes. The law says the administrator must present the accounts, and the owners approve them at the yearly meeting. MG Administrators makes this easier than the law asks: an online portal, open day and night, where owners follow their building's account, keeping in mind that very recent movements can take some days to appear. An owner who wants to see the paper file can do so at the office, during office hours, by appointment. One limit protects everybody: personal data, such as private email addresses, telephone numbers and personal correspondence, stays protected.
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3. Do the building's expenses need VAT documents?
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Where the law requires it, yes: companies registered for VAT must issue the proper document, a tax invoice or a fiscal receipt. Some services carry no VAT by law, and some small suppliers are not VAT-registered; their paperwork is different, and that is normal. What matters for the building is that the documents are made out to the condominium, not to the administrator's own company, so it is always clear the expense belongs to the building. Everything goes in the condominium's file.
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4. Must the administrator present accounts every year?
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Yes. The owners must meet at least once a year. At that meeting they approve the accounts of the past year and the budget for the next one, and the administrator presents the accounts as the law and the meeting establish. Approval works both ways: once the budget is approved, the contributions that come from it are due from every owner.
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5. What happens when an owner does not pay?
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Contributions bind every owner, also the owners who voted no, also the owners who did not come to the meeting. There is no opt-out, because every unpaid share falls on the neighbours who did pay. Collection starts in writing: a statement, then reminders. If the money still does not come, it goes up step by step, as the law and the building's own rules provide: the debt can be referred to Creditinfo, Malta's credit information agency, and it can go up to court or arbitration. Where the rules or the meeting provide for late-payment charges, interest or recovery costs, the owner in default pays them.
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6. Where do late-payment charges come from?
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Late-payment charges exist where the building's registered rules created them, the owners decided them at the meeting, or the administration agreement of the administrators provides for them. Under the Condominium Act, contributions bind every owner, and the law allows the real cost of late payment to be recovered. Recovery has its own steps and its own costs: reminders, administrative fees, referral to Creditinfo, and where needed legal action, with the recovery costs charged to the owner in default where the rules provide. The charges touch only the owner who pays late; owners who pay on time never pay them. In practice, not paying always ends up costing much more than paying on time.
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7. My neighbours aren't paying, so why should I?
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Because your contribution is yours: the law binds every owner separately, and another owner's debt does not cancel yours. If everyone waited for everyone, the building would stop: no cleaning, no lift, no lights, no insurance. The non-payer is chased through the proper steps, and where the rules provide, he carries the recovery costs too. Not paying in protest does not punish the debtor; it only creates a second debtor.
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8. Who pays the lawyer when the building chases a debt?
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First the building's fund pays, because the administrator is not a bank and does not pay from its own pocket. If the fund is not enough, the owners may be asked to top it up so the action can start. Then, where the rules provide, the legal costs and interest are charged to the owner in default, so the money, or part of it, returns to the building. For very small debts, the meeting decides whether legal action is worth its own cost. And one thing is worth saying plainly: refusing to pay as a matter of principle does not exist in a condominium. Whether an owner does not want to pay or cannot pay, the debt stands, and the ones punished are all the other condomini, yourself included.
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9. I have a question about one item on my bill. Can I stop paying everything?
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No. Ask the question in writing, and it is answered in writing, but the contribution approved at the meeting stays due meanwhile, because the meeting's decisions bind every owner. Holding back the whole payment over one line makes a hole in the building's fund, and the neighbours feel it. One item in question; everything else stays due.
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10. Can the building's money be lent or advanced for a private problem?
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No. The building's fund is not a credit line: it exists only for the common parts of that building. It cannot lend to an owner, pay for private repairs, or advance money for a personal problem. If, in a true emergency, funds are ever used to stop active damage to the common parts, it is temporary and conditional: the money is recovered from whoever is responsible. The fund always comes back whole.
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Meetings, Decisions & the Administrator
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11. What are the meeting minutes for?
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The minutes are the building's memory. They record what the owners decided at each meeting, and those decisions bind every owner, also those who voted no and those who did not attend. An owner who considers a decision unlawful or unjust has thirty days from being notified to contest it through arbitration; after that, the decision stands. The minutes stay on file with the building's records and pass to the new administrator whenever the administrator changes.
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12. What is the difference between an AGM and an EGM?
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The AGM, the Annual General Meeting, is the ordinary yearly meeting of the owners: there the accounts of the past year are approved, the budget for the next year is set, and the year's decisions are taken. An EGM, an Extraordinary General Meeting, is an additional meeting called when a matter cannot wait for the next AGM: urgent works, an important decision, a change that needs the owners' vote now. Both meetings are convened with proper notice, both are minuted, and the decisions of both bind every owner. Organising and minuting meetings is part of the administration service, and where the administration agreement approved by the owners provides a fee for additional meetings, that fee applies as agreed.
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13. Who decides: the owners or the administrator?
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The owners decide, together, at the meeting. One owner alone cannot decide for the building, and one owner alone cannot give orders to the administrator. The administrator carries out what the meeting decided and what the owners have paid for: a decision with no money behind it cannot be carried out. The exceptions are clearly defined: day-to-day administration and the care of the common parts are the administrator's normal work; the administration agreement and the administrator's company policy set how that work is done; and in an emergency the administrator can act at once to protect the building, as the law allows. And one thing stands above every vote: the law. No meeting can vote to skip a legal duty.
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14. Can we manage the building ourselves, without a professional administrator?
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Where a building has more than three owners (condomini), the law requires an administrator, and the owners may appoint one of themselves. The duties do not shrink: the registers and the accounts, the meetings and the notices with the right notice periods, collecting contributions and chasing the owners who do not pay, the lift and its inspections, the insurance, every document on file, and keeping up with laws and regulations that change and take real time to follow. In practice there are three roads: an administration company, which works with a team, systems and continuity when someone is away; a sole practitioner, where one person carries everything alone; and self-administration, where one of the owners carries it all next to their own job and life. The honest question to answer before choosing is simple: who has the time, the people and the knowledge, every week of the year.
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15. Which documents must be kept?
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The meeting minutes, the accounts with their documents and receipts, the contracts, the insurance papers and the building's correspondence. A proper administrator keeps the whole file, complete and in order. The file belongs to the building, not to the administrator, old or new. When the administrator changes, the file is handed over. Whole.
16. Why would an administrator resign from a building?
An administrator can only work with what the owners provide: their decisions and their funds. When contributions are not paid, there is nothing to pay the cleaners, the lift company, the electricity, the insurance. When needed decisions are not taken, nothing can move. Administration runs on the owners' funds and the owners' decisions; it cannot run without them. So when proper administration becomes impossible, an administrator may resign. Even then, things stay orderly: the outgoing administrator handles ordinary day-to-day matters until a new one is appointed, and hands over the file. And what is owed to the building stays owed. Resignation cancels no debts.
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17. When must a building appoint an administrator?
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Where there are more than three owners (condomini), the building must appoint an administrator at the meeting; if the meeting cannot agree, any owner can go to arbitration, and the arbitrator appoints one. With three owners or fewer, they may run the building together themselves, unless they agree otherwise. Unless decided differently, the appointment lasts two years. Every appointment is notified to the Land Registry within fifteen days, and the register is public: it can be consulted on the Land Registration Agency's website at lra.mt/condominium-registry.
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18. How do we change administrator?
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At the meeting, by the bigger majority: at least two-thirds of the units represented at the meeting. The change is notified to the Land Registry, and it happens in order: the outgoing administrator continues ordinary matters until the new one is appointed, then hands over the whole file. Two things never change with the administrator: decisions already taken by the owners still stand, and money owed to the building is still owed.
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19. We pay the administrator. So does the administrator work for me?
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The administrator works for the condominium: all the owners together, as one body. The meeting appoints; the administrator executes the meeting's decisions and applies the same rules to every owner. No single owner is the boss, not the loudest one, and not the biggest one either. Every owner has the same rights: to be answered, to see the building's accounts, to vote at the meeting. An owner who disagrees raises it there, at the meeting, where the building decides.
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Works, Repairs & the Lift
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20. Does our lift have to be registered?
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Yes. Every condominium lift in Malta must be registered with the MCCAA, and a responsible person must be named to the authority. The lift keeps its papers and a logbook of every repair and check. If works required by the inspection or the engineer are not carried out, the lift can be switched off until the building complies, for everyone's safety. When the building has an administrator, the administrator normally carries this for the owners. When there is no administrator, the law does not stop: all the owners carry these duties together, personally.
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21. Who pays to keep the lift safe, and what if owners don't want to pay?
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All the owners pay, because the lift belongs to all the owners; the law says so. The lift must be maintained and must pass regular inspections by an authorised inspection body, and works listed by an inspection must be done within the time given. This is a safety duty, not a choice: the meeting decides how, which quotes and which company, never whether. The administrator can order the works only when the owners' money is there, because the administrator is not a bank. And one Malta reality is worth knowing: lift engineers, inspectors and specialist technicians are few and heavily booked, and many parts come from abroad, so waiting times can be long. Those timelines sit with the lift companies and the suppliers, outside the administrator's control; the administrator's part is to instruct, chase and keep the owners informed. An owner who does not pay his share is responsible for what follows: the delay, the risk, and a lift that can be stopped from use until the building complies.
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22. Who cleans the building, and why is it not always clean?
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Cleaning is a service the owners pay for, carried out by whoever the association decides: an external cleaning company, the administration company's own cleaning staff, or other appointed cleaners. It happens at the frequency the owners' budget pays for; once a week means once a week. And a fair comparison explains a lot: a private apartment is used by a few people, usually without shoes, and cleaned weekly it stays clean; a common stairwell carries tens of people every day, in street shoes, with dust coming in from outside, so the same weekly clean cannot give the same result. A building that wants more needs more visits, and that is a budget decision for the owners at the meeting. Between one visit and the next, the state of the building depends on the people who live in it and use it.
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23. What does the administrator do, and what can the administrator not do?
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The administrator manages. That means: executing the meeting's decisions, managing the building's funds and presenting the accounts, collecting contributions and chasing arrears, obtaining quotes and coordinating the companies that do the works, keeping the file and the registers, arranging the agreed insurance, handling the lift's registration and inspections, answering owners in writing, and acting at once in an emergency to protect the common parts. What the administrator is not: the cleaning company, the lift company, the plumber, the electrician or the builder; those works are done by third-party companies paid with the building's funds. What the administrator cannot do: pay from its own pocket or spend money the owners have not provided; overturn or skip the meeting's decisions; act inside private property; force a third-party contractor to attend immediately; share other people's personal data; or manage private disputes between individual owners. Knowing both halves saves everyone time: the right request, to the right address, gets the fastest answer.
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24. A leak comes from a private pipe. Who fixes it and who pays?
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The law draws the line clearly: pipes and installations are common up to the point where they branch off into each private unit; from that point, they are private property. A private pipe is fixed and paid by its owner. When the source is not clear, the first step belongs to the person affected: a technician, usually a plumber, inspects and states in writing where the water comes from. If the written report shows the source is in the common parts, the administrator takes it from there. If the source is private, the repair is private. A leak between two private units is a matter between those owners and, where relevant, their insurers; it is not a condominium matter. The administrator may help at the beginning, for example by passing contact details with the owners' permission, but does not manage private repairs between owners. And if a private leak damages the common parts, that damage is paid by the owner responsible, not by the building.
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25. Who pays for damage caused to the common parts?
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Where damage to the common parts comes from a private unit, the condominium deals with the owner of that unit. This also applies where the immediate damage was caused by the owner's tenant, guest or privately appointed contractor; the owner may then seek recovery from the person responsible or from the applicable insurer. Responsibility must be supported by sufficient evidence. If an urgent repair is required, the condominium may initially pay and then seek recovery from the owner concerned. This is also why appropriate common-parts and private-property insurance is important.
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26. The contractor came but fixed only part of the wall. Why didn't they finish the job?
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Because works follow the approved scope: exactly what the owners decided and paid for, no more and no less. If the owners approved fixing one section of wall, that section is fixed; full plastering, painting and extras are a new decision, with a new quote and new money, approved by the owners. This protects everyone: nobody's money is spent on works that were never approved. Want the full job done? The road is the meeting: propose it, price it, approve it, and then it happens.
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27. Why do we need a perit for the works in our block? Isn't the administrator enough?
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Two different jobs. The administrator manages: money, documents, decisions, coordination. The perit (architect or engineer) judges the technical side: what the structure needs, whether the works are done correctly, whether a price makes technical sense. When a block needs works of a certain size, the owners appoint a perit, and technical questions are answered by the perit. The administrator's part is to challenge the costs on the owners' behalf, keep the papers straight, and bring everything back to the owners to decide. Paying for expertise is not a luxury; it is how a block avoids expensive mistakes.
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28. What can the administrator do in an emergency?
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When something threatens the common parts, such as water coming in or a danger to safety, the administrator can act at once to protect the building; the law allows this. Two limits still stand: emergency work is still paid from the building's funds, because the administrator is not a bank, and a private emergency inside a private unit belongs to its owner. An owner who spends money on the building without written authorisation has no right to be paid back, unless the expense was truly urgent; ask in writing first. The numbers to keep. Danger to life: 112, always first. Power cuts and urgent electrical faults: Enemalta, 24/7, on 8000 2224 (Enemalta also publishes 8007 2224 for its 24/7 customer care). No water, water leaks or drainage overflows: Water Services Corporation, 24/7 freephone 8007 6400. Emergencies on the common parts of a building administered by MG Administrators: emergency line +356 9931 0556.
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29. Why can a repair take longer than expected?
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A repair may require an inspection, confirmation of responsibility, quotations, owner approval, available funds, access, permits, a specialist technician or imported parts. Independent third-party contractors and technicians carry out the works. The administrator coordinates and follows up but is not the cleaning company, lift company, plumber, electrician, builder or technical contractor. The administrator cannot force a third-party contractor to attend immediately, manufacture unavailable parts or guarantee a completion date controlled by another company.
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30. Who chooses the contractor, and may owners submit quotations?
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Routine or low-value work may be arranged by the administrator where it is covered by the approved budget and sufficient condominium funds are available. Major or extraordinary work is normally referred to the owners for approval. Owners are encouraged to submit suitable written quotations; a proper quotation should clearly state the contractor, the detailed scope, VAT where applicable, the total price, the timing, the payment terms and any warranty. In a genuine emergency, the administrator may instruct urgent low-value work where funds are available and the expenditure falls within the administrator's legal and contractual authority; the action taken must be reasonable in relation to the seriousness of the emergency. Where the cost exceeds that authority or funds are unavailable, the owners must approve and provide the required money before additional work can proceed. An owner should not privately appoint a contractor and expect automatic reimbursement without prior authority.
 
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Living in the Block
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31. Someone is parking on the common parts and blocking access. What can be done?
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Report the vehicle with a photograph, registration number, date, time and exact location. If the owner is known, the administrator may contact them or issue a notice. If the owner is unknown, the person affected may contact the Police or LESA, who may be able to identify and contact the registered owner and ask for the vehicle to be moved. Police or enforcement assistance cannot be guaranteed, particularly where the vehicle is on private property. The administrator may also circulate a general notice, record repeated incidents or ask the owners to approve signs, markings, bollards, barriers or access controls. The administrator cannot personally identify the registered owner, patrol the building continuously or move, clamp or tow a vehicle without proper legal authority. Call 112 where a vehicle creates immediate danger or obstructs emergency access.
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32. Are balconies common parts?
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Normally a balcony belongs to the unit it serves; the Act's list of common parts does not mention balconies, while the structure it stands on is common. The final answer is in the papers: the title deed of each unit and any registered rules. If the deeds say otherwise, the deeds win. Check before buying, and before any works.
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33. The main door gets left open and the entrance code gets around. Whose problem is it?
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Everybody's. A door protects only the people who close it; a code protects only the people who keep it private. The administrator can remind, send notices, and propose hardware: a door closer, a new code, a better system. But hardware costs money, and money is the owners' decision at the meeting. Between one meeting and the next, security is a habit: close the door, keep the code inside the building, and tell your tenants the same.
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34. The problem is on the street outside. Can the administrator handle it?
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The administrator's territory is the building's common parts. The street outside is public; it belongs to the local council and the authorities. Rubbish left on the pavement, cars on the public road, broken street lighting: these go to the local council, the enforcement agency, or the police. What the administrator can do is point the report the right way, and deal with everything on the building's own side of the door.
 
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Privacy, Documents & Insurance
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35. I'm buying an apartment. Can I see the seller's condominium account?
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Not directly: an owner's account is personal information, protected by data-protection law. The road is simple and standard: the registered owner asks for the statement, or authorises the notary in writing to ask for it, and the statement is issued for the deed. This is not an obstacle; it is protection. The same wall will protect you from the day you become the owner.
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36. Can owners see which units have unpaid condominium contributions?
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Yes. Entitled owners may receive the arrears information needed to understand the condominium's financial position or decide how recovery should proceed. This may include the unit number, the amount invoiced, the amount paid and the outstanding balance. The information may be provided through the AGM, the approved accounts, the client portal or another controlled records-access procedure. The information is not public. Private reasons for non-payment, personal correspondence, bank details and unnecessary contact information may remain protected, unless the owner authorises disclosure or disclosure is otherwise legally required or justified. Only information reasonably necessary for managing the condominium and recovering arrears should be shared.
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37. Can I install a camera or a video doorbell that sees the corridor?
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Not on your own. The corridor is a common part; it belongs to all the owners, so a camera watching it needs the owners' approval at the meeting. Data protection adds a second rule: the moment a camera sees more than your own door, it films other people's lives, and a neighbour's entrance is their private life. Malta's data-protection authority has already ruled against cameras installed in blocks without the owners' authorisation. A private need, such as a business, a licence or a rental, does not override the building's rules or privacy law. First the meeting, then the camera. Never the other way round.
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38. Who can watch the building's CCTV, and can the footage be shared?
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Only the person or persons the owners appointed for it, nobody else. Footage is not passed around, not posted, not shown to prove a point between neighbours: data-protection law protects everyone filmed, including people we are annoyed with. Recordings are kept only for a short time, as the rules require. When something serious happens, the footage goes to the police or the competent authority, through the proper channel. Cameras protect the building; the rules around them protect the people.
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39. Is common-parts insurance required?
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Official Land Registration Agency guidance recognises building insurance as part of proper condominium administration where the owners agree to arrange it. Appropriate insurance is strongly advisable, because serious damage to the common parts can otherwise leave the owners personally funding repairs and third-party claims. For clients of MG Administrators LTD, suitable common-parts insurance is required under the applicable administration agreement. The owners must approve and fund the policy and review the insured risks, the sums insured, the exclusions, the excesses and the conditions. Common-parts insurance does not replace an owner's personal insurance for the apartment, the contents, private improvements, landlord risks or private liability. MG Administrators LTD is an authorised Tied Insurance Intermediary for Atlas Insurance PCC Limited. The insurer, not MG Administrators LTD, decides whether to accept a risk or pay a claim.
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40. Can I have a copy of the condominium agreement I signed?
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Yes. Always. A person who signed a document has the right to receive a copy of it; data protection protects other people's private information, it never blocks you from your own signature. The agreement is available on the building's online portal; an owner can also ask in writing, and the copy is provided. What stays protected is other people's personal information, not the agreement you are part of.
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41. What can I always ask for, and what stays private?
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Always yours to receive: a copy of anything you signed, your own statement of account, your building's approved accounts and budget, the decisions of the meetings, and the building's registered rules. Always private: other people's personal data, private correspondence, and the personal reasons behind another owner's matters. Everything travels in writing: asked in writing, answered in writing, on file. Fair use applies too: the portal first, then the office file, and where the administration agreement approved by the owners sets an administrative fee for repeated copies of the same document, that fee is agreed in advance, never a surprise.
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42. What is the correct way to report a matter to MG Administrators LTD?
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For routine accounts, documents and maintenance matters, use the client portal or official email. Include the condominium address, the unit number, the exact location, a clear description, the date, and relevant photographs or documents. Continue in the same email or portal thread rather than reporting the same matter repeatedly through several channels. For an urgent common-parts matter, send an email first with the address, the details and photographs where possible, and immediately afterwards call the MG Administrators LTD emergency line on +356 9931 0556: the email gives the administrator a written record and evidence, and the telephone call alerts the administrator that the written report is urgent. For immediate danger, first call 112 or the appropriate specialist service. Private leaks require a plumber, private electrical faults require an electrician, and lift faults require the lift maintenance provider; after contacting the correct emergency or technical service, notify MG Administrators LTD by email and telephone where the common parts are affected. The emergency line is not for routine cleaning, account questions, parking disagreements, ordinary contractor delays or non-urgent maintenance.
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43. Why do disagreements happen between owners and administrators?
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Because the administrator's role includes duties that some individual owners disagree with. The administrator collects contributions, applies the decisions taken by the majority at the meeting, refuses expenses that fall outside the common parts or outside the approved budget, and cannot spend money that the owners have not provided. In a building with many owners there are always different views on how much to spend, what is urgent, and who should pay. An owner who wanted a different outcome may be dissatisfied even where the administrator applied the law and the meeting's decision correctly. This is why decisions, accounts and instructions are kept in writing: so that what was decided, and by whom, can always be checked afterwards.
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44. How should owners and the administration speak to each other?
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With respect, in both directions. Our team treats every owner with respect, and expects the same. Disagreement is normal and welcome: strong words about a decision, a cost or a delay are part of the job. Shouting, insults, threats and aggression are not. On these, our approach is zero tolerance, the same standard applied in clinics, hospitals and public offices across Malta. Where a message crosses that line, the message itself receives no reply, but the matter it concerns is still answered, in writing, and kept on record. Nothing about your block is ever left unanswered because of how it was said.
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45. How is a disagreement with the administration handled?
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In writing, and step by step. The owner sets out the matter in writing, through the client portal or by email, and receives a written answer. If the matter concerns a decision of the owners rather than the administration of it, it belongs to the meeting, where the owners decide. If it concerns the interpretation of the law or of the condominium rules, the Condominium Act provides for arbitration, and an owner who considers a decision unlawful or unjust has thirty days from being notified to contest it that way. Keeping everything in writing protects both sides: what was asked, what was answered and what was decided can always be checked afterwards.
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