Ley de propiedad horizontal

The Law 49/1960 regarding the Horizontal property, modified by the law 8/1999 of 6th of april has the aim to regulate the special form of ownership established in the article 396 of the Spanish civil code.
The law of “Propiedad horizontal” (LPH) is addressed first of all to the owner of the property as a model to solve controversy in the community and also as an alternative to Court’s decision.
The LPH is the only law in the Spanish Jurisdiction that allow citizen in a community of owner to take decision and give permission on certain matters that goes against the law.
LPH and Positive Law in general are a group of abstracts rules; the aim of this law is organize the relations of convivence in a community between owners and the use of co-property with the rest of the neighborood.
When we talk about participations in a community of owners we commonly refer to the coefficient of the quote of participations of the owners, that is impossible to change and it is included in the title deed of the complex.
These coefficients are established in accordance to the architecthonical reality of the building and not the racional use of the common elements between the owners.
Aproximately 70% of the Spanish population is appointed to this law, an high percentage of people that every day is living in between juridical and personal conflicts, make most of the owners thinkin about “leaving out” of the community life.
The difference between coefficent of property (Coeficiente de propiedad) and quote of participation (Quota de participation) is underlined in the article 5 of the LPH where is stated the way to determine the quote of participation by taking as base the area built of each residential or commercial unit according to the total of the complex, its ubication in the complex, the use that any single owner is make of the complex in the common spaces.
The most important factor in this calculation of the coefficient of property is to determine the racional use of the common area or spaces between the owners.
The contribution to the general expenses of the community is calculated according to the quote of participation assigned to each residential or commercial space.
It is possible to distinguish 3 types of general expenses:
- conservation
- mainteinance
- use of the building
Usually the quote is unique and fixed but sometimes two quotes are issued:
1) The value quote, that express the value of each single property according to the complex, based upon criteria of the area built.
2) The functional quote, based upon the criteria of the use of the common area made by each owner.
A quote of participation is attribute to each residencial unit or commercial one , and is not a coefficient of property.
The Community in horizontal property is divided phisically into residencial and commercial units, and economically in fraction or quote.
The quote of participation that correspond to each residencial or commercial unit express the proportional value of the unit into the totality of the construction.