Change to the Horizontal Property Regime

On the last 10th of January was published Law n. º 8/2022, which revises the horizontal property regime (hereinafter abbreviated as “Law”), amending, as a matter of obligation, the Civil Code, the Notary Code and Decree – Law No. 268/94 (Horizontal Property Regime).
The referred Law changes the understanding of the Administrator’s responsibility, adds new rules regarding the disposal of autonomous units and facilitates the definition of the assemblies. Among the various changes, we highlight the following:

A) Conservation and Fruition Charges and Condominium Assembly
1. The charges regarding conservation and usage must be paid by the joint owners at the time of the respective deliberations.
2. The expenses of the common areas that exclusively serve some of the condominium owners must be borne by them.
3. The joint owner in favour of whom the exclusive use of a common part, that affects the remaining common areas, is allocated, will only bear the value of the respective repair expenses in the proportion that fits.

B) Transmission of autonomous fractions
1. The owner who intends to sell his fraction must, mandatorily, present a written declaration requested by himself to the condominium administration, which includes: (i) the amount of all condominium charges in force in relation to the specific fraction, detailing its nature, respective amounts and payment terms; and (ii) indication of existing debts (if any), their nature, amounts and due dates. The declaration must be issued within a maximum period of 10 (ten) days after its request.
2. The declaration will not be necessary, if the buyer expressly declares so, in the deed or in the authenticated private document that entitles the sale of the fraction, consequently accepting responsibility for any debt of the seller related to the condominium.
3. The sale of an autonomous fraction must be indicated to the condominium management, specifying the name and tax identification number of the buyer. The lack of communication causes the seller to incur in all the expenses and charges inherent to the identification of the new owner.

C) Definition of urgent repairs
To avoid jurisprudential and doctrinal doubts, the Law clarifies what is meant by indispensable and urgent reparations: “Are considered indispensable and urgent the reparations to eliminate, in short-term, vicious or existent pathologies in common areas that may cause, at any moment, the aggravation of damage to the building or group of buildings, or assets, or put at risk the safety of people”.

D) Assembly of Owners
1. Notwithstanding the fact that the general meeting is held in the first fortnight of January, the Law now provides that the deadline for the meeting of the assembly to discuss and approve the accounts and budget, may exceptionally be held in the first quarter of each year, if this possibility is contemplated in the condominium regulation or results from a decision, approved by majority, of the condominium assembly.
2. The effectiveness of the resolutions is verified at the moment of approval of the Minutes Book that contain them, that is, it is not enough to just be signed.
3. The meeting can now be scheduled by email. For such, the owner must express this will in a condominium meeting held previously, and this expression of will must be recorded in the Minutes Book with the indication of the e-mail. When the notice is received by e-mail, the owner must send, by the same means, a copy of receipt of the respective notice e-mail.
4. Condominium assemblies can now be summoned and held by means of remote communication, preferably by videoconference, whenever the condominium administration decides to do so or the majority of the condominium owners so requires. The Condominium Administrator must ensure that everyone is able to participate in this type of meeting.
5. It is now allowed to hold meetings for thirty minutes after the scheduled time, if the first meeting has not been attended by the sufficient number of joint owners to obtain a decision, provided that it is held in the same place and the conditions are met to guarantee attendance at the same day, of joint owners representing at least a quarter of the total owners of the building.
6. The Minutes Book can now be signed in handwritten form or through a qualified electronic signature, either on the original document or on a document scanned with other signatures.

E) Roles of the Condominium Administrator
1. The Administrator’s functions were reinforced, such as: (i) verifying the existence of the common reserve fund; (ii) demand from the joint-owners their shares of the approved expenses, including legal interests due and the pecuniary sanctions established by the condominium regulations or by resolution of the assembly; and (iii) execute the resolutions of the assembly that have not been rejected, within a maximum period of 15 working days, or within the period established by that meeting; (iv) issue, within a maximum period of 10 days, a declaration of debt for the condominium, whenever requested, namely for the purposes of selling the fraction; and (vi) intervene in all urgent situations that require it, immediately convening an extraordinary assembly of joint owners to ratify its action.
2. In the case that extraordinary conservation works or innovations are approved, the administrator must present at least 3 (three) budgets.
3. With regard to the common parts, the administrator will be able to present criminal complaints, without the authorization of the condominium assembly.
4. The non-fulfilment by the administrator of his functions may end in civil or criminal liability.
5. The condominium is always represented in court by its administrator.

F) Reserve Fund
An extraordinary contribution will be mandatory to ensure the replacement, within a maximum period of 12 months, of the amount of the reserve fund that is used for a purpose other than conservation expenses.

The Law enters into force 90 days after its publication, that is, on April 10, 2022, with the exception of the amendment to article 1437 of the Civil Code, referring to the representation in court of the condominium to be carried out by the administrator, which entered into force last January 11, 2022.