Within the complexes, it is normal for certain problems to arise among residents. The lawyer Andrés Martinez Diaz, who specialized in horizontal property, explained which are the most frequent and how they can be approached to solve them.
The biggest conflict
According to Martinez, the collection of delinquent portfolios is the most common conflict within the horizontal property regime.
When several residents and/or owners do not pay the administration or other charges, the whole goes into crisis, since an imbalance is generated in finances and in the provision of services in charge of the administrations such as the maintenance of common areas, the payment of security and cleaning services, among others.
Other common conflicts
For the expert condo attorney, there are many problems that arise within joint ownership. Among them:
• The possession of domestic animals
• Use of parking for visitors and communal parking
• Domestic violence
• Children without parental supervision
• Drug consumption and micro-trafficking
• Brawls
• Lack of horizontal property regulations
Possible solutions to problems
“The first way is to provide the groups and especially the legal entities of horizontal property with tools to deal with the conflict in an evolved, prompt, agile and effective way,” said Martinez.
In addition, it is important to create coexistence committees and that they fulfil their function. “The coexistence committees are created by the Horizontal Property Law but people do not even know what they are for, they do not know that they are alternative mechanisms for conflict resolution and that they act as mediators, ” added the lawyer.
What to do if problems persist
Once the coexistence committee has exercised its function, trying to mediate, proposing solutions and facilitating agreements, if the conflict cannot be resolved, it must go to a judicial instance. In these cases, ordinary justice must deal with the conflict.