It's already late in the evening. The WEG manager is on the way home - exhausted after a day's work, which ended with an owners' meeting. It was the annual highlight for the owners and the manager and at the same time the end of a financial year.

The administrator/property manager looks after the property on behalf of the owners or a community of owners. His “corset” is the management contract and German legislation (including WEG and BGB). Professional competence and communicative talent are of crucial importance. It is a mixture of empathy, eloquence, social and professional skills that make a good property manager. A homeowners association (WEG) is only ideally a community. Here we are dealing with people who couldn't be more different. Long-time WEG administrators also like to describe the ability to de-escalate as their supreme discipline.

The WAY

Almost all property management companies on the market manage homeowners' associations (WEG). The common property includes the property as well as parts, systems and facilities of a building that are used jointly by the WEG and are not separate or residential property. In the WEG administration, the administrator is the necessary body of the WEG according to Section 9b of the Condominium Act, who represents it externally. The tasks and powers of the administrator are defined in Section 27 WEG. According to this, the manager is entitled and obliged to the community of apartment owners to take measures of proper administration that are of minor importance and do not lead to significant obligations that are necessary to meet a deadline or to avoid a disadvantage. According to Section 27 Paragraph 2 WEG, the apartment owners can limit or expand the rights and obligations according to Paragraph 1 by resolution.

Diverse tasks

The WEG administrator handles comprehensive commercial tasks, including:

Creation and review of business plans
Billing, including invoice control and document verification
Accounting and auditing of all money in and out
Debt collection, liquidation planning, profitability, accountability to owners
Management and scheduling of financial transactions, processing of direct debits
Housekeeping billing including monthly debits and reminders in the event of late payment
Management of current, fixed-term deposits and savings accounts
Arrangement or creation of heating cost bills
Calculating and requesting special surcharges
Regulation of personnel matters for employees of the WEG (caretakers, waste disposal officers, administrative advisors), including salary payments, payroll bookings and payments of income tax, social security contributions, reporting to the tax office, health insurance, social security institutions, etc.
Participate in home sales

Legal tasks are also part of the everyday work of a WEG administrator, such as:

Legal representation of the community of owners
Observe all legal framework conditions and regulations (including general terms and conditions, WEG, BGB, state building regulations, operational safety regulations, heating costs regulations, heating system and fire system regulations)
Negotiating with authorities and obtaining public permits
Conclusion and review of contracts (insurance contracts, maintenance contracts)
Initiate legal action in the event of late payments
Participation in court appointments, appeals against decisions, lawsuits for house payments,
Representation at/with lawyers and in court
Legal services in accordance with Section 5 of the Legal Services Act
Application of current legal changes and case law to the WEG
Negotiation and conclusion of maintenance contracts

Organizational skills also benefit the WEG administrator, for example in:

Correspondence with owners and tenants of rented condominiums
Organization and implementation of the owners' meeting, including scheduling, agenda, minutes
Preparation of meeting minutes and minutes of resolutions
Leading resolution meetings
Establishment and compliance with house rules
Creation and distribution of circulars and notices
Complaint management
Development of measures to meet deadlines and avoid legal disadvantages
Attendance at on-site and court appointments

The role of the WEG administrator is therefore very complex; his tasks are varied and demanding. Most conflicts and legal difficulties in the management of residential property are the result of a lack of communication between those involved. This often leads to management contracts not being renewed or even being terminated. The advancing digitalization and the skilful use of the corresponding communication tools help the WEG administrator to better resolve conflicts that arise or even to avoid them. Regular professional training, the use of digital possibilities and the courage to make changes to meet the increasingly complex challenges facing property management help WEG managers to survive in the market. In addition, today's digital tools create more and more transparency and significantly reduce administrative effort.

Importance of the WEG administrator

The WEG administrator is the interface between the owners. He is the contact person and mediator. It ensures compliance with the legal framework and the proper functioning of the community. The WEG administration is a central component of the appropriate, long-term oriented and cost-efficient management of the common property with the result of maintaining or increasing the value of the real estate investment. The right measures can effectively contribute to environmental protection (e.g. waste separation, energy efficiency) and ensure tenant satisfaction. The owners are sustainably relieved and the economic viability of the properties is positively boosted.

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