Our First House Meeting

I am hoping this is only the first of many to come. Up until now it has been a very inactive house.

What is a house meeting? Everyone who lives in the apartment building gets together to decide things for the building. We vote on everything. Renters do not get votes and people who do not show up do not get a vote either. It is one vote per apartment. Most of the meeting is about the house fund and what should be done with it.

What is the house fund? The house fund is an account we all pay into each month. There is a set amount that each apartment is expected to pay. Right now we pay 5,500 a month, about 80.00.

Highlights

• Davið is now the chairperson of our house. He leads the meetings and sets dates for new meetings. I think he is also responsible for making sure things get done.
• Linda, the older women from right above us is still in charge of the finances. We are hoping this will change because maybe she is not that honest with the money. She avoided showing anyone bank information. This will get better because in June we are switching to an online banking so everyone in the house can see what is going on with the money.
• Starting in June 2007, we are raising the monthly house fees to 8,000 kr a month. We are hoping to get some real savings going and do some renovating.
• Starting June 2007 we are starting to have the house fees officially charged to the bank accounts. This way people have to pay them, and on time.
• Two people in the house were not paying the fees. One did not show up for the meeting and it was agreed collectors would be sent after him. The other one claimed he had completely forgot about them. These guys have not paid for an entire year. They are both going to have to pay now and it will be some good money for the house fund.
• The people upstairs want balconies.
• The guy across the hall from me, the kinda crazy one, was not at the meeting. There was posters reminding everyone of the date but Linda told him it would actually be on Monday. This will cause a problem. No one wants to be the one to tell him we had the meeting without him. Luckily he is only a renter and has no real say in things.
• Everyone finally kinda agreed to cancel the newspapers that were coming here. Sure they are free but no one reads them and we are the only ones taking them int o be recycled.
• The guys that owns the apartment that housed strippers claimed that he will be renting to a family now who will be here a long time.
• The guys that had the crazy party did not show up, I suspect they were just avoiding anyone.
• This Sunday everyone will be working together to clean out the attic. The next weekend we will be painting it.
• The laundry facilities will then all be moved up to the attic. This will be such a hassle for me.
• The old laundry room will be used for bikes and strollers. This is good because they are always blocking up the hall.

I think that is it for tonight. It might seem really boring to most people, but to me I see this as a sign that my apartment building will get better.