In late February, the government capped certain fees requested by the condominium trustees. Not enough for the Competition Authority, which expressed its doubts this Wednesday on this measure which it considers ineffective.
"The Authority notes that some of the suggestions it had made (...) have not been taken up by the government", summed up the institution in a press release concerning a decree published at the end of February: the government is capping it at 380 euros the price for "dated states", a compulsory document when selling a condominium unit.
An increase in fees
The trustees, professionals who administer the buildings on behalf of the co-owners, invoice this document at a rate deemed far too high by consumer associations in light of the work carried out. By capping their rates, the government remains consistent with comments made a year ago by the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, who had attacked the lack of transparency of trustees during a speech to the Competition Authority.
But the latter is not convinced by the method of calculation of the executive, which has chosen to retain the median rate observed among trustees: half of the dated states are currently billed more expensive than the 380 euros set. Trustees at lower rates, the other half of the sector, "will now tend to increase their fees to align them with the ceiling, to the detriment of consumers," warns the Authority. She would have preferred that the ceiling be calculated on the basis of the real costs for the trustees, to which would be added "a reasonable margin".
Other fees to cap
"As for the trustees whose fees will be brought down following the imposition of the ceiling, they could try to compensate for this loss by increasing the prices of other services", continues the authority.
This criticism echoes that, published a few days earlier by CLCV, an association of consumers, which asks to cap other costs such as those recovered by the trustee when he collects arrears from certain co-owners. "The cap on recovery costs and other formal notices therefore seems to be buried," regretted CLCV, recalling that this measure had been planned since 2014 by the law on housing, known as Alur.
"If the professionals will surely not complain, since they can continue to charge 30 or 40 euros a simple recommended, the co-owners, they are deprived of necessary protection against the abuses of the trustees", concluded l 'association.
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