Appeals deadline in VvE cases: stay sharp!

Appeals deadline in VvE cases: stay sharp!

In an earlier blog, we wrote about an owner who wanted to build a roof structure. The subdistrict court judge in Rotterdam gave permission for this, but the Court of Appeal of The Hague (ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2024:2205) again put a stop to that. Before the trial court could reach this verdict, however, an important question had to be answered: was the appeal well set in time? Lawyer Myrthe de Vries specializes in litigation and VvE law and discusses the judgment.

Deadline for appeal

The Court of Appeals first had to consider whether the appeal deadline had been met. The first instance judgment was dated December 13, 2022, while the appeal summons was served on March 10, 2023. The usual deadline for appeal is three months, and that deadline was met.

However, Article 5:130(2) of the Civil Code provides that for appeals against an order on the annulment of an association decision a deadline of only one month applies. In the present proceedings, the annulment of a VvE resolution was also sought in the first instance. That request was granted.

Admissibility of VvE

The trial court ruled that the content of the appeal was not ‘clearly’ directed against the annulment of the decision, but only against the substitute authorization issued. The ruling on the substitute authorization is subject to the regular three-month appeal period. The conclusion was that the court could consider the request on appeal. The court was clear: if the appeal did focus on the annulment of the decision, the VvE would have been declared inadmissible as far as that request was concerned because the deadline had been exceeded.

Pay attention to VvE issues

In this case, setting appeal after almost three months, therefore, no problems arise. Nevertheless, things can get complicated when the annulment of a decision affects a substitute authorization. Failure to timely appeal the annulment establishes that the decision violated the requirements of reasonableness and fairness and was annulled on that ground. Although the annulment of a decision is not necessary for the granting of a substitute authorization, it can add unnecessary complexity to the proceedings. This is because the court is bound to find that the earlier decision was unreasonable and unfair.

Two terms: Play it safe!

Our advice: don't make the legal proceedings (which are often exciting enough in themselves) more exciting than necessary. When there are two different deadlines, join the shortest deadline. That way you can be sure you're in the right place. In the unlikely event that you have missed the shortest deadline, it is not necessarily fatal. But, in that case, make sure you are assisted by a specialized VvE lawyer.