Well, we had a little excitement around here, yesterday, with a visit from the CFE. They had gotten to our building with their program to swap electric meters to a new, digital model. At the same time, they were taking advantage of the opportunity to do a detailed check for theft of services! Well, they hit pay dirt at our building. One of the apparently biggest offenders was keenly interested in what was going on and stuck around for over an hour, watching, as they checked his meter, took notes, and made photos of it. Then, like the police would do, they wrote a report of their findings, asked him for positive ID, and had him sign their report before giving him a copy. [Although this guy thinks he must keep his high school aged kids in one of the most expensive private schools in town, and maintain three cars, which he has washed every morning, he apparently doesn't believe in paying for electricity or paying condo fees- on which he's currently over 50,000 pesos behind.] Well, having just bought the condo we live in, and having heard the story one of the posters told about having to cough up big dough because a prior tenant had been stealing electricity, I was relieved when they gave our meter a "clean bill of health"! (I hadn't even thought to ask the CFE to do a check on it at the time we were working out the details of the purchase: had there been a claim, the prior owner would have had to settle it before we closed- just one more thing we didn't consider. This is something that should be on any checklist for things to do when buying property here.) ___________________________ On a related subject, people continue to amaze me how much electricity they can use in their homes. You know how cool it was last night, yet the new meters showed electricity consumption, in the twenty hours since they were installed, of as much as 42 KWH! There were several which now read in the high twenties and low thirties of KWH consumed. Ours was just 4 KWH, which is what I would have expected, with our use of fans, laptops and lights, and the refrigerator running, over that period.
Good report V. So you live near Mr. Bigshot. Does the non-payment of the associatin fees affect the quality of life of the other residents? A good friend sort of administrates where they live, in a 5 unit development, and when one owner didn't pay, they turned off all the outside lighting except by the pool. Apparently there were only two families using the pool with children. And I believe the yard outside the offender's unit stopped getting mowed. It would be interesting to get the real story on how associations can deal with non paying owners. In Florida, the association can get a lien, including attorney's fees, on the property, and if they remain unpaid, can be foreclosed on. They have it pretty down pat, in Florida anyway as to how the docs are worded. It is possible that properly recorded mortgages can be wiped out by the foreclosure and in other cases the mortgages survive, provided they were recorded in the public records (like RPP) prior to the recording of the liens were recorded. In the former case, typically the mortgages provide that delinquent HOA and Condo dues (& property taxes) are items that can put the mortgage in default. This puts the onus on the lender to pay the dues and then recover them from the borrower/owner. I wish we had a real estate attorney who frequented this forum. Pity those of us who live in 3 unit buildings where no one wants to pay for anything.
This is the main reason we moved from our old place to where we are now. There seems to be a very prevalent attitude here of "why should I pay if I don't have to, and no one is going to make me?" At our previous place there were 22 houses and each had to pay $115 USD a month for upkeep and maintenance of communal areas. Eventually we learnt that only 14 of the 22 properties paid on time like us and the other 8 never paid anything and many of those hadnt paid for years. Instead of the pool being cleaned daily it became twice a week, instead of the gardener coming daily it became twice a week. One security guard was let go and the others had to work longer hours to compensate. Outdoor lighting broke and was never replaced, the communal palapa was damaged during Wilma and never repaired so it leaked. The pest control guy stopped coming and the drains were full of cockroaches. With the deterioration in maintenance even more people stopped paying because they weren't receiving what they were paying for. We suggested a name and shame list to be put on the gate of all the non payers, but oh no, we cant do that "it would embarrass people". The administration didn't seem to have any inclination to set about recovering the debt, instead they put the maintenance fee up! So the few that were left paying paid even more and those that didn't pay, still didnt pay. That's when we decided enough was enough and left. No more conjuntos for us.
T.J., at our condo the administrator is very active, and regularly updates a list, posted in a highly visible location, giving apt numbers, names, and total delinquent for each nonpaying owner. Hot water is supplied in common, at our place, and those who are delinquent have theirs turned off. Our place is being well maintained, but nonpayment does result in higher fees than would otherwise be necessary, I´m sure. Further, our administrator is concerned about what will happen when some systems age, and require replacement, such as the elevator. Our administrator is currently pursuing information about what he will need to get together in order to bring a legal action against the worst offenders. My lawyer has said that a lawfully formed condo association can bring a legal action and, once a judgment is obtained, collect the money, including by forced sale if necessary; but, she said many condo associations don´t keep records of payments and skipped payments that will hold up in court and that if the condo association doesn´t go through the proper steps to secure authorization to bring the action the whole process can come to naught (our condo rules require a super majority of owners voting in favor of bringing a legal action, for example).
V - I'm glad everything worked out with you as far as your meters go!!! We never would have thought of checking in the past either...Never again!!! Our first place in Cancun had 5 units, and 3 of them were owned by super rich Mexicans as ONE of their vacation homes in the area. They didn't rent them out, and they had a maid come and clean them a few times a week.... However when it came to maintenance and paying the fees? Never. They were always late, and our gardener who worked his butt off had a hard time getting paid. Hubby ended up paying him every single time and it was getting to be ridiculous that we moved (one of the many reasons). A very wealthy family from DF owned the 3 units and the one we were in. It bothered me that they could care less about the welfare of the gardener and his family. The place we are in now is much more organized, and as far as I know there are no issues with payments. Everything runs smoothly and things are clean, clean, and clean!!!
Another visit Well, it looks like the CFE has now gone a little further in dealing with the individual I mentioned earlier: whereas they had put his meter back, initially, after regulating it and sealing it, they have now removed it, and cut off the power to his unit after attaching a sticker, in red and yellow, and which acts as a seal, to the effect that it is a federal crime to remove the sticker. (Unlike the ones they usually put on meters, this one does not mention debt of any kind.) ____________________________
Just in the last two days, we've seen evidence of perhaps the main reason the CFE is switching to digital meters- "remote" disconnect! They no longer have to physically visit the premises to deny services, they can switch off the current in their offices! Two apts where I live have lost service in this way, for nonpayment of bills, without the CFE even having to come out. I expect this will mean faster disconnects for nonpayment than has been the case in the past. Now, if they can just figure out how to stop theft of service, remotely, we'll be getting somewhere. With digital meters, they should be able to detect when more current is flowing to a territory than is being metered to customers, allowing them to move more quickly to put a stop to it. I read recently that CFE files criminal complaints for theft of service, and some are arrested, then released upon payment of the sums assessed. (It is worth noting that the "F" in CFE stands for Federal!) ____________________ Many in Cancun seem to pay monthly fees to employees of the CFE to "fiddle with" their meter so that it shows far less consumption than is actually taking place: I watched an inspector open a meter- one of the old style, with a wheel, rather than the new digital ones, which are said to be tamper proof (is anything?)- see that the meter had been tampered with, write a report of the incident, then summon the owner. The owner was asked to produce ID, and sign the statement about what had been found. That owner has not had electrical service since, so large was the sum said to be due. He is now "buying" electricity from his next door neighbor, and running the very large extra expense that entails, running two households through a single meter. Sooner or later, someone will not be able to pay, and both will end up without electrical service. Funny place, this.... _______________________
V, you may have missed a post I made where I noticed my meter was not turning, but service was normal. I reported it in writing and hand delivered an original and a copy. Got the copy signed and time and date stamped. It only took them 3 weeks to get it spinning again. Too bad I was out of town for 12 days during the 3 weeks. Thanks anyway CFE.
There was a newspaper article in Novedades, recently, that talked about how pervasive was the problem of theft of electricity, here. This must be a great contributor to the high cost of electricity- for those who actually pay for it- compared to the cost in the U.S. CFE likes to claim it's a "World Class Enterprise", but until it puts a stop to rampant theft of service, the claim will ring hollow. Until then, we can do our part by reporting cases of theft of electricity that come to our attention (and, no T.J., I'm not talking about what happened to you...).
