The Horizontal Property Law is the regulation responsible for specifying the possession rights over private property and the co-ownership rights over land and common property, with the aim of guaranteeing the conditions of security and coexistence of the people who own them.
Horizontal property is a mix between individual ownership and co-ownership, that is, between assets that are for exclusive use and those that are shared. Therefore, the Horizontal Property Law, 675 of 2001, does not speak about a particular property but is a regime that normalizes the way in which a property is divided.
Likewise, within the Horizontal Property Law, the relationship between the owners of each part and their rights is considered. Firstly, it talks about the right that a person exercises over an apartment, home, warehouse, parking lot, or premises of a building, residential complex, or industrial complex, who have acquired said properties separately; and, secondly, it talks about the rights that these people have in common over areas such as parks, hallways, and elevators.
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Thanks to the Horizontal Property Law, it is possible to clearly understand how the co-owners must organize themselves to correctly manage the common goods and services and how they must manage matters of interest to them.
The Horizontal Property Law, in article 4, dictates that to become a legal entity, it must be established by public deed in the Public Instruments Registry office.
Who should work for the horizontal property?
The General Assembly and The Administrator
In accordance with the Horizontal Property Law, a general assembly must be created to appoint an administrator. The administrator will be the legal representative of the constituted legal entity and will be able to enter into contracts. Furthermore, the administrator must be responsible for any damages caused by the legal entity to the owners or individuals.
All owners of private property in the building or complex must participate in the general assembly and have the right to express their opinions and vote. In addition, the members of the assembly must regulate the general, economic, and financial aspects of the horizontal property and individually adopt the decisions that are made there.
The Board of Directors
This body is created voluntarily to support the administrator’s work; the Horizontal Property Law does not compulsorily require it. However, it is common in buildings or residential complexes made up of more than 30 private assets and consists of three people belonging to the assembly or its delegates.
The Tax Auditor
The figure of the tax auditor is only necessary for commercial or mixed-use complexes according to the Horizontal Property Law, which is in charge of exercising the functions provided for by Law 43 of 1990 and controlling the different operations of the legal entity.
This person must be a certified public accountant and cannot be the owner of any private property within the condominium in question. She also cannot be related up to the fourth degree of consanguinity with the administrator or any member of the board of directors, nor commercial, civil, or affinity ties that could vitiate her performance.
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