By: Ricardo Ceballos

According to numeral 23 of Article 93 of Law 284 of February 14, 2022 on the Horizontal Property Regime, the administrator of the Horizontal Property (P.H.) shall have the obligation to handover to the Board of Directors, once the contractual relationship has ended, all documents pertaining to the administration and those that have been placed under his custody by the latter, which may include Books of Minutes of the Board of Directors and Minutes of the Assembly of Owners, account statements, correspondence, documentation related to bank accounts, keys of the administration office and the property.  Furthermore, all those under its responsibility, for which a Minutes of Handover shall be taken and signed by the administrator and a representative of the Board of Directors.

From the above-mentioned, correspondence is very important documentation that must be handled with security, protecting it from distortion.  It is for this reason that we recommend that the Boards of Directors make use of personalized e-mail accounts for the P.H., as well as that all the equipment used for administration purposes be for their exclusive use. Likewise, a technological equipment shall be used to store all the documentation and keep a backup of the same, which should always remain under the control and supervision of the Board of Directors.

The same would apply for the licenses of the different softwares that are used for the same purposes and that require to be used by the administrator due to his functions, we recommend that those be of exclusive use of the P.H., as, for example, the software for accounting, as well as for any other application, with the objective of having a healthy administration.

To adapt an office in the premises of the P.H. would be ideal, so that all the work or functions of the administrator are carried out within the P.H., in this way the service provided would be more productive and at the same time all the documentation mentioned in numeral 23 of Article 93 would be protected, said documentation should be kept in these offices under the custody of the Board of Directors and the Administrator.

Taking into account the aforementioned suggestions, the Minutes of Handover would be more expeditious and safe, which would end with a process of the contractual relationship to the satisfaction of the parties, even so the drafting of a Minutes of Handover signed by the administrator and the representative of the P.H., would be the most recommendable, in order to evidence that all the documentation that rests in the offices of the P.H. Administration is mentioned in the Minutes and in this way to perfect in a complete way the handover of the administration to another administrator or to the Board of Directors.

Keep in mind that an administrator can be a natural or juridical person, therefore, in case of being a formal company according to the law, that is to say a juridical person, it is important to check that the person who acts in representation of the juridical person or company, is the proper or designated person, since it may be necessary that she/he sign certain documentation, among these, the initial contract to hire the administration service.

For assistance regarding Real Estate in Panama, contact us at consultas@icazalaw.com.