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The need to submit a real estate property to the Condominium Regime must take into account a number of requirements and procedures before the Registro Nacional and the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y Arquitectos, among other Costa Rican institutions.
A condominium, according to the Ley Reguladora de la Propiedad en Condominio (No. 7933, published in La Gaceta on November 25 of 1999) is a property susceptible of an independent use by different owners, with common elements of indivisibility.
Types of properties that can be subject to the condominium regime
The main types of properties that can be subject to the condominium regime, are detailed in the Regulatory law and its Regulations, dated April 19 of 2005:
- Floors, commercial establishments, offices, parking lots or departments divided in one or more buildings, to be built or constructed on one lot or several, whether they belong to one or more owners or concessionaires.
- The different buildings that are constructed on a single state, if they belong to different owners.
- The real estate properties suitable for construction, including the lots or rural properties in which the land is divided, as well as the structures that are built on them.
- A building or housing development, commercial, touristic, industrial or agricultural development, already built (…) if it has independent and indivisible common elements and fulfill all the technical requirements of this law.
- A property given in concession that has the prior authorization of the authorities which granted the concession.
Our law firm will take care of the entire process for the constitution of your condominium project
ERP Lawyers has extensive experience in Real Estate Law and constitution of condominiums, for which we fully comply with the requirements that will guarantee a safe business for our clients:
- Verify the identity of the property owner, whether is a regular person or a Legal Corporation.
- Execute a registry study to confirm that the property where the condo is going to be located is suited for that purpose.
- Confirm that the public deed includes issues such as:
- Characteristics of the land to be submitted to the condominium regime (measurements, boundaries, number of the registered blue print)
- The purpose for the condo: residential, commercial, touristic, industrial, agricultural, livestock or any other lawful use. You must include the name given to the condominium; it should not be already registered in the Registro Nacional.
- Description of each of the units (location, measurements, boundaries and other details, for proper identification).
- The general purpose of the condominium and each unit.
- The common property, and the characteristics to identify, locate and delimit it.
- The total value of the condominium, the cost of each unit, and its proportional value regarding the total value of the condominium.
- The Regulations for the Condominium Administration.
Also, remember that the project´s blueprints must be submitted before the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y Arquitectos in a digital format, and in the same request, the permits from Instituto Nacional de Vivienda y Urbanismo (INVU), the Ministerio de Salud y and the respective municipality, will be granted.
Once the blueprints are approved, as well as the building permit, the Ley Reguladora de la Propiedad en Condominio specifies that the Notary Public will attest them to prepare the deed of the condominium.
Consulted sources:
– Ley Reguladora de la Propiedad en Condominio (1999)
– Reglamento a la Ley Reguladora de la Propiedad en Condominio (2005)
– “La propiedad en condominio”, a research from the course Derecho Notarial II, by the students Gustavo Azofeifa, Francisco Soto y Paola Rivas. Escuela Libre de Derecho, July 2013.
