The extinction of a condominium is the disappearance of the common ownership of a certain property by several persons. The condominium is the ownership in common by several owners, in which ownership quotas are assigned to each of them.

The most common cause for the extinction of a condominium is the will of the owners not to continue to form part of this community. However, it is not the only one.

When it is not possible to terminate the condominium by common agreement and the property is indivisible, the division of the property will be carried out by auction.

Causes for the extinction of the condominium:

The causes for the extinction of the condominium are established in the Civil Code in its articles 395 to 406.

The Civil Procedure Act must also be taken into account, in the event that the division of property must be carried out by means of a judicial auction.

The causes for the extinction of condominium are, in principle, the same as for the extinction of ownership, such as abandonment, destruction or usurpation, among others.

However, due to the conditions of the condominium, the Civil Code establishes some specific causes:

Renunciation of the rights of the co-owners in favour of one of them.
Sale of the property to a third party and distribution of the proceeds among the participants of the community.
Division of common property. Any co-owner has the right to request the division of property. It is a judicial procedure, the initiation of the division of a common property declares the extinction of the condominium. The result can be a material division, constituting a horizontal property, or an economic division if the property is indivisible. In this case, one of the owners retains ownership and the others receive compensation according to their shares. The division can also be achieved by auction, if there is no agreement between the parties.

Extinction of condominium by mutual agreement:

The extinction of the condominium can be achieved by mutual agreement, choosing one of the forms provided, either that one of the owners acquires the undivided shares of the others, or that the one who wishes to withdraw from the condominium receives compensation.

It is also possible that the property is sold and the co-owners distribute the money according to their shares.

The co-owners who opt for an agreement must carry out a valuation of the property they wish to divide and establish pre-agreements on the manner in which the valuation will be carried out, as well as a commitment to accept this valuation.

The deed for the extinction of the condominium can be executed before a notary, paying the corresponding tax.

In the case of a property that is the family home of a married couple in the process of divorce or separation, the extinction of the condominium must be stated in the regulatory agreement.

If this agreement is approved by the Courts, it becomes, together with the sentence, the deed of extinction of the condominium. When this is done in this way, unlike a divorce before a notary, no stamp duty is payable.

Extinction of the condominium by judicial means:

If the co-owners do not agree, either on the price or the form of division of the property, the only possible way is to resort to the courts by filing a lawsuit for the division of common property.

The action for division of the common thing implies requesting the court to extinguish the condominium, either by awarding each of the owners their corresponding share if the property is divisible, or by selling and subsequently distributing the resulting money, if it is indivisible.

In reality, there is no specific procedure in the law to carry out the judgement of division of common property, but the idea is to achieve this in the most expeditious way possible, but without infringing the rights of any of the parties.

For this reason, one of the most commonly used procedures is that provided for in article 670 of the Civil Procedure Act, which establishes the auction or public auction of the property.

Necessary documentation:

Title deeds of the property subject to the dissolution of the community property.
If a company is involved, the powers of attorney or appointment of administrators in force.
In the case of urban properties, certificate from the community of owners that they are up to date with the payment of community fees.
Cadastral references of the property (last IBI receipt).
Whether or not they are rented.
Value assigned to each property.
How the property is allocated to the co-owners.
How the expenses of the operation are paid: Notary, Plus Valía municipal (in the case of urban properties).

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Estrella Corbacho

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