2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY-ONE - Civil Code (§§ 1 — 5305) › Subtitle 2 - Property Ownership and Its Modifications (§§ 1021 — 1875) › PART III - Common Ownership of Property (§§ 1271 — 1303) › Chapter 150 - Horizontal Property (§§ 1291 — 1294e) › Subchapter III - Administration and Insurance (§§ 1293 — 1293k) › § 1293f - Judicial decisions; challenge of decisions and determinations of Council, term

The agreements of the Condominium Association and the determinations, omissions, or actions of the Director or the Board of Directors, of the unit owner that submits the unit to the regime set forth by this chapter, during the term of administration considered in § 1293-1 of this title, or of the President and Secretary concerning the administration of nonresidential buildings that do not have units intended for residential use, or of nonresidential unit owners in condominiums in which at least one unit intended for residential use exists, shall be challengeable in the Court of First Instance by any unit owner who deems that the agreement, determination, omission, or action in question is extremely prejudicial to him/herself or the community of unit owners, or is against the law, the constitution title, or the Regulations referenced in § 1293 of this title. Challenges by owners of units intended for residential use shall be submitted before the Department of Consumer Affairs.
(a) The following procedure shall be observed in claims against the Administrator or the Board of Directors:
(1) In the annual assembly, the Condominium Association shall elect a Conciliations Committee comprised by three unit owners, one of which shall be selected from the members of Board of Directors, excluding the President.
(2) All unit owners who submit a claim before any pertinent court or forum to challenge any action or omission by the Board of Directors shall demonstrate having exhausted the following procedures:
(A) Having requested in writing the consideration of his/her claim before the Board of Directors and the same did not address the complaint within thirty (30) days from the return receipt requested of the claim. Said claim shall be submitted before the Board within thirty (30) days following the date in which the agreement or determination was made, if in his/her presence, or within the thirty (30) days following the date of receipt of the notification of the agreement or determination. If the action or omission is prejudicial, the term for the submittal of the claim shall be the thirty (30) days following the date in which the unit owner obtains knowledge of said prejudicial action or omission.
(B) The Board may resolve the matter or submit same of its own accord to the Conciliations Committee, unless the unit owner required that his claim be sent directly to the consideration of said Committee. The Committee shall resolve the matter within thirty (30) days after receiving the unit owner’s claim, and in any case, within a maximum term of sixty (60) days after the unit owner submits his/her claim to the Board.
(C) When submitting the claim, the unit owner shall certify that the claim was not addressed within the aforementioned terms, or that the solution proposed by the Board or the Conciliations Committee is extremely prejudicial to him/her.
The competent forum before which the claim is submitted may exempt the claimant from the previous requirement, if the nature of the case so warrants.
The challenge before the appropriate forum of those agreements and determinations deemed extremely prejudicial by the unit owner for him/herself or for the community of unit owners shall be exercised within thirty (30) days following the notification to the unit owner of an adverse decision by the Board or the Conciliations Committee, or within thirty (30) days since it is evident that the Board or the Conciliations Committee would not take any action regarding the unit owner’s claim, or in any case, after ninety (90) days elapse from the date in which the claimant submitted the claim to the Board.
(b) The challenge before the court or forum with jurisdiction of the agreements approved by the Condominium Association shall not require the previous consideration procedure before the Board of Directors.
The challenge of the agreements and determinations deemed by the unit owner as extremely prejudicial for him/herself or the community of unit owners shall be exercised within thirty (30) days after the date in which said agreement or determination was made, if in his/her presence, or thirty (30) days after receipt of the notification of the agreement, if the affected unit owner was not present at the time said agreement or determination was made.
(c) The challenge of agreements, actions, or omissions by the Board of Directors of the Condominium Association, with the exception of those made by the unit owner who submits the property to the regime, which breach the provisions of this chapter, the master title, or the Regulations of the condominium shall prescribe after two (2) years of having notified the agreement, taken the action, or acknowledged the omission. For unit owners who challenge this type of agreement of the Condominium Association, the term shall be calculated from the date of the notification of same, if there is compliance with the requirements set forth in the next paragraph.
When exercising the challenge of agreements by the Condominium Association, the unit owner shall prove having been present or represented in the meeting in which the challenged agreement was made and that said unit owner did not vote in favor of the same. If the unit owner was absent in spite of having been duly notified, he/she shall prove that said absence was justified.
(d) For all types of challenge before the court or forum with jurisdiction, including matters that would have required unanimous consent of all unit owners, the claimant shall also prove to be up-to-date in the payment of all due debts with the Condominium Association, including approved apportionments. This requirement shall not apply when the action is geared toward challenging agreements pertaining to the establishment or alteration of fees or apportionments.
After hearing the parties in controversy, the court or forum with jurisdiction shall decide according to the law, fairness, and peaceful coexistence norms. The agreement, determination, omission or action shall be temporarily valid, unless otherwise determined by the court.
(e) The forum of instance in which the claims or actions submitted by the unit owners or the Condominium Association are considered shall impose the legal fees of the litigation or claim upon the party that proceeded with temerity, as well as the payment of a reasonable amount for the attorney’s fees actually incurred by the party that obtained the requested remedy. The payment of the legal fees of the other party shall only be reprieved by means of a waiver by the winning party.
The unit owner who prevails in any claim shall be exempted from the payment of attorney’s fees or legal expenses incurred by the Board or the Condominium Association, and the penalty that, in its case, might have been imposed upon the defendant party.
History —June 25, 1958, No. 104, p. 243, § 42; June 4, 1976, No. 157, p. 461, § 9; Apr. 5, 2003, No. 103, § 34, eff. 90 days after Apr. 5, 2003.