The condominium debt statement: what the law requires

The initiative lies with the selling owner. No. 1 says that the owner, for the purpose of entering into a contract to dispose of the fraction they own, requests the administrator to issue a written statement.

It is not the buyer or the notary who asks: it is the seller. And they ask the condominium administrator, who has a duty to issue it.

The purpose is to give the buyer a truthful picture of what comes with the fraction — not only debts, but all charges in force and when they fall due.

Issuing this statement is listed among the administrator's duties: paragraph q) of article 1436, no. 1, of the Civil Code requires a debt statement to be issued within a maximum of 10 days whenever the owner requests it, notably for the purpose of disposing of the fraction.

No. 1 is meticulous, and worth reading slowly because each element is enforceable. The written statement must set out the amount of all condominium charges in force for that fraction, specifying their nature, amounts and payment deadlines, as well as, where applicable, existing debts with their nature, amounts, and dates of constitution and maturity.

So there are two blocks. The first always exists: the charges in force, even if everything is paid up. The second exists only if there is debt.

A statement that merely says «no debts» falls short of what the law asks, because it omits the charges in force, their nature, amounts and payment deadlines.

No. 2 fixes the deadline: the statement is issued by the administrator within a maximum of 10 days from the request.

These are calendar days. Under article 279, paragraph b), of the Civil Code, the day the request is made does not count — counting starts the next day. And under paragraph e), a period ending on a Sunday or public holiday moves to the first working day.

The period runs from the request, which makes it useful to date the request in writing. A request made out loud at a meeting leaves the count without a provable starting point.

Two articles fix the same 10 days from both sides: article 1424-A, no. 2, on the document, and article 1436, no. 1, paragraph q), on the administrator's duty.

The same rule that sets the deadline says what the statement is: a mandatory supporting document for the deed or the authenticated private document disposing of the fraction.

On the notarial side, Law 8/2022 amended article 54 of the Notarial Code accordingly: instruments transferring rights over buildings may not be drawn up without reference to the statement provided for in article 1424-A, no. 2, of the Civil Code.

That is why the statement appears on the list of documents the notary or lawyer asks for before booking the deed. Without it — or without the express waiver in the next paragraph — the transaction does not proceed.

No. 3 opens an alternative, and it is worth understanding its price. Liability for existing debts is assessed by reference to the moment they should have been settled, unless the buyer expressly declares, in the deed or authenticated private document, that they waive the administrator's statement and accordingly accept liability for any debt the seller owes the condominium.

The rule, then, is one of timing: the debt belongs to whoever should have settled it when it fell due. The buyer does not answer for arrears predating their purchase.

But a buyer who expressly waives the statement trades that protection for speed: they accept liability for any debt the seller owes the condominium, including debt they knew nothing about.

Waiving the statement to avoid waiting 10 days is the decision most often regretted later. A debt that surfaces after the deed becomes the buyer's, with no recourse to the condominium.

For the future the rule is simple. Under no. 4, amounts constituting condominium charges, whatever their nature, that fall due after the fraction is transferred are the new owner's responsibility.

One administrative step remains, and it is the seller's. Article 3, no. 3, of Decree-Law 268/94 requires the disposing owner to notify the administrator of the sale, by registered post dispatched within a maximum of 15 days from it, giving the new owner's full name and tax identification number.

And no. 4 of the same article says what failing to do so costs: the omission makes the seller liable for the expenses of identifying the new owner and for the charges incurred through late payment of amounts falling due after the sale.

• Charges due before the transfer: owed by whoever should have settled them.
• Charges due after the transfer: owed by the new owner.
• Notice of the sale to the administrator: 15 days, by registered post, with the buyer's full name and tax number.