Did you know that, if you are part of a community of owners, you are all required to have a digital certificate on behalf of the group? It is the way that has established the Law 39/2015, of October 1 as a way that the Public Administrations and the community can relate and interact with each other, via telematics.
It is a much simpler and practical way, since with a single email the whole community can be informed without its members even having to leave home. It must be taken into account that not only does it have to be requested, but it will also have to be renewed periodically. As there are many things to take into account, we are going to go step by step explaining how to make the digital certificate of the community of owners and who can request it.
What is the digital certificate of the community of owners?
The digital certificate for communities of owners is the way that exists to identify a group of people, in this case the owners of houses that form a group. It is like an electronic DNI: it allows to carry out any procedure that has to do with the community telematically. This file certifies that the person who is identified is the representative of the community.
Before continuing, it is necessary to explain what exactly is a community of owners. This entity is formed by the neighbors and owners of properties and premises that make up a building. Each one of them participates in the decisions of that block, in addition to managing their rights and duties both in their property and in the common areas. Each of them participates in the decisions that are made and cooperates with a quota, assigned to the apartment, for the general maintenance.
A large community of owners can certainly see the appeal of this idea, since they are the ones who have to file declarations with the tax office. It is much more convenient and easier to do this without leaving home and without complications when it comes to getting all the owners to agree. Those smaller communities may not even be aware of the existence of this certificate, as they have less ‘bureaucracy’ to do and can function perfectly well without it.
And although this is so, the web pages of the respective autonomous communities inform that, as entities without legal personality that it is, a community of owners must communicate by telematic way and carry out any necessary procedure in this way. So that there are no doubts, it is expressly explained that those NIF that begin with the letter ‘H’ are those that have to carry out any procedure by computer. But for this it is necessary to have the certificate. As you can see, it is a bit of a fish that bites its own tail.
Is it mandatory to have a certificate?
However, and although it may seem contradictory, having the certificate is not exactly mandatory. What it is, being a community of owners, is to relate with the administrations by telematic way, so it is this law, the 39/2015 on the Common Administrative Procedure (LPAC) of the Public Administrations which indirectly obliges to have the electronic certificate.
You have to be very careful with this type of resolutions, since, although we have explained that it is not mandatory to have the certificate, not relating with the AEAT electronically can mean a fine of 250€. As you can see, prevention is better than cure in these cases, so we always recommend to be a little ahead of events and to be prepared with the corresponding digital certificate. It will be necessary that the owners approve by majority the request for the processing of the digital certificate in a meeting of neighbors.
The administrator of your property can carry out the whole procedure on behalf of the community of owners if you so decide. However, as he/she is not the representative of the community, he/she will need the written authorization of the president of the community to be able to carry out all the necessary actions.
Currently, the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (the one that is in charge of offering the certificates) does not allow the renewal of the certificates of the communities of owners.
Requirements to apply for a digital certficate
3 circumstances are necessary to be able to request the digital certificate of a community of owners:
- The community of owners must already be constituted before starting the application.
- The application for the CIF of the community must not only have been completed, but it is also necessary to have a physical copy of it.
- The person in charge of processing the process is the representative of the entity, that is to say, the president of the community of owners.
It is necessary to remember that to constitute a community is fundamental to take agreements. Without the formation, the community of owners does not exist.
How to get the digital certificate of your homeowners’ association
The application for the digital certificate is a fairly simple procedure compared to other bureaucratic procedures, although, of course, it is essential to know the procedure. Let’s see the step by step of the same one and which routes can be chosen to realize it:
Way one: empower the president. This is the most convenient, practical and, in short, feasible way. It is necessary to take into account that the position of president of a community of neighbors has to change hands every year, so you simply have to pass the duties to the next person. In this case, this figure will have to take care of any notification and request, so it is possible that it ends up being too heavy a job for a single person with other work and obligations.
However, if this has been decided and the president in question agrees, he/she will have to reserve one morning to go to the AEAT and carry out the following steps:
- Request the certificate of representation of an entity without legal personality (the community of owners) on the website of the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre. It will have to indicate an email address to which the Factory will send a code.
- With this code and a previous appointment you will have to go to the offices of the AEAT. There, in addition to the code, you will have to provide a photocopy of your DNI, another of the CIF of the community, the Minutes of appointment as president and the Minutes of the Meeting in which the procedure was authorized.
- Once this procedure is completed, the president or the owner of the email address given in the first step will receive a confirmation email. This will contain the instructions for downloading the certificate. Remember that, as in any State process, the download must be done from the same computer that received the request code. Otherwise, it will give an error and you will not be able to obtain it.
The only thing left is for the president to empower the administrator to receive, from that moment on, the notifications and to carry out the community’s management.
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Unsplash image by Dylan Gillis
