What does a defaulting owner really owe?
Arrears almost never stop at the unpaid quarter. A formal notice left unanswered makes the whole rest of the year fall due — which is what most condo boards find out too late.
What is already due
The instalments whose due date has passed, and for how long.
The total of charge demands unpaid to date.
Since the due date of the oldest sum owed.
Interest and costs
The applicable rate is in the co-ownership rules; failing that, the statutory rate.
The rate set in the rules, or the statutory interest rate in force.
Formal notice, reminders: the necessary costs chargeable to the debtor.
Acceleration of the debt
The most powerful lever, and the least known.
The quarters still to run until the year end.
What is payable today
Total payable
€3,619.73
Including €2,400.00 made payable by acceleration of the debt.
- Instalments due
- €1,200.00
- Late interest
- €19.73
- Costs
- €0.00
- Acceleration
- €2,400.00
Interest is calculated on the sums already due only, over 120 days. The instalments made payable by acceleration have only just become so: they carry no interest yet.
The recovery timeline
Five steps, in this order. Each conditions the next: skip the formal notice and you lose the acceleration.
- 1
The informal reminder
A simple letter, often enough on its own. It starts no deadline, but it dates the first contact.
Management practice
- 2
The formal notice
By recorded delivery with acknowledgement. It is what opens the thirty-day period and makes everything that follows possible.
Article 19-2 of the act of 10 July 1965
- 3
Acceleration of the debt
Thirty days after an unanswered formal notice, the instalments of the year not yet due become immediately payable.
Article 19-2 of the act of 10 July 1965
- 4
Court proceedings
The agent applies to the court for an enforceable order. They act for the association, without needing authorisation from the meeting to recover charges.
Article 55 of the decree of 17 March 1967
- 5
Hold on the sale price
If the debtor sells their lot, the agent blocks part of the price at the notary’s. It is often the moment an old debt is finally settled.
Article 20 of the act of 10 July 1965
Four condo board mistakes
Recovery belongs to the managing agent. The board’s role is to follow it, not to run it — and that is precisely where things go wrong.
Writing to the debtor yourself
The board has no standing to claim a debt owed to the association. A reminder signed by a board member carries no weight and can sour the file.
Charging interest on everything
It runs only on sums already due. Applying it to instalments made payable by acceleration inflates the debt by an amount no court will uphold.
Charging every cost to the debtor
Only costs necessary for recovery are chargeable. The agent’s routine management costs stay with the association.
Letting a small arrear slide
An old debt is a difficult debt. Reviewing arrears at every board meeting takes ten minutes and avoids five-figure files.
These tools are calculation aids, provided for guidance only. They replace neither your co-ownership rules, nor the minutes of the general meeting, nor professional advice: in case of disagreement, your building’s own documents prevail.
Frequently asked questions about condo arrears
It is the mechanism that makes the instalments of the current year not yet due immediately payable, once a formal notice has gone unanswered for thirty days. One unpaid quarter can therefore become a debt covering the whole year.
Arrears are spotted early, or settled late
The difference between a three-hundred-euro debt and a five-figure file comes down to reaction time. CoproHarmony keeps the arrears position, the reminders and the replies in one place, so the board sees the drift before it becomes proceedings.
Track without chasing
How arrears are moving is visible at every meeting, without having to ask the agent for it.
Keep the timeline
Formal notices, replies, deadlines: the file builds itself as it goes, dated.
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