claveles doa newsletter issue no 1 v3 for web and email doa newsletter issue no 1 v3 for web and...

Los Claveles DOA Newsletter - July 2018

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be a regularupdate of what is happening at Los Claveles.Thank you for electing me as your President for

the Timeshare Community 1 and the Development OwnersAssociationAs you probably know, the resort is made up of threeentities, Escritura owners, who own the freehold of theirweeks, the Club, where the legal title to these weeks is heldby the Trustees, and the Development Association, whichhas responsibility for the fabric of the resort, the commonareas including pool, gardens, bars, restaurants, reception,maintenance and employment of all the staff.

The aim of this newsletter will be to keep you informed ofDOA matters relating to the resort including news anduseful information for owners.

The ClubExcept where it affects the DOA, I do not intend, as far aspossible, to report on issues related to the unfortunateongoing dispute between the club and WimPen. Howeverwe all need to work together for the benefit of Los Clavelesand I repeat the offer I made at the AGM that I would beopen to an approach from the club chairman to start todevelop a more cooperative relationship.

My RoleWimPen now have a 6 year contract as DOA/Escrituraadministrator and I have a 3 year term as President. I willseek to hold WimPen accountable for the efficientmanagement of our resort as I do with another resort inLanzarote, where I am also President. I will listen to owners’concerns where it is related to the general fabric andrunning of the resort. I would like to hear of yourexperiences at Los Claveles which I will pass on to WimPen.

Once again, thank you for electing me and I look forwardto meeting some of you when I am at the resort.

Roger Barrow

This Newsletter is published by the President DOA and Timeshare Community 1It is independent of WimPen and OnaGrup and views expressed are not necessarily shared by them.

Development Owners'Association


Paying your maintenanceWe appreciate that the current dispute betweenthe club and WimPen gives club owners a dilemma,so how should you pay?

WimPen is the contracted administrators andmanagement company for the DevelopmentOwners Association, and also manage the combinedcommunity account. It is from this account that the runningcosts of the resort are met and wages paid to the staff.

Until the dispute is resolved, to ensure sufficient funds to meet theresorts expenses, and to allow access to your villa, it is important thatclub members maintenance fees are paid to the community account managed by WimPen, notto the club.

There is no dispute between escritura owners and WimPen, so payment arrangements remainunchanged. You should pay at least 6 weeks prior to your occupation date to avoid a latepayment penalty. You can pay online at www.wimpen.com. Payment on arrival will be acceptedonly with cash.

Full details of the accounts can be seen in the 2018 AGM booklet, which is available for downloadon our website.

Financial ReportLos Claveles has seen a significant improvementin its financial health, even while this disputecontinues, and in spite of the huge legal costsauthorised by the club President of nearly€100,000 in 2017 and €116,000 in 2016, thispayment has not been paid yet, but has beenset aside awaiting approval by a full generalmeeting.

As agreed at an earlier AGM, the accounts areaudited every 3 years and in 2017 a full auditwas carried out.

Overall expenses have increased slightly. Therental of the units did not cover themaintenance fee invoiced in full, mainly due tothe difficulty in renting the Studios available,provision of €10,837 had to be provided,covering bad debts in full.

There has been no increase in the managementfee since 2013 and total income has increasedby 9.63%, but more significant is the increase inour surplus, from €61k in 2013 to €106k in 2017.The reserve fund and accumulated surplus nowstands at €925k, more than enough forsubstantial refurbishment.


WimPen

Wimpen are currently the appointed administrator for the Development Owners’ Associationand the Timeshare Community (Escritura). They were given a new 6-year contract at the

recent DOA/Escritura AGM

Although WimPen are now a subsidiary company of OnaGrup, there has been little change inthe team that manage the Canary Island resorts, with many familiar names still in place.

I have worked with WimPen and Onagrup asadministrators of Las Casitas in Lanzarote for thelast few years, where I am also President, andalthough we have the occasional robustdebate, I have established a constructiveworking relationship with them. I believe theyhave owners’ interests at heart.

The Management TeamTaking over from Ivan Pengelly as ManagingDirector of WimPen is Señor Germán Castro.Señor Castro is based in Spain, and isrepresented in the Tenerife Office by AreaCoordinator, Ana Martín. Ivan no longer plays anactive role in the management of WimPen buthas been retained as Community Advisor.Most of you will know José Jimenez OperationsDirector and also as Resort Director at LosClaveles, with Jesús Monedero as CommunitiesFinancial Director. Heading the sales and rentalsteam is Jane Oliphant.The rest of the sales and rental team remain thesame as before and are always available to helpowners.

Meet Ana Martín,Head of WimPen forthe Canary Islands

My name is Ana Martinand I am the Area

Coordinator of WimPen byOnagrup, I have more than 30 years ofexperience in the community of owners at ElMarques in Tenerife, managed by WimPen,of which 17 years I have been the ResortManager.

I have much knowledge about the reality ofthe communities and their needs as well asthe peculiarities of the administration, mypresence in the committee meetings asManager of El Marques has provided mewith a great experience of the Organization.I have a good level of spoken and writtenEnglish most important is my capacity forsolving problems and attention to members.

Owners’ Meetings at the ResortThe Wednesday owners’ meetings were originally set up to provide a social occasion whereowners could get together for a chat and meet each other in a convivial atmosphere over adrink . They were not ‘meetings’as such, but simply a social gathering.

Unfortunately, the whole essence of these meetings has changed into something of abattleground, with a club member appointed ‘chair’ discussing the club/WimPen dispute,setting owner against owner. There has even been some violence and complaints from someowners and guests who did not want to be dfisorbed by such meetings.

For that reason, in the interests of peace and harmony, the resort facilities will no longer bemade available for this kind of meeting. There is of course no reason why owners can’t meet inthe privacy of their villa, or off-site in a local cafe.

The Saturday morning ‘Welcome’ meetings in the Pool Bar continue as before, providing ownersand guests an opportunity to learn more about the resort and anything new.


This is my best effort to provide ansummary of what went on at the meeting

RegistrationAlthough this took a little while, themeeting eventually started on time. Theclub chairman was admitted andallowed to speak, even though his proxyvotes were disallowed, as his votes camefrom a debtor. His attempts to use 4,000club votes were ruled inadmissible as theTrustees hold the legal title to their weeks,not members.

Ivan PengellyInitially, Señor Castro took the chair, advisedthat the meeting would be conducted underSpanish Law and read a letter from IvanPengelly, explaining he was too ill to travel andauthorising Senor Castro to open the meetinghis behalf.

Election of Escritura and DOA President andOwners’ Representative

There were questions about my independence.Señor Castro informed the meeting I am notemployed by WimPen, and for the purpose ofclarity, I can confirm that my role with WimPenProperties Las Casitas as an independentdirector is purely for the safeguarding ofproperties owned by the Las Casitascommunity of owners in my capacity asPresident of that Community. I have no rolewith and am completely independent ofWimPen Leisure Management.

I was elected President by an overwhelmingmajority and Peter Mason was re-electedEscritura Owners’ Representative.

The Accounts

There were some good questions raised on theaccounts, WimPen confirmed they werepaying for the refurbishment of the show house,

so that item will not be included in the budget.There will be no increase in maintenance fees.

The Resorts Director showed photos ofimprovements that have been made to thecommon areas and WimPen gave aninteresting presentation to give an idea of thekind of refurbishment of the villas they envisage.However, owners will be given the choice asthey have in other resorts.

Other mattersThe proposal to increase the chairman’s termto 3 years was and to give WimPen a 6-yearcontract was passed.

The meeting closed after 5½ hours when I tookthe opportunity to thank Mr Pengelly for hislifetime’s work in developing Los Claveles andwishing him a return to good health on behalfof the meeting.

For the future, it is important for the Club, theDOA and the Timeshare community to worktogether, and twice during the meeting Iexplained I would be open to an approachfrom the ckub chairman to try and build acooperative relationship but there was noresponse.

The official minutes will be sent out to escrituraowners and are available for download on thenew DOA website at www.losclaveles.eu.

Roger Barrow

.

Timeshare Community and Development OwnersAssociation Annual General meeting 2018


Claveles Development Owners’ Association Fact File

While I would prefer not to get the DOA or Escritura owners embroiled in the clubdispute with WimPen,. However, it affects everyone and you may have seen thatthe club chairman has recently published a fact file on the owners’ website where

he claims the DOA AGM was invalid, and hecontests my election as President of the DOA andTimeshare Community. He also claims that it is legalrequirement to pay maintenance to the club, eventhough the club cannot provide the service forwhich you are paying.

These are the facts as I see them:

1. While various legal challenges continue, theClub/WimPen dispute is far from over. Thechairman claims it is. If it was over, then therewould be no dispute about payments, thecombined accounts or the arbitration.

2. The rights and wrongs of the legal issues arematters for the club, WimPen, lawyers andcourts to resolve, not us.

3. DOA manage the common parts and employall the staff.

4. In the absence of a resolution to the dispute,and until such time as it is resolved, nothing willchange and the DOA has authorised WimPento collect maintenance payments andrecognises them as Acting Administrators tothe Club.

5. Owners should not follow the Committee’sadvice to reclaim payments made on creditcard. Apart from being illegal, owners will notbe admitted until any debt is fully settled andmay find their membership cancelled.

6. Only owners paying the community will beable to use their RCI points

7. The Community account is a combinedClub/Escritura/DOA account. There is noagreement on when it should be divided, orhow if at all? To do so is an issue before theSpanish courts.

8. The DOA has published full audited accounts.The club has not.

9. Maintenance payments made to theCommunity account contribute to the runningcosts of the resort.

10. Maintenance payments made to theCommunity account gets you unhinderedaccess to your villa.

11. Maintenance payments made to the clubmake no contribution to the resort, so ownersstill need to pay the community.

12. WimPen have a legitimate 6 year contract tobe administrators for DOA and TimeshareCommunity 1.

13. Approaches made to the club chairmansuggesting a collaborative relationshipbetween Club and DOA have beenrejected.

14. Spanish Lawyers have confirmed that theDOA AGM, which was conducted underSpanish law, was legally convened andconducted.

15. Lawyers have also confirmed that myelection as President of DOA and Timesharecommunity 1 is legitimate.

16. Only those who hold legal title to theirtimeshares can vote on DOA matters, ieEscritura owners and the Trustees.


MAJOR CLOSE DOWN WORKS 2018It was a very busy closedown this year with lots of important work being completed. Some of thework was to meet important legal requirements.

Owners will be pleased to learn that some new CCTV cameras have been installed, and alsoseparation for the children's and adult pools. You will also see some big improvements in thegardens next time you visit.

● Re tiling of pathway with non-slip tiles fromVilla 52 to Villa 59 including handrail.

● Repairs and painting of “Ducks Lake”.

● Re-tiling of pathway with non-slip tiles fromVilla 21 to Villa 33 including handrail.

● Re tiling of stairs with non-slip tiles of stairsfrom Villa 29 to pool area.

● Munich System (filtration around with grills)of the small pool.

● Servicing/maintenance of: Fire ProtectionSystem, electricity system and poolmachinery, etc.

● Cleaning and repairs of the septic tank.

● Re-tiling of the pool solarium (improvednon-slip tiles).

● New pool showers (3).

● New WCs including one for disabled plusChanging Room/Pool Attendant Room.

● Trimming some trees and generalenhancement of the gardens.

● New floor for the Mini market, reception,WC and office.

● Painting of Villas (interior).

● Installation of “Water Hoist” to assistdisabled owners to enter/get out of pool.


PROPOSED REFURBISHMENTSAt the AGM we were shown photos of the type and style of villa refurbishment WimPen has in mindfor Los Claveles.

No decision has been made yet, that will be up to owners at a future AGM, but the Manager’shouse is currently being refurbished as a show villa to enable owners to see and make comments.


Views expressed in the newsletter are those of your President and are not necessarily shared by WimPen and OnaGrup.www.losclaveles.eu

Keeping in touchI want to make myself available to Owners. Youcan contact me by private email [email protected] Also please feel free to call me if there isanything about the resort you would like todiscuss.Roger Barrow, President, Los ClavelesDevelopment Owners Association and TimeshareCommunity 1email: [email protected] or text: 0796 222 4554

Other contacts:Escritura Owners Representative,Peter Mason:email [email protected]: phone: 0034 922 741 824email: [email protected] Claveles reception:Phone: +34 922 79 48 64Email: [email protected] Website: www.losclaveles.eu

Notes and NewsResalesThere a selection of villas for sale from theresale programme, including villas with pricesreduced by owners for quick sale. ContactSteve in the sales office for more information.

Renting an extra weekRental rates for owners wishing to rent someextra time offer very good value, and unlikeother resorts, have not been increased in pricesince 2015

Letting your weeksCan’t use your weeks this year? As long as youpay your maintenance in time, you canconsider putting your weeks into the lettingProgramme. While there is no guarantee theweeks will be let, the Administrators have a veryprofessional rental marketing programme andthere is not only a good chance your letting willbe successful, but also a chance you will makea modest profit.

Contact the Administrators to find out moreabout renting and letting.

The happy Los Claveles team proudly showing off their latest RCI Gold awardwith José Jimenez, Resort Director in the centre

claveles doa newsletter issue no 1 v3 for web and email doa newsletter issue no 1 v3 for web and...

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