ASLIC Finances 2024: Out of Control!

The Syndicate meeting held on May 12th, dedicated to the financial situation of ASLIC — including the presentation of the 2024 accounts, the amended 2025 budget, and the 2026 forecast — took place under particularly difficult circumstances.

The President of ASLIC deemed it unnecessary to provide the delegates with the financial and accounting documents essential for reviewing the accounts and budgets, which serve as the basis for the charges paid by the property owners. As a result, discussions were limited to oral information, without any written support or working documents.

Review of the 2024 Accounts

Once again, our delegates reminded the President of his obligation — as stipulated in Article VI-8 of the statutes — to have the accounts audited by the Syndicate. Mr. Blot failed to comply. Thus, as of May 12, 2025, the closed accounts for the 2024 fiscal year had still not been audited by the Syndicate.

The ASLIC accountant presented a general overview of the 2024 fiscal year, emphasizing the need for ASLIC to build a substantial cash reserve (equivalent to three months of operations, according to his calculations). To meet this financing requirement, ASLIC has, for several years, been requesting advance payments in a manner that is far from compliant with regulations: provisions are created for everything and almost nothing, advance service charges are collected, and depreciation allocations are demanded without much explanation as to how the funds will actually be used. In short, maximum funds are collected and surpluses are simply retained.

For reference, the amount of available funds from these advance payments is estimated at approximately €500,000 in 2024, which includes the final installment of the pool loan (€200,000), currently placed in a term deposit account.

Such practices are, to say the least, highly questionable:

• They violate the obligation to limit the cash held on behalf of property owners, with overpayments that are never reimbursed;

• These disguised advances are never returned to owners upon the sale of a property, ultimately benefiting the buyer or ASLIC itself.

Budgets: Alarming Developments

• An increase of €100,000 in the 2025 budget, rising from €1.2 million to €1.3 million. This level of budgetary overrun is astounding. How can such overspending be allowed? What expenses were approved despite already exceeding set budget limits?

• The “Events” budget, initially set at €40,000 in 2024, has ballooned to nearly €65,000. This figure does not include the operating costs of Coudalère Animations, which amount to over €20,000. In total, approximately €85,000 is being spent on entertainment.

• €54,000 in legal expenses, compared to an initial budget of €35,000. The origin of this increase remains unclear.

• A sharp rise in unpaid charges, now amounting to €140,000.

• Reception and travel expenses for delegates are also constantly increasing: €12,000 spent in 2024, despite a budget of only €7,000.

Financial Mismanagement: Numerous Alarming Cases

These budget overruns are accompanied by unjustified or poorly controlled expenses, indicative of a lack of financial discipline:

• Overbilling of €27,000 related to photocopier management;

• €5,000 in water loss at the pool, due to a handling error;

• €8,000 deposit paid to a company that later went bankrupt, related to the purchase of a pergola. No solvency check was performed before the payment, and no known creditor filing has been made. This results in a net loss of €8,000;

• Underbilling of the owners' dinner: charged at €15 instead of €25, leading to a direct loss of €2,000 for ASLIC.

These incidents come in addition to previously reported concerns, such as:

• The disputed insurance contract costing €21,000, now apparently lost;

• Concerning HR management practices:

  • Four employees, including the Director (on long-term sick leave), continue to receive 100% of their salaries for 10 months;

  • An employee dismissed for gross misconduct has filed a labour claim, with €37,000 in unbudgeted costs;

  • The annual bonus is paid 50% at the start of the year, and the balance in September. Thus, an employee leaving mid-year would still receive the full bonus;

  • The payroll accounts for approximately 52% of ASLIC’s annual budget.

Conclusion

This quick overview, necessarily incomplete due to the President’s lack of communication, confirms the following:

• Serious deficiencies in ASLIC’s financial management;

• Budgets are not being respected;

• A clear lack of discipline and amateurism in both budgeting and accounting;

• An accumulation of professional negligence that financially harms property owners;

• No management control system in place;

• Statutory violations, particularly regarding the requirement that the Syndicate verifies the accounts and prepares the budget. To date, the accounts have not been reviewed by the Syndicate, and it remains unclear who actually drafted the budget.

It Must Stop

We call on all property owners to demand greater transparency and financial discipline in the management of ASLIC.

We also invite all the so-called “well-intentioned critics” of A3C to seriously reflect on these ongoing issues and objectively assess who is responsible for this troubling situation.

A3C fully supports a change of direction at ASLIC, based on respect for all owners, and advocates for more serious, responsible, and compliant financial governance.