WILLEMSTAD - The neighborhood association of the residential area Jan Sofat in Curaçao has been vindicated by the Court: all residents of the gated community must contribute to the costs of common facilities, even if they do not directly use them.
The ruling comes after an appeal filed by the Jan Sofat Neighborhood Association against a resident. The association had requested a monthly contribution of 250 guilders per plot, starting from August 2017, for the maintenance costs of common facilities such as street lighting, landscaping, a playground, and security.
According to the neighborhood association, all residents benefit from these facilities, even if they do not directly use them. The question of whether the plot owner benefits from the provided facilities is based on whether they can use those facilities, not whether they actually utilize them, the appellate judges ruled.
An earlier judgment from the Court of First Instance of Curaçao had also ruled in favor of the neighborhood association but limited the contribution to 200 guilders per month. The Court ruled that the resident should not be obligated to contribute to facilities from which they do not benefit or which they did not have to consider when moving to Jan Sofat.
However, the Court rules differently. In that ruling, it is important that the resident did not dispute that the recreational facilities can only be used by the residents. Therefore, it is in accordance with reasonableness and fairness that all plot owners/residents contribute proportionally to the costs of those facilities, the Court's judgment stated.
Furthermore, the maintenance costs of those facilities are so low that any potential discount does not play a significant role. The neighborhood association provided an overview to the court, showing that those facilities amounted to only 2.64 guilders per month.
The ruling is a significant victory for the Jan Sofat Neighborhood Association and similar associations throughout Curaçao, and possibly in other Caribbean communities as well. The case also emphasizes the importance of the principle of reasonableness and fairness in civil law, especially when it comes to common facilities in residential neighborhoods.