Belgium is proportionally one of the countries where the share of the population owning estate is among the highest in Europe.
Hence almost everyone has heard about scandals involving syndics. These facility managers working for estate owners’ associations suffer chronically from a bad reputation, not least because they are the perfect scapegoats for landlords and tenants’ anger and frustration. Is it an urban legend or duly justified?
"The syndic has disappeared with the cash" is a common story heard in Belgium, from time to time. The number of 382 formal complaints received in 2024 by the profession’s regulating body, the IPI-CIB seems very high but it does not reflect the reality.
More than 80% of these complaints are unjustified and discarded and the court’s decisions to forbid the practice of the profession of syndic can be counted on the fingers on one hand.
"Most of the grievances against syndics are inertia, i.e. when the syndic does not follow up on owners’ assembly decisions, or slows down the transmission of archives when a change of syndic is occurring," Thibaud Lodewyckx tells The Brussels Times, a Legal advisor at the IPI-CIB. "Embezzlement is the most serious fraud but it is occasional," he adds.
In fact, money mismanagement by a syndic can take various forms. Besides blatant theft transferred to the syndics’ personal account, owners’ money can also be diverted to pay a debt in another owners’ association - the so-called ‘connecting vessels’ - hopefully to be reimbursed later on. It is of course totally forbidden "and criminally punishable" as different owners’ association assets must remain strictly separated.
Commissioning, a scourge in extinction
Although the SNPV-NEMS, Belgian estate owners’ representative association, sometimes does denounce some syndics or some syndics' behaviours, "it has always been clear that most of them do their job correctly." Patrick Willems its Secretary-General, explains to The Brussels Times.
"However, when we raised the issue of commissioning a few years ago, we forced the sector to act on it," he adds.
This practice consists, for the syndic, in taking a commission on a contract with a supplier of an owners’ association, which will be included, unnoticed, into the final invoice. Not only it steals money from the owners but it also breaks a core deontology principle for the syndic, introducing a conflict of interest in the choice of a supplier. "We definitely mitigated this issue," Willems says.
Official watchdogs
Most of the complaints to regulating bodies come for owners. "Make your coming out," Willems says, "and name and shame. This is how we can file a complaint. We must be severe with fraudsters because they cast shame on a whole sector."
More and more controls are performed by the regulating bodies, but the privileged channel for raising attention are direct complaints from estate owners.
Last year, the Executive chamber (the dedicated Court) of the IPI-BIV made 45 disciplinary decisions on syndics on a total of 216 decisions on the whole profession of estate agents. 19 suspensions and 3 radiations were pronounced, "which shows that the IPI-BIV takes appropriate measures in case of serious breaches," Dorien Stevens tells The Brussels Times, Communications Manager for the Dutch-speaking community at IPI-BIV.
Nevertheless, "people don’t always understand how a syndic works and a lot of complaints are unfounded, plaintiffs instrumentalise the IPI-CIB," Lodewyckx explains
It is indeed easy to file a complaint, "hence a higher number of cases doesn’t necessarily mean that there are more problems," Stevens adds.
After a complaint is filed, a legal expert examines it by gathering information, including from the targeted syndic, and decides whether it’s worth pursuing the proceedings. If filed without further action, IPI-BIV duly explains its decision: the syndic abides by the law, the accusations are not founded nor proven, or it’s been corrected and does not need further legal action. If it’s serious enough, it is referred to the court.
Be attentive…
So what can owners concretely do to protect themselves from rogue syndics? First of all, when hiring a syndic, make a clear contract. It is a legal obligation: the syndic can only ask payment for what is foreseen in the contract. However, you have to distinguish what is included in the flat fee and what is considered as supplementary work.
The owners’ representative organisation SNPC-NEMS provides for a very detailed draft contract which encompasses all possibilities, to be negotiated between the two parties. "Don’t hesitate to negotiate a tailor-made contract," SNPC-NEMS advises.
Be very careful with low-price services which look attractive, but which will become very expensive when a lot of ‘exceptional’ services are invoiced. "Better check the reputation of a syndic before hiring it," Willems advises.
A good syndic sends the bills on time and abides by the deadlines, according to Charlotte De Thaye, General Director of Federia, the French-speaking federation of estate agents.
A good syndic is proactive on works, it calculates financial simulations, makes proposals on investment plans and even has a vision for the building. Most of the syndics don’t do that because it’s not paid for by owners. "Our task is very important: we help estate to go through time," summarises Félix de Thier, from Jacquemin Syndic in Wavre.
… and proactive
Owners also have their share of responsibility in ensuring their syndic fulfill their expectations in quality of service.
"Check the quotes and get involved," Willems advises. SNPC-NEMS offers a whole range of services such as books, trainings and conferences to help landlords to know the job better and get the most out of their syndic. "And don’t forget to come back to the contract in case of conflict," Willems adds.
"The problematic buildings are those where the owners don’t get enough involved," de Thier says. "A syndic needs to be boosted, owners must have a critical eye. When the syndic is left alone, the building management is lazy," says de Thier. On the other hand, when estate owners don’t show respect for the syndic and become aggressive, the building "is considered as bad by the syndic," he adds.
"Owners have to be involved but at the same time establish a relationship of confidence, work as a team on a common project," De Thaye concludes.
