How to change your building manager in Riga, step by step

1. Talk to your neighbors. Start informally. If only a few people are unhappy, the process won’t succeed.
2. Research your options. Compare at least three management companies. Check that the company is registered in the Register of Residential Building Managers.
3. Call a vote of the apartment owners’ assembly. In person or through a written poll. The decision needs 50% plus one vote. Record the result in the minutes.
4. Send written notice of termination to the current manager, along with an extract of the minutes.
5. Sign a contract with the new manager and submit the documents to the municipal authority.
6. Take over the building’s file, keys, and reserve fund.
7. Re-register the contracts with service providers.

How long it takes. The vote usually takes one to two months, and sorting out the documents adds another two to three weeks.

A practical tip. The new manager usually prepares most of the paperwork, the minutes template, the applications, the termination letter. The building just needs to collect the votes.