Woodstore

We own one of 4 small villas in a private gated area near Faro. It's a condominium classed as a 'propriedade horizontal' as it has shared access to the properties, shared courtyard, shared swimming pool. When we bought the place the lawyer said you are only buying the house not the communal area. Now one of the houses is selling and a possible buyer is needing a written agreement signed by all houses as to how we share the communal area, who has which table, seating areas, sharing of costs and jobs etc etc. Has anyone had experience of an agreement, can it only/best be an informal signed arrangement or does it lend itself to be legalised, what does this involve, does one pay extra taxes if we declare shared ownership/responsibilities of the swimming pool, access & seating areas? Currently no-one owns the pool nor land stepping outside of any of the villas though we all contribute to its upkeep and a regular gardener. Comments most welcome.

macliam

No reply is required and any reply could be dangerous. If you do feel clarification is required then I would suggest that the current owners of all 4 properties obtain a legally drafted explanation of the legal basis of ownership, if there is none already.

This should cover ownership of the property in common, shared responsibility for upkeep and terms of use of the assets therein (bens). If you don't already have such a document, then you cannot be assured of the legal status of your ownership and/or protected against misuse or other"bad behaviour".

In UK law, I believe this would be covered by a covenant forming a requirement of the articles of sale - but I'm not sure how it would work under Portuguese law.

RichardHenshall

IANAL but I very much doubt that no-one owns the 'communal areas' - surely either one or all of you own them or the developer still owns them. Do you pay condo fees and if so to whom? In whose name are the water and electricity supplies for the pool?

Have you asked your Câmara who owns them?

barlaventoexpert

You should get formal legal advice on this.

The law governing the establishment & management of condominiums & common areas thereof is established under the Codigo Civil (Civil Code) & subsidiary legislation.

LIVRO III - Direito das coisas
Titulo II - Do direito de propriedade
Capítulo V - Compropriedade

Ad Urbis - Legisla��o - C�digo Civil

The following article lays down the general legal basis of common areas:

- Artigo 1421º Código Civil - Sobre as partes comuns -

Also

Artigo 1418°

Irrespective of extra taxes & costs etc., GET this resolved legally as informal agreements could end up dragging one into all sorts legal disputes down the road.

Under Artigo 1430°, there needs to be a council set up to represent all the owners and to administer the common areas. An administrator must be appointed by the meeting.

macliam

Agreed - most of the work done for you here!

Reading between the lines, if you don't have this in place already, then the new buyer's lawyer is just pushing for compliance - because otherwise you'll all find it hard to sell with an unresolved issue.

Dal Dy Dir

Just going slightly off track but you people seem well versed in this sort of stuff. The block across from us attempted to set up a condo and everybody agreed to pay bar one owner. They have set up the condo without him, is there any legal obligation for him to pay or can he just take the benefits of the communal cleaning / electric etc?

macliam

IANAL, but I'm not sure about the retrospective introduction of a condominium, as the law would normally seek to protect an existing owner from dues, responsibilities and limitations that did not exist at the time of contract, unless or until he voluntarily waives any pre-existing rights and benefits.

So, basically, you can't impose new rules by a majority decision on someone who hasn't agreed to be bound by the vote. (unless, of course, you're the government )

barlaventoexpert

My understanding is that under Portuguese Law, ALL communal costs are shared by all the owners. In our condominium we have one owner who does not subscribe to our communal external areas insurance policy. However, by law he is required to take out his own insurance to provide cover.

I think Art 1407.3 comes into play here as it is the decisions of the majority which apply. So if there are shared costs, he must pay his share otherwise legal action could be taken against him.

Woodstore

The 'Ad Urbis' website (v. useful thx) is all in Portuguese (naturally) but it does have reference to Propriedade Horizontal which is lodged at the council as a single PH for our 4 houses. Is a PH by default a 'condominium' per se?? I'm not sure what constitutes a 'Condominium'. We all pay an agreed amount into a shared bank account to cover maintenance services, gardening etc. The electric and water bills are invoiced to one of the houses and direct debited to the shared bank account.

Another question - are we legally required (or is it an option) to have an 'accident' insurance for the shared areas (slipping on walk ways, swimming pool etc? We only have family and friends staying ( no rentals permitted). If so what is the definition of the shared areas that require this insurance? Many thanks.

MikeJ

You really should have Public Liability insurance - even your friends and relatives could have expensive accidents . This is usually part of the community charge but you do seem to have an anomalous or informal arrangement between the dwellings in your condominium. This probably worked OK when set up between cooperative and consenting owners but should a property get sold to someone who is disagreeable then you may have a major problem, not least that you cannot sell. My advice is to get the situation properly and legally regularised.

barlaventoexpert

I believe that Artigo 1421° Clause 1 & 2. (Partes comuns do prédio) is the key to this as it defines what are defined by common areas of a condominium under Portuguese Law !

Artigo 1429° & Artigo 1436 defines insurance requirements for common parts of a condominium. Fire Cover appears to be the main reqt. although I know our condominium has a policy that includes all risks.

This thread on a local site suggests that at the present time there is no legal requirement for the condominium to have pool cover.

https://gestaodocondominio.pt/viewtopic.php?t=40010

However, artº 1436º does place an onus on the Administrator of the Condomonium to
"Regular o uso das coisas comuns e a prestação dos serviços de interesse comum; "

I understand that in case of negligence in using a common area such as a pool this, juridically, could rebound on the Administrator of the condominium.

Essentially, what most condominiums have is a multi-risk insurance policy that would cover such things.

As I said in my previous post, you really need to take official legal advice from a solicitor or condominium management company on this issue. You local Camara or Conservatorio Predial may also be able to provide clarification as to whether your complex is "condominium" or not.

You may not like to hear this but you need to shell out and get proper legal advice.

liveaboard

I double that remark.
For a couple of hundred Euros you can have a consultation that will tell you what your property actually is.

macliam

Are those comments inconsistent? Shelling out a couple of hundred is hardly free, is it?

MikeJ

liveaboard

A couple of hundred euros is likely around 0.1% of the value of the property.