Condominium and HOA Disputes in Costa Rica

A condominium is a small government

Condominium ownership in Costa Rica runs under the Ley Reguladora de la Propiedad en Condominio, Ley 7933. Buying a filial does not just buy you an apartment or a lot. It enrols you in a body with a constitution, a budget, an elected administration and the power to bind you to decisions you voted against.

On this coast a large share of the housing stock is in condominium regime rather than plain titled lots, and a large share of the owners are abroad for most of the year. That combination is where the disputes come from.

Votes are counted by value, not by head

Under article 24 the quorum for the owners’ assembly is formed by votes representing at least two thirds of the value of the condominium. If that is not reached, a second convocation goes ahead with whoever turns up.

The part that surprises people is that voting power is proportional to each unit’s percentage of condominium value. It is not one unit, one vote. An owner holding several filiales, or one large one, carries weight accordingly, and in developments where a developer still holds unsold units that can be decisive.

The second-convocation rule is the other thing worth internalising. A small group who show up can validly bind a majority who did not. If you own here and live elsewhere, giving somebody a power of attorney to attend is not an administrative nicety.

The 2022 reform that most websites have not caught up with

Article 27 was substantially reformed by Ley 10229, in force from 29 June 2022, and a lot of guidance published online still describes the old position.

Before the reform, modifying the condominium’s reglamento and changing proportional areas required unanimity of all owners. In a development with absentee or foreign owners, unanimity is close to unobtainable, and it left many condominiums unable to update rules written years earlier by a developer.

After the reform, those decisions require at least two thirds of the total condominium value. Unanimity is retained for the disposal of common goods where that involves reducing or eliminating green areas.

If somebody tells you a change is impossible because it needs every owner, check the date on their information. It may simply be out of date. We would also note that this area of the law was amended rather than rewritten, and where a specific threshold matters to a decision you are about to take, it is worth confirming against the current consolidated text rather than relying on any summary, including this one.

Challenging a decision you think is unlawful

Article 26 gives any owner who considers their rights harmed the right to bring a claim within three months following the decision becoming final. It runs as a sumario proceeding under the Codigo Procesal Civil.

Three months is not long for an owner who was not at the meeting and hears about the decision second hand. This is the deadline that quietly expires while somebody is deciding whether the fight is worth it. If a resolution has been passed that affects your unit, your access, your fees or your ability to build, the time to get advice is that month.

Unpaid fees are secured against the unit

Owners who stop paying tend to assume this is an ordinary debt. It is not, and article 20 is the reason.

Unpaid common expense quotas, together with fines and interest, constitute a mortgage-grade charge on the filial. An authorised public accountant issues a certification of the sums owed, and that certification constitutes a titulo ejecutivo hipotecario.

In practice that means the condominium does not have to prove the debt from scratch. It has an instrument that supports execution against the unit itself, and that execution can end in the unit being auctioned. For a delinquent owner this is considerably more serious than an unpaid invoice. For a condominium being run properly, it is the most effective tool in the statute and it is routinely underused by administrations that have never been told it exists.

The administrador

Under article 29 the administrador is designated in accordance with the condominium’s reglamento, by the owners’ assembly, which also approves the remuneration. Article 30 puts the care and oversight of common goods and services in the administration’s hands.

Article 23 sets out a graduated sanctions structure running from a written warning through a fine to an obligation to vacate, which is the mechanism behind most disputes about noise, short-term letting, pets, building works and use of common areas.

Disputes with an administration usually turn on documents rather than principle: whether the assembly was properly convened, whether the decision was within its powers, whether the accounts support the fees being charged, and whether the reglamento says what everyone believes it says. That is where we start.

Before you buy into a condominium

The questions worth asking before closing are not the ones buyers usually ask. What does the reglamento actually restrict, and when was it last amended. Whether the fees are current on that filial, given that arrears attach to the unit. What the assembly has resolved in the last two years. Whether the condominium is in litigation with anyone. Whether common areas were built as approved. Whether any part of the development sits in the maritime zone, which changes the regime entirely.

These are answerable before a purchase and expensive afterwards.

What we handle in condominium matters

• Challenging an assembly resolution within the three-month window
• Convocation and quorum defects that make a decision attackable
• Collection of delinquent cuotas through hipotecaria execution
• Defence of an owner facing execution over condominium fees
• Disputes with an administracion over accounts, fees and powers
• Amendment of the reglamento under the reformed article 27
• Sanctions, fines and vacate orders under article 23
• Short-term letting restrictions and how they are enforced
• Common area construction, alteration and green area questions
• Powers of attorney so absent owners can be represented and vote
• Condominium review as part of purchase due diligence
• Developments that sit partly in the maritime zone

Common questions about condominiums

A decision was taken at a meeting I could not attend. Can I challenge it?

Article 26 lets any owner who considers their rights harmed bring a claim within three months of the resolution becoming final, as a sumario proceeding. Three months goes quickly for an owner who was abroad and heard about it late, so get advice in the month you find out rather than the month you decide it matters.

Can they really auction my unit over unpaid fees?

Article 20 makes unpaid quotas, fines and interest a mortgage-grade charge on the filial, and a certification issued by an authorised public accountant constitutes a titulo ejecutivo hipotecario. That supports execution against the unit, which can end in auction. It is not an ordinary unsecured debt.

Our reglamento is twenty years old and nobody can agree. Are we stuck?

Probably not any more. Modifying the reglamento used to require unanimity, which was unattainable in a development full of absentee owners. Ley 10229 changed that in June 2022 to at least two thirds of condominium value. Unanimity is kept for disposals of common goods that reduce or eliminate green areas.

I own one small unit and a neighbour owns six. Do we have the same vote?

No. Voting power is proportional to each unit's share of condominium value rather than one vote per unit, and quorum under article 24 is measured the same way. Where a developer still holds unsold filiales, that can control outcomes.

The meeting went ahead with almost nobody there. Is that valid?

It can be. Article 24 sets quorum at two thirds of condominium value, but where that is not reached a second convocation proceeds with whatever attendance appears. A small group can validly bind everyone else, which is why a power of attorney matters if you are not in the country.

What should I check before buying a filial?

What the reglamento restricts and when it was last amended, whether fees on that unit are current since arrears attach to the filial, what the assembly has resolved recently, whether the condominium is in litigation, whether common areas were built as approved, and whether any part of the development sits in the maritime zone.

Related pages

• Real estate and due diligence
• Maritime zone concessions
• Eviction and tenants in default
• Cobro judicial and debt collection

Informacion general, no constituye asesoria legal. / General information, not legal advice. Case accounts on this site are anonymized and published with consent. Past results do not guarantee a future outcome.