Sale of a unit: the settlement statement and what the board should watch

On every sale, one document decides who pays what. Done badly, it leaves arrears for every other owner to absorb.

When a unit changes hands, the notary needs a precise document: the settlement statement. Drawn up by the manager, it sets out what the seller still owes the association, what the association may owe them, and the sums that will fall to the new owner — voted works, upcoming provisions, works fund.

It is not strictly the board’s document: the manager prepares it and the seller pays for it. But the consequences are collective. A sloppy statement means arrears that escape the association and are then spread across everyone else.

Two documents, not one

• The pre-sale statement informs the buyer before the preliminary contract: charges for the unit, ongoing proceedings, the association’s financial position.
• The settlement statement comes at completion and squares accounts between seller, buyer and association.
• Its fee is capped and borne by the seller; the pre-sale document follows different pricing rules.
• Both require up-to-date accounts: they create nothing, they photograph a situation.

Who pays the charges in the year of the sale

The principle is easy to state: whoever owns the unit when a sum falls due owes it to the association. The seller settles the calls made before the sale; the buyer takes over after completion.

Seller and buyer may agree a different split between themselves, but that agreement binds only them: the association looks to the registered owner. It is a classic source of misunderstanding, especially for works voted before the sale but called afterwards.

What the board should watch

• That the seller’s arrears are actually deducted from the sale proceeds rather than left hanging.
• That works voted but not yet called are properly mentioned — that is what prevents a dispute six months later.
• That the new owner is added quickly to the association’s records: contact details, notification address, access to information.
• That successive sales do not make an old arrear disappear from debt tracking.

This ties directly into the arrears recovery procedure: a sale is often the last chance to recover a debt.

The perfect moment to check the accounts

A sale exposes everything left hanging: misallocated provisions, adjustments never made, voted works nobody can confirm were called. The board should use these moments to ask the manager precise questions.

A well-run annual review reveals the same things: see how to check the accounts and the pre-meeting checklist.

Welcoming the new owner

Buyers rarely arrive understanding how their association works. The first months often set their attitude for years: engaged owner, or systematic absentee at meetings.

A welcome message from the board — who does what, how to report an issue, when the meeting is held, where the documents live — costs ten minutes and changes the dynamic durably. See how to structure board communication.

A sale is the one moment when an old debt becomes recoverable without proceedings — provided someone was tracking it.

Track your owners with CoproHarmony

CoproHarmony keeps owners and residents up to date, stores the history of issues and works unit by unit, and shows instantly what was voted and when. Create your free space.