In the exceptional situation brought about by COVID-19 in which people’s freedom of movement has been restricted, the Chamber has decided to provide a specific mediation service regarding dispute situations that may arise in the leasing of business premises, both commercial and services (trade, hospitality,…) as well as industrial, in those cases where there is a situation in which lessees are having difficulty meeting the payment of the financial obligations set forth in the contract; with the aim of reaching an agreement that is beneficial to both parties, which allows the business activity to be maintained.
REAL ESTATE MEDIATION
I. The interested party shall send their request to the Chamber along with the duly filled out form provided by the Chamber with the required documentation attached.
II. Once the request has been received, and if the corresponding requirements have been met, the Chamber shall communicate to the other party, by any means that enables acknowledgement of receipt, that it has received the request for mediation. The party shall have a maximum period of 3 days to inform the Chamber whether they accept or reject the offer. After this period, if no response is received, the Chamber may close the case due to the non-acceptance (or rejection) of the mediation offered and shall communicate this to the applicant, issuing the corresponding certification, if requested.
If the request is not duly filled out, the applicant may resubmit it duly amended within 2 days. In the event that it is not amended, the Chamber shall reject it.
III. Once the mediation has been accepted by both parties, they shall both be notified and they shall be required to pay half of the corresponding fees, unless otherwise agreed between the parties in this regard.
IV. Payment of the cost of the proceedings must be confirmed by sending the Chamber the corresponding proof of the payment made into the account indicated within a maximum period of 3 days. Once this period has elapsed, if the proof of payment has not been received from the parties, the Chamber may close the case and notify the parties of this decision.
V. The Consulate of the Sea’s Select Committee shall designate the mediators to handle the cases that the Chamber receives.
VI. The mediation proceedings shall preferably be carried out online, provided that they allow for the identification and participation of all intervening parties. This does not impede however that, if the circumstances deem this advisable and it can be carried out face-to-face, then it shall be carried out in this way, if the corresponding authorisation from the Chamber has been received.
VII. The parties shall be convened to the mediation session which they shall have to attend in person and inform the mediator beforehand if they will be accompanied by someone else.
VIII. If either of the parties convened does not appear, the Chamber May close the case and proceed to shelve it. This, however, does not impede the parties from initiating another mediation proceedings, but they shall not be entitled to a refund of the amount paid for the original proceedings.
IX. All participating parties are subject to the principle and rules with regard to the confidentiality of the proceedings.
X. Proceedings shall last for a maximum of 4 consecutive hours. After this time, the proceedings shall be deemed to be concluded.
XI. The documents to be signed by the parties, such as the document containing the agreement, shall be sent beforehand by the parties by e-mail with the corresponding signature, without prejudice to having to send the original copy to the Chamber. To this end, the Chamber shall decide how to proceed.
XII. The document containing the agreement shall be issued in triplicate; one copy for each party and another for the Chamber that shall be kept in the case file.
XIII. Mediation shall be free of charge; only €45 will have to be paid by way of processing fees. In any case, this amount may be subject to modification by the Select Committee. This service shall be provided in this way in accordance with the decision taken by the Select Committee and quotation availability.
- The Select Committee may collectively appoint mediators to deal with the set of requests without the need to submit a short-list for each case submitted to the Chamber’s Consulate of the Sea.
- In order to be able to respond to all the requests that may be received when there are not enough mediators available to respond to them within the deadlines, the Select Committee may designate other mediators for the provision of this service provided they prove they meet the requirements of technical solvency and conditions for exercising and performing the responsibilities required for mediators of the General Council of the Chambers of Catalonia’s Register of Mediators.
- With regard to everything else concerning the subjective scope, the guarantees of the proceedings and guiding principles, as well as the conduct of the mediators; the Chamber’s Business Mediation Regulation shall be applied in a supplementary manner and, in the event of dispute in the interpretation thereof, shall be resolved by the Select Committee.
- The Select Committee is empowered to make any adjustments it deems appropriate to the rules of procedure in order to ensure the purpose of the service.
