COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT
    By Dory Shakiba

The community associations at Miraflores did not just pop-up fully grown as soon as the keys were delivered to the new residents. A community evolves slowly, as homeowners find they share similar interests in maintaining their property, thus protecting their hard earned investment.

Once the Miraflores developer completed each phase, it was up to the homeowners to decide, together with their neighbours, how to best manage their community within the Spanish community laws. It is through your community association that you, an individual homeowner, have a say in how your Miraflores Community is managed and administrated.

As established by law, the administration of the community affairs is carried out by an elected Secretary/Administrator. In Miraflores, the main community administration office, which is totally independent from the developer, is located at Parque Miraflores. The company Salcosa, under the very capable directorship of Mr. Salvador Cordero Salas, administrates this community office. His office is not connected to any service company and its affairs are entirely financed by the homeowner associations.

Already back in 1982, Mr. Salvador Cordero, was elected as the Secretary/Administrator for Pueblo Miraflores. Mr. Cordero, whose profession is fiscal advisor and auditor, has since been re-elected, year after year, as the secretary/administrator of the Miraflores Grand Community as well as the majority of the Miraflores Micro Communities; in total eleven which include nearly 900 apartments and townhouses!

Today five persons, including himself, man the community office of Mr. Cordero. They act within each community in accordance with a yearly approved budget and instructions from the community president. The daily tasks of administrating a community are numerous, and each staff member of the community office has a specific responsibility.

Mr. Enrique Cordero (Mr. Salvador Cordero's son) has since he completed his studies in Ireland five years ago, been managing the technical maintenance and conservation of the communities. His job includes meetings with the presidents, obtaining price quotes, and overseeing that the important services are carried out within the established budgets and quality requirements.

Ms. Maribel Rodriquez is a "household name" in Miraflores. She is always very pleasant and has been working at the community office for more than 17 years, so she knows nearly all the residents of Miraflores and her knowledge of community matters is immense. Her main task is administrative including taking minutes of all the AGM and EGM meetings of each community and communication with the presidents.

Ms. Pilar Moreno has been at the community office for just over two years and her first job was receptionist, which includes the day to day communication with the residents for any matters of their concern. Pilar speaks four languages; Spanish, English, German and French, and her smile and positive personality are a great "asset" to Miraflores. Her responsibility today is the accounts and administrative management of the individual homeowners' community accounts.

The latest newcomer is Ms. Susana Lazaro. She just joined us in June and has taken over the responsibility of receptionist of the community office. Due to her charming personality and enthusiastic collaboration, she has immediately taken her place within the "Miraflores" family.

The next innovation from the Community Office is that, as of early 2004, owners can through the Internet access their community account from anywhere in the world and see their statement of account. Once the system has been tested and operational, the owners can request their own security password enabling them direct private access to their account. Owners will be informed as soon as the site goes live.

The Miraflores developer has made great effort in creating a beautiful quality resort in more than one sense. It is up to the homeowners, through their community association with healthy budgets and good administration, to maintain the Miraflores quality and keep it well functioning.

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