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May 2012 Newsletter

Below is an article from the Portugal News regarding the current position with regard to Vigia and its filing of applications for Administration in respect of 3 companies within the Group.

This article adds little to the two communications issued by Mark McFadden during the last two weeks, but does emphasise the Administrator’s viewpoint regarding Golf Rights. Golfing rights have been our primary concern and we believe that the reassurance given on this issue is due in no small part to the efforts of all the OAs at Parque da Floresta who have been totally united in their approach to the matter.

Your OA has, in conjunction with all other Vigia Owner’s Associations instructed Neville de Rougemont Lda, based in Lisbon, to act on behalf of our Owners. This followed a recommendation by Celia Ramos (the lawyer QDMOA normally uses) that a single lawyer to represent all Vigia OA’s would maximise the effect. This appears to have worked and, although there are yet no guarantees, this is a major step forward.

The Creditors Assembly is scheduled for the 24th May. We are hopeful that Neville de Rougemont, acting as they now are for all Vigia OA’s including Phases I,II and III, The Golf Village, QDEV, The View and QDM will be in attendance to argue the case for all Vigia owners.

It is also our belief, in the absence of any advice from owners to the contrary, that all aspects regarding title deeds, habitation licences etc are in order in respect of QDM. Unfortunately, we understand this is not the case in respect of other Vigia resorts.

As soon as we have further information following this Assembly we will be in contact.

Finally could I remind all owners, if you have not paid your 2012 OA subscriptions (which will help cover our legal costs) or Reserve Fund contributions to continue maintaining QDM to a high standard now would be a good time to do so.

 

Best Regards

Nigel Chairman QDM Executive Committee.

Fiscal Representation in Portugal

WIth effect from January 2012 it is no longer a legal requirement for non-residents who are European Union citizens to have a designated Fiscal Representative in Portugal.

If you wish to represent yourself in future you will need to officially cancel your existing arrangement at the Financas office in Vila do Bispo. You will have to provide your permanent home address to which the Portuguese tax office will address all future correspondence.

Once you have done this you should be able to access all your Portuguese Fiscal data on the web portal http://www.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/home.action

You may need to ask your previous Fiscal Representative to reset the web password for you if he has previously used this website on your behalf.

Understanding what you pay

Some owners at QDM are justifiably confused over the payments they are asked to make each year. The following should clarify some concerns:

Community and Urbanisation (C&U) Charges

These are each individual “Owners” share of the costs relating to the upkeep of the communal areas of QDM. This is paid to Vigia annually and is needed to cover the costs of maintenance and cleaning of all communal properties (pool, gardens, domestic water pumps, pathways) as well as communal water and electricity charges. The costs of providing security patrols are also met from C&U payments. The C&U budget is agreed annually between Vigia and your Committee and is based on actuals from previous years. In addition the Committee has sought to ensure value for money by securing competitive external quotations that we require Vigia to match. We have been working to achieve agreement on the 2012 C&U budget, with the aim of having agreement on actual costs incurred by the end of May. The ultimate aim is to have C&U charges invoiced quarterly, thus spreading owners’ payments over four payments. For obvious reasons your Committee has rejected Vigia proposals to include a contingency in the budget to cover unforeseen circumstances (such as occurred a few years ago when the domestic water pumping system failed). The preferred solution is the Reserve Fund.

Reserve Funds

This is to cover unbudgeted costs, for example several years ago the replacement of the water pumps for the site. It is controlled by your OA on your behalf.  The cost is €100 per year per household. Although this sum is collected by Vigia, the account cannot be used without the consent of the committee. 2012 Reserve Fund payments are now due.

Sinking Funds

These are the funds maintained by Vigia on behalf of houses in co-ownership to meet the costs of redecoration, replacement furniture, ongoing repairs and maintenance .

All the above funds are ring-fenced and held in accounts in Parque da Floresta LDA. This company has no debts and is not connected to any of the companies currently in Administration .

OA Membership

This is the fee for membership of the QDM Owners Association. The cost is currently €20 per household and funds are held in a Credito Agricola bank account under the control of the OA Committee. These funds meet incidental costs of running the Association on your behalf, and are currently being used to meet the legal costs associated with the actions taken to safeguard owners’ positions during the Administration process. 2012 membership fees are now due.

We encourage all owners to make payment of the above as soon as required, in particular the OA membership and reserve funds which maintain relatively small balances.

Update on A22 tolls

All you need to know can now be found here. Estradas de Portugal, the road management company has announced that drivers of non-Portuguese registered cars will be able to pay for road tolls with bank cards by mid summer. The proposed system will link the car’s registration number with the debit card account and provide a receipt that serves as proof of payment. This follows a series of problems at major crossing points between Portugal and Spain over the Easter holiday season.

Replacement of pool furniture

We are replacing twenty of the most sun-damaged sun beds at the pool. Re-furbishment of the bamboo pagoda is also scheduled to commence shortly.

Security Patrols at QDM

As a result of a decision taken at the March AGM we have suspended payment for security patrols. Reinstatement of the patrols will only be dependent on a solution being offered that will ensure that proper patrols are being carried out. We are anticipating a monitoring system such as a hand held scanner that reads codes at the ends of each level. There will be an additional one inside the pool area compound – preferably either near to the store or the door to the building – this would mean that the guard will have to physically enter the area and not just glance over. Data from the scanners will be used to monitor the patrols and can be exported in Excel (or other formats) if necessary. These logs will be made available to the OA.

We are also proposing the fixing of notices to some of the lamp-posts on each row which will provide details of a 24hr telephone number for security and other emergency issues.

2012 Membership Fees

2012 OA Membership subscriptions are now due. These are needed urgently since all costs incurred in seeking recent legal advice as a result of several Vigia companies going into Administration are being met from Owners Association funds, as will the costs of any future legal action the OA might need to take either as creditors to Vigia or otherwise.

Please make payment of your 2012 fees €20 or £18 IMMEDIATELY to either Martyn Uttley QDM 8, David Murphy at QDM 24 or by post to David Curtis 13 Blackdown Mead, Cheddar, Somerset BS27 3XW.

Your committee can only represent you if you are a paid up member of the Owners Association.

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