Law 8/2022 (the "Law") was published on 10 January. This Law introduces important changes to the rules on horizontal property and to the mandatory documents that must accompany the deed or the certified private document for the sale of self-contained units.

A. MAIN CHANGES TO THE CIVIL CODE

1. Possibility to ask the courts to resolve any absence of agreement regarding the alteration of the certificate of establishment of horizontal property in relation to the common parts

"The Civil Code now provides for the possibility to overcome any absence of agreement to amend the certificate of establishment before the courts."

Under the previous rules, the certificate of establishment of horizontal property could only be modified1 with the agreement of all the condominium owners. Through the legislative amendment introduced by Law 8/2022 , Article 1419 of the Civil Code now provides for the possibility to overcome any absence of agreement to amend the certificate of establishment before the courts, provided that:

  1. it involves a change to the common parts of the building;
  2. the votes of the condominium owners who do not approve the change are less than 1/10 of the invested capital; and
  3. the change does not modify the conditions of use, the relative value or the purpose for which the units of the condominium owners who do not approve the change are intended to be used.

2. Maintenance and use charges

The new Article 1424 of the Civil Code now expressly states that the maintenance and use of the building will be under the responsibility of the condominium owners at the time of the resolutions in question.

2.1. Common areas exclusively used by one unit

The expenses of any common areas that are exclusively used by one of the condominium owners must be paid by the condominium owners using them. However, if the state of maintenance of the common parts of the building affects the maintenance or the use of the other common parts of the building, the owner who has the exclusive use of the common parts must bear the repair expenses in the proportion of his/her co-ownership, except if the need for repair is due to his/her own fault.

2.2. Liability for charges and debts - sale of unit

Article 1424-A is added to the Civil Code and Article 54 of the Notaries' Code is amended, regarding, respectively, the responsibility for the condominium charges and the obligation to present, in the instruments of transfer of real estate, a declaration relating to those charges2. However, the purchaser may declare that it waives the right to presentation of this declaration. Therefore, in the case of the transfer of units, the following will be required:

BEFORE THE SALE OF THE UNIT:
Step 1 Request for issuance of a statement of charges and debts

The owner of the unit must ask the manager to issue a written statement setting out:

  1. The amount of all outstanding condominium charges in respect of that owner's unit, specifying their nature, amounts and payment deadlines; and
  2. (ii) Indication of existing debts (if any), their nature, amounts, constitution dates and due dates.
Step 2 Issuing a statemen The statement must be issued by the manager within 10 days of the request for it.
UPON SALE OF THE UNIT
  • The statement must be annexed to the deed or certified private document of sale of the unit in question; except if
  • The buyer expressly states in the deed or in the certified private document that authenticates the sale of the unit, that he/she does not require the declaration of the manager and, consequently, accepts responsibility for any debt owed by the seller to the condominium.

The new owner is responsible for all condominium charges, regardless of their nature, which fall due after the transfer of the unit.

This not only clarifies the responsibility for the condominium charges and debts, but also introduces greater protection for the buyer, who, as a rule, will only take responsibility for charges falling due after the transfer of the unit.

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