Owner-manager liable for damages of VvE

VvE administrator liable for damages of the VvE

The Rotterdam court ruled in October 2023 that a VvE administrator liable is for damages caused by his actions. The administrator of the association is liable in connection with default. At issue in this case was the administrator's obligation to enter into a new energy supply contract for the CoE at certain rates. He didn't. Instead, he piled mistake upon mistake. At some point, the VvE was done with this, went to court and claimed payment of almost € 150,000. compensation. Lawyer VvE Law Robert van Ewijk discusses in this article how the court dealt with this.

Offer VvE manager collective energy purchase

The administrator had been the administrator of the CoE since 2015. In 2020, the administrator made an offer to the VvE in question to join his collective for purchasing energy. Several VvEs participated in this, and the VvE in question was able to benefit from this. Low rates for gas purchases were offered. The VvE then commissioned a contract, but the administrator did not do so. This was because the supplier (Eneco) indicated that the rates in question were not available to this VvE, because it has a different gas connection. As a result, the VvE had to enter into a more expensive gas supply agreement. It claimed the resulting damages from the administrator.

Court: condominium manager liable because should have known about it

The court ruled that the administrator should have known that the VvE did not qualify for the rates he offered. In addition, according to the court, the VvE administrator had made an unconditional offer. Moreover, he had then left the VvE under the impression that the cost savings had actually been realized. However, this turned out not to be the case.

VvE manager must observe care of good contractor

The court therefore ruled that the VvE administrator was liable. After all, an administrator can be expected to exercise the care of a good contractor when performing his duties. So he had not done that, the Rotterdam court ruled. Therefore, the court found the administrator liable for the VvE's damages.

Estimate damages due to actions of VvE manager

When estimating damages, a comparison is made between the situation as it is now, and the hypothetical situation with the VvE manager's fault ignored. Although the administrator was held liable by the court, it only had to compensate the VvE for a significantly smaller amount. In fact, the VvE claimed over a ton and a half in damages. This was based on the difference between the gas costs offered by the administrator and the gas costs that the VvE expected to have to pay over the next few years. Because the court assumed that in 2021 the VvE would still have had to negotiate new energy rates left or right, only the damages for the year 2020 were awarded. The administrator therefore had to include the legal costs, collection costs and legal interest, pay about € 20,000.- to the VvE. Still a substantial amount, but considerably less than the VvE claimed.

Lawyer liability law real estate & condominiums

This case is a good example of liability of a service provider in the real estate industry. The attorneys at Lexys Law have extensive experience in acting in disputes between clients and contractors in the real estate industry. For example about liability of brokers, liability of the notary or of VvE managers. In doing so, our lawyers act both for the professional (broker, notary, or VvE administrator), or for the party who has suffered damages. Would you like to know more? Then please contact with us.