Ein paar einführende Worte über “Hausverwaltung im Wohnungseigentum”…

Ich bin seit dem Jahr 2006 Miteigentümerin einer großen Liegenschaft in Wien. Das Wohnungseigentumsgesetz 2000 (WEG) regelt die Beziehungen der WohungseigentümerInnen untereinander sowie die Beziehung zwischen der Eigentümergemeinschaft (als juristische Person) und der Hausverwaltung, falls eine Hausverwaltung beauftragt wird. Außerdem garantiert das WEG den einzelnen WohnungseigentümerInnen bestimmte individuelle Rechte.

Ein großer Nachteil an dieser rechtlichen Lage ist, dass man als Einzelperson nicht viele Optionen hat, wenn eine – durch Mehrheitsbeschluss der EigentümerInnen – beauftragte Hausverwaltung die vertraglich geregelten Aufgaben nicht bzw. nicht in der gewünschten Qualität durchführt. Als einzelne WohnungseigentümerIn kann man eine Abstimmung zur Absetzung einer Hausverwaltung organisieren, oder man kann einen Gerichtsantrag auf Absetzung eine Hausverwaltung stellen. Die Hürde für einzelne WohungseigentümerInnen, eine Hausverwaltung absetzen zu lassen, sind also sehr hoch. Das ist auch in Ordnung so, denn schließlich vertritt eine Hausverwaltung ja eine Eigentümergemeinschaft.

Allerdings….

Was macht man als Einzelperson, wenn die Hausverwaltung einer Liegenschaft ihre vertraglichen Pflichten nicht erfüllt, oder sogar gesetzeswidrig handelt? Für MieterInnen gibt es zahlreiche Anlaufstellen, bei denen sie in solchen Fällen um Hilfe ansuchen können. EigentümerInnen bleibt oft nur der Gang zum Gericht. Und das ist absurd, denn die Gerichte sind sowieso schon überlastet, insbesondere in Wien, wo ich wohne und eine Wohnung besitze.

Ein Beispiel:

Als WohnungeigentümerIn hat man das Recht, die von der Hausverwaltung den EigentümerInnen vorgelegten Jahresabrechnungen zu überprüfen. Eine Hausverwaltung muß den LiegenschaftseigentümerInnen nicht nur Einblick in alle Rechnung gewähren, sondern auf Verlangen auch alle Kontoauszüge und Verträge vorlegen, die von der Hausverwaltung im Namen der Eigentümergemeinschaft abgeschlossen wurden und die für die Überprüfung von Jahresabrechnungen relevant sind. Es reicht schließlich nicht, dass Rechnungen vorgelegt werden, ich muss als EigentümerIn auch sicher sein können, dass die Rechnungen bezahlt wurden bzw. dass es auch wirklich nur berechtigte Kontobewegungen gab. Außerdem muß ich nachprüfen können, ob die vorgelegten Rechnungen auch den vertraglichen Bedingungen entsprechen, die die Hausverwaltung ausgehandelt hat, z. B. für die Durchführung des Winterdienstes. Und last, but not least, sind EigentümerInnen berechtigt zu prüfen, ob ihre Hausverwaltung wirtschaftlich handelt. Denn auch dazu ist sie verpflichtet und den EigentümerInnen gegenüber auskunftspflichtig.

Jetzt stellen Sie sich folgende theoretische Situation vor: Sie kontaktieren Ihre Hausverwaltung, die von Ihnen bezahlt wird und die für Sie und in Ihrem Namen arbeitet, und bitten um einen Termin im Büro der Hausverwaltung, um Belege, Kontoauszüge und relevanten Verträge für ein bestimmtes Jahr zu prüfen. Die Hausverwaltung reagiert nicht auf ihre Anfrage. Sie warten ein paar Wochen, und schicken dann noch einmal eine schriftliche Anfrage. Auch diese Anfrage wird ignoriert. Die Hausverwaltung antwortet einfach nicht.

Was machen Sie in so einem Fall? Da bleibt nur der Gang zum Gericht, und das ist absurd, dass man als Wohnungseigentümerin einen Gerichtsantrag stellen muss, damit eine Hausverwaltung ihrer gesetzlichen Verpflichtung zur Vorlage der Unterlagen für eine Überprüfung der Jahresabrechnung nachkommt. Es ist wirklich kein Wunder, dass die Gerichte in Österreich völlig überlastet sind.

Von solchen und ähnlichen Fällen werde ich auf meiner Webseite berichten, die Artikel werden alle in der Kategorie “Hausverwaltung im Wohnungseigentum” abgespeichert, damit sie leicht aufzufinden sind.

Ich beabsichtige nicht, bestimmte Hausverwaltungen namentlich zu nennen, denn darum geht es hier nicht. Es geht um die Beschreibung von Situationen, die so oder in ähnlicher Form tagtäglich auch in anderen Liegenschaften vorkommen können.

Ich will Lücken im System aufzeigen, ExpertInnen interviewen, Stellungnahmen von PolitikerInnen einholen und generell etwas mehr Licht in das Dunkel dieses Themenbereichs “Hausverwaltung im Wohnungseigentum” bringen. Das ist meiner Meinung nach dringend notwendig. Denn die Perspektive einzelner WohnungseigentümerInnen wird, wenn es um Wohnrecht geht, im öffentlichen Diskurs vernachlässigt.

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My Experiences with Threats and Extortion Attempts on the “Goodreads” website

Over the course of the last three months (January – March 2024), I published 86 book reviews on this website which I’d previously posted on the “Goodreads” website from 2016–2023. This accounts for the majority of the book reviews written by me during that time.

I joined “Goodreads” in June 2016, after I’d published the first German-language edition of my book “The Vegan Tourist: Wien” (published on April 17, 2016), and an updated, 2nd edition of the English-language version of “The Vegan Tourist: Vienna” (published on May 2, 2016). I self-published both books through Amazon’s (now defunct) Create Space and (still existing) Kindle Direct Publishing programs, and was researching options to promote those books. “Goodreads” had been in existence for almost ten years by then, and when I joined the site, I quickly realised that it wasn’t so much a useful resource for writers, as more of a fun site for readers. That’s actually how the site promotes itself, as “the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Our mission is to help readers discover books they love and get more out of reading.”

As a reader, I find the site useful, and enjoy participating in the site’s annual “reading contests.” Readers set their own goals in regard to how many books they plan to read each year, then track their progress over the course of the year. Since 2016, I have set wildly different reading goals for myself in different years: from 10 books in 2016 (I read 11 books) to 50 books in 2017, when I failed miserably – I only managed to read 14 books that year. But I also occasionally increased my goals, most notably in 2023, when I set a moderate goal, and kept upping it to 25 books. I ended up reading 54 books that year. It’s easy, it’s fun, and I’m amazed at the variety of books I’ve read over the years. I’ll continue to read and rate books on the “Goodreads” platform in the future.

But I won’t publish any more reviews on that site, as the site is also used by spammers and criminals who intimidate and threaten readers and writers, and the “Goodreads” moderators can’t keep up with them. Why would I want to publish book reviews on “Goodreads,” if it leads to threats and abuse being hurled at me in the form of “comments?”

I became a target in 2023 when I participated in a conversation of self-publishing writers who were discussing the pros and cons of paying for book reviews (to be posted on the “Goodreads” platform and on “Amazon”). I argued against it. I don’t think that readers care about the opinions of other “readers” (real or fake) when they decide whether to buy a book, or not.

I know that the number of ratings, comments, and reviews associated with a certain book affects algorithms, and therefore visibility on those platforms – which is why they are banned by those sites. I would never pay for reviews. There are better options for self-promoting one’s books.

I argued against the solicitation of reviews from readers and other self-publishing writers – and was bombarded with abuse by spammers, and – it must be said clearly – criminals. First, there was the threat of copyright theft:

“WE GOT A COPY OF YOUR BOOK AND YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS. TOMORROW WE ARE GOING TO UPLOAD IT ON PIRATE WEBSITES AND TRADE YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS WITH MARKETERS, FRAUDSTERS AND SCAMMERS. WE DON’T LIVE IN YOUR COUNTRY SO YOUR LAWS CAN’T TOUCH US. TO STOP US, EITHER BUY OUR REVIEW OFFERS WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND PAY US SOME MONEY, OR LEAVE THIS SITE WITHIN THAT TIME FRAME?”

I considered this extortion attempt an empty threat, as my books were stolen and uploaded to illegal sites soon after I published them. Also, I stopped selling my “Vegan Tourist”-books several years ago. These books are guide books for vegetarian restaurants in Vienna, and they had become outdated: too many restaurants were no longer in business, and many stayed in business only for a few months after they opened. It was impossible to keep up with the ever-changing vegan restaurant scene in Vienna. In 2019, I made the decision not to publish any further updates to my books, and stopped selling them on Amazon. (You can find a list of vegetarian restaurants in Vienna here.)

I also received numerous Emails from spammers who subsequently tried to sell me their “services” (reviews in exchange for payment), as I provide a link to my website in my “Goodreads” profile, and I provide an Email address on this website, so I can be contacted by whoever wishes to do so. I reported all of them to the administrators of “Google,” as all those spammers used Gmail for their Email accounts. I asked “Google” to delete those Gmail-accounts, and they seem to have done that, as I am no longer being bombarded with similar “offers.”

In conversation with other writers on the “Goodreads” website, I did suggest that the site’s moderators should notify law enforcement agencies that writers were being threatened and extorted on the “Goodreads” website, and also mentioned that I considered filing a complaint with the FBI. This is what happened next:

“I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE BITCH. WILL DISTRIBUTE YOUR ADDRESS TO THIEVES AND CRIMINALS IF YOU DON’T LEAVE GR BY TOMORROW – SO ENTIRE HAUNOLD FAMILY GETS ROBBED AND CHOPPED. YOU ARE USING THIS SITE WITHOUT PAYING ME SO YOU DESERVE NO LESS. CALL THE FBI CIA AND FTC WHOEVER THE FUCK YOUR ASSHOLE HUSBAND ANTON CAN AFFORD AND LET ME SEE WHAT THE FUCK THEY CAN DO TO ME BITCH? I KNOW SOME VERY NICE FRIENDS IN VIENNA WHO CAN HELP.”

I’m not married, and my best guess is that these criminals were threatening another female writer whose husband’s name is Anton. But my last name is Haunold, and I do live in Vienna.

At this point, I did file a complaint about the extortion attempt, threats to break into my home, and threats to cause bodily harm to me and my family with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as “Goodreads” is a company which is registered in the US.

I don’t expect that the FBI will actually investigate, but I do think that it is important to report threats like this to law enforcement agencies, if only to create a paper trail and to alert law enforcement agencies to the various ciminal activities on social media sites. Large social media sites – and I do consider “Goodreads” to be a specialized social media site – should be monitored and regulated by authorities in a much stricter fashion than they currently are being regulated.

Paper trails are important to prove that criminals are active on such sites. The “Goodreads” moderators did remove the fake accounts used to make those threats against me, and removed the threats. They continue to remove fake accounts whenever I alert them to suspicious acitivity, which I continue to do. But I don’t think that “Goodreads” and “Amazon,” which owns “Goodreads,” provide enough resources to keep the site safe for readers and writers.

I still participate in writers’ discussions on the “Goodreads” site, and I still argue against the solicitation of reviews – and will continue to do so, regardless of how many threats are made against me. But going forward, I will only publish book reviews on my own website where I have full control over user accounts, and can moderate comments before they are published. (The site is currently “closed” – I don’t allow registration for user accounts, and therefore commenting on articles published by me is also not possible. Write me an Email, if you wish.)

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Book Review: “Coloured Stars: Versions of Fifty Asiatic Love Poems” by Edward Powys Mathers

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2023.

My rating: 3 (of 5) “stars

I bought a copy of this book online, I use AbeBooks and zvab.com to buy used/rare books.

I recently (note: March 2023) acquired a copy of a first edition of this book, published in 1918, and being able to hold and leaf through a first edition of any book adds immensly to the pleasure of reading said book.

This book contains love poems, translated into English by Edward Powys Mathers, from various Asian countries. They allow glimpses into different cultures, which I find very interesting.

I quite liked some of the poems, but I have to admit that the book doesn’t contain a single poem which I truly loved. My favourite is a very short poem, “Grief,” translated “from the Persian of Schahid (10th Century)”, p.41: “If grief like fire should give out smoke / Ever it would be night on earth.

Update March 2024: I recently learned that Mathers wrote a few original poems for this book, which he published anonymously under fake names. In the book, he claims that they are all original Asiatic Love Poems, and he only translated them. I love the fact that Powers snuck a few original poems into this collection of poems by other authors.

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