Board of Directors in a Cooperative Housing Association
Worth knowing about legal matters
On this page, you will find information about legal matters such as GDPR, articles of association and house rules, rules of procedure, insurance, and disputes.
The new Supreme Court of Denmark judgment as of August 23, 2023 changes long-standing legal practice in the field and will particularly mean that an individual association's statutes on the subject can have a decisive impact on the outcome of a similar case.
The case concerned the renovation of a bathroom for a co-owner. Permission had been granted for the project, which was to be handled by an authorized craftsman. This craftsman used a subcontractor who, during the installation of the underfloor heating, drilled into a water pipe.
An expert assessment determined that this drilling was the cause of water damage to the downstairs neighbor as well as to the association's basement storage rooms, but the co-owner was acquitted of responsibility in the specific case.
We recommend that you, as the board, consider when and in what manner personal data is processed and stored in the association. This is particularly important when sensitive personal data is involved. In situations where the association handles personal data, data protection regulations must be adhered to.
In this section, you will find the most essential information about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the rules for handling personal information.
Create a shared board email. This way, you avoid using private email addresses, and thus, you prevent emails to and from the board from being treated as personal data due to the email address.
Remember access restrictions to archives, websites, etc.
Enter into data processing agreements if you have suppliers who process personal data on your behalf.
Develop a privacy policy that provides information to the data subjects about, among other things, the personal data you process about them and to whom you disclose it.
Key terms in the General Data Protection Regulation:
Data Controller: The data controller determines the purposes and means of processing personal data.
Data Processor: The data processor processes personal data on behalf of the data controller and according to its instructions.
Ordinary personal data
Ordinary personal data is any form of information that can be attributed to a specific individual, even if it requires knowledge of other information about the person. For example, a name, address, age, gender, eye color, marital status, salary, debt, telephone number, or registration number. Information in the form of a picture, video recordings, or a fingerprint is also considered personal data.
Sensitive personal data
Sensitive personal data is a special category of information that is associated with a higher risk for the individual, including race and health information. This category is subject to special and heightened protection requirements. It includes information related to:
Race or ethnic origin.
Political, religious, or philosophical beliefs.
Trade union membership.
Genetic or biometric data processed for identification purposes.
Health information.
Sexual life or sexual orientation.
Personal data on criminal offenses
Another category with a higher level of protection is information about criminal convictions and offenses.
CPR numbers
Under Danish special legislation (the Personal Data Act), there are heightened requirements for the protection of CPR numbers, even though, according to the EU regulation categories, they fall under 'ordinary' personal data.
As a help to our housing cooperatives, we have prepared a template for a privacy policy. According to data protection legislation, companies that are data controllers must have a privacy policy that describes how personal information is processed. The policy should, among other things, explain the types of data collected, the purposes and legal basis for processing, as well as outline the security measures taken to ensure compliance. Associations are also subject to this requirement, and therefore, we recommend our association customers to prepare a privacy policy. We are working on getting a template for the privacy policy ready.
Each association handles personal data differently. Therefore, the template includes marked areas that you need to fill in yourselves. Additionally, you should always evaluate the content within the association, for example:
Can you comply with it?
Does it need adjustments?
Should anything else be disclosed in the policy?
Is the association generally complying with data protection regulations?
Please be aware that the privacy policy cannot replace legal advice regarding your obligations concerning data protection legislation.
Contact us
Do you have any questions?
If you have any questions, please feel free to write to us via email or find more information at the Danish Data Protection Agency (Datatilsynet).
Under this heading, you will find information about everything relevant concerning Articles of Association and House Rules.
Articles of Association of the Housing Cooperative
The Articles of Association are the set of rules that, together with the legislation, regulate the relationship between the shareholders and the cooperative, as well as the relationships among the shareholders. Additionally, the Articles of Association outline the framework for how the cooperative and the property should be managed. The board is elected by the general assembly to represent the interests of the housing cooperative and the shareholders and to ensure that the cooperative's Articles of Association are complied with. The Articles of Association must always be interpreted objectively, objectively, and in respect of the principle of equality. This means that all shareholders must be treated equally. When the Articles of Association authorize the board to make a decision, the board must always base the decision on these fundamental principles.
For housing cooperatives, a new standard Articles of Association was decided on November 29, 2020, and it applies to all housing cooperatives from January 1, 2022. The new standard Articles of Association contain mandatory rules, which is why all shareholders and housing cooperatives should be aware of the standard Articles of Association.
House Rules
Most housing cooperatives have house rules that provide general guidelines for the members of the housing cooperative and potential shareholders. Often, it is simply stated in the Articles of Association that the general assembly can establish rules regarding house rules. As there are rarely specific requirements for adopting house rules, they can usually be decided by a simple majority vote in most cooperatives, allowing for continuous adjustments.
House Rules
DEAS' standard house rules
Use DEAS' standard house rules and review the association's house rules.
If you have any questions regarding Articles of Association or house rules, you can contact your dedicated contact person at DEAS. You can also reach out to our legal department, which can assist with drafting or interpreting provisions in the Articles of Association.
We recommend that your board creates Rules of Procedure, which document how tasks and responsibilities are allocated among board members.
Here's how to approach the task:
In the board, you should appoint one responsible board member for each task area to avoid duplication of work and to prevent multiple board members from discussing the same issues and tasks with administrators or other advisors. Furthermore, you should always agree on how communication with partners and helpers should be conducted.
Workgroups:
You can handle identified tasks yourselves and distribute them among board members, but you can also choose to form a workgroup where members of the housing cooperative who are not part of the board can participate. We recommend that there is at least one board member in a workgroup who acts as the board's representative and serves as the point of contact for the board.
Under this heading, you can read about the necessary insurances, factors that can affect your insurances, as well as risk assessment and maintenance plans.
The necessary insurances
It is the board's responsibility to ensure that the property of the housing cooperative is always insured against building fires and other building damages. Additionally, you may benefit from taking out the following insurances:
Homeowner's liability insurance
Extended pipe damage, fungi, and insect damage insurance
Glass and sink insurance
Maintenance and condition are crucial
You should be aware that the terms and, importantly, the price of insurances are closely related to the condition of the property – including the insurance history of the housing cooperative. If a cooperative has a history of frequent and costly damages, it will typically result in higher insurance premiums and/or exclusions in insurance conditions, meaning that the insurance may not cover or only partially cover certain damages. Considerable savings can be made on general insurance terms and deductibles if the housing cooperative's property is well-maintained, and if the board is attentive to areas where insurance premiums are typically most vulnerable. We recommend that you regularly review the cooperative's insurances, including evaluating coverage and prices, and potentially engaging in competitive bidding for insurance policies.
Risk assessment and maintenance plans
When planning how the housing cooperative's property should be maintained and renovated, it can be a good idea to be aware of any exclusions or recommendations formulated by the insurance company that should be incorporated into the upcoming construction project. We suggest that you have the insurance company inspect the property. In this way, you can incorporate the insurance company's risk assessment when evaluating which projects should be undertaken. We collaborate with several insurance companies and insurance brokers that offer advice on insurances. If you need assistance, please ask your contact person at DEAS.
Housing cooperatives will inevitably experience conflicts or disagreements over time. It is something that the board should be prepared for. Disputes may be related to:
Shareholders dissatisfied with board or general assembly decisions, warnings, exclusions, subletting arrangements, etc.
Suppliers failing to meet agreed terms, disagreements over prices, contract disputes, delays, damages to the property during work, etc.
Public authorities making decisions or rulings.
Get help to resolve disputes
We have noticed that many boards and board members take disputes and disagreements personally when they arise. Therefore, as a board, you should seek assistance when a dispute occurs. You can always contact the cooperative's designated contact person with whom you can discuss the issue and receive guidance on how to proceed. At DEAS, we also offer assistance. We are experienced in handling cases involving shareholders or suppliers, such as complaint cases and debt collection cases, even up to court proceedings.
Dissatisfaction with DEAS
Unfortunately, situations may arise where a cooperative becomes dissatisfied with DEAS. If that happens, we encourage you to reach out to us. We will always do our best to find a solution that satisfies everyone. In the worst case scenario, as a board, you can file a complaint with the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority (Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen) if a dispute arises between us and you, and we fully or partially reject the claim. The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority will first attempt to find a solution through mediation. If the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority cannot handle the case, both parties can propose another mediator.
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