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 I - General Provisions (§§ 1291 — 1291s) › § 1291m - Rules governing use of apartments; violation as ground for civil action

The use and enjoyment of each apartment shall be subject to the following rules:
In the exercise of the ownership rights under this chapter, the following general principles shall govern, particularly, those stated in Section 1-A of this Act.
Infractions against these principles or the rules stated in the subsequent subsections shall warrant the exercise of action for damages by any owner or occupant affected, as well as of any other corresponding action under the law, including interdicts, those set forth in the Controversies and Provisional Legal Status Act, §§ 2871 et seq. of Title 32, and any other fair remedy.
(a) Each apartment shall be dedicated only to the use set forth for the same in the title referenced in § 1291 of this title.
(b) Apartment occupants shall not produce noises or trouble, nor execute acts that inconvenience the peace of the other owners or neighbors.
(c) The apartments shall not be used for purposes that are unlawful or immoral, or against good practices.
(d) All owners shall execute, at their own expense, the modifications, repairs, cleaning, security, and improvements of their own apartments, without obstructing the rightful use and enjoyment of others. It shall be the inescapable duty of every owner to perform the repair and security works as soon as necessary, so as not to affect the security and appearance of the building. All owners or occupants of an apartment are legally bound to allow repairs or maintenance works required by the building in their unit, allowing entrance to the apartment for their completion.
(e) No owner or occupant may, without the consent of all the owners, change the external form of the façade, nor decorate walls, doors, or exterior windows with colors or tones that differ from those of the development. When a proposal to change the external form of the façade, or to decorate walls, doors, or exterior windows with colors or tones that differ from those of the development, in a condominium of forty (40) or more apartments in which no person owns half or more than half of said apartments, is submitted for vote in the Apartment Owner’s Association, a seventy-five percent (75%) majority vote of the owners shall be sufficient to be approved, insofar as no opposing owner proves that the changes or alterations are unnecessary and adversely affect the appraisal value of his/her apartment. The state of architectural decay, the time and cost of remodeling at an individual and general level, as well as the projected appraisal value of each real property shall be taken into consideration to determine if the changes are necessary. Façade means the structure’s architectural and aesthetic design, as it arises from the master deed.
Once the agencies concerned issue a hurricane or storm warning, the use of any type of temporary or removable storm windows shall not constitute an alteration of the facade. Regarding permanent storm windows, the Board of Directors shall solicit quotes and design, type and specific color alternatives, and shall present same to the Apartment Owners’ Association, who shall decide which shall be installed by majority vote. Temporary storm windows shall be removed as soon as the hurricane or storm warning is over, or after the passage of the phenomenon, unless the area protected by the same has been damaged in such a manner that said storm windows constitute the only temporary protection.
When according to expert opinion, the original equipment or elements of the building that form part of its architectural design, such as windows, doors, iron grills, or ornaments, the Apartment Owners’ Association shall decide by majority vote which type and design of equipment or element shall substitute the original. Any owner who is interested in substituting such elements or equipment shall have to do so according to the type and design adopted by the Association. The imposition upon all the owners of performing the substitution shall require compliance with all the requirements set forth in subsection (d) of § 1293b of this title regarding these improvement works.
(f) All owners shall contribute according to the participation percentage set upon their apartment in the constitution title, and to that which is especially set forth, according to subsection (f) of § 1293b of this title, regarding the common expenses for the adequate sustainment of the building, its services, taxes, burdens, and responsibilities, included in apportionments, insurance premiums, reserve fund, or any other expense that is duly approved by the Apartment Owners’ Association.
(g) All owners shall observe due diligence in the use of the property, and in their relationships with other unit owners, and shall respond to same for violations committed by their own relatives, guests, or employees, and in general, by all persons who occupy their apartment for any reason, without prejudice of direct actions that proceed against such persons.
(h) No unit owner or occupant may install or attach any object to walls that may constitute a safety hazard to any person, to private or common property.
(i) All unit owners and occupants shall remain in strict compliance with the administrative provisions set forth in this chapter, in the title, or in the Regulations referenced in § 1293 of this title.
(j) The buyer of an apartment whose seller is not the developer, temporary administrator, or a constituent of the regime, accepts the manifest condition of the common elements of the condominium in the manner in which these are found physically at the time of the purchase, and subrogates to the position of the seller regarding the rights of same over the initiation of any action in which the change is challenged due to the breach of this chapter, the original mortgage title, or the Regulations of the condominium. Knowledge of the manifest changes that exist in the property for all purposes of third party registry shall be attributed to this buyer.
History —June 25, 1958, No. 104, p. 243, § 15; June 4, 1976, No. 157, p. 461, § 1; Dec. 17, 1999, No. 343, § 1; Apr. 5, 2003, No. 103, § 10, eff. 90 days after Apr. 5, 2003; Sept. 17, 2012, No. 261, § 1.