Mexico City Condominium Law: A Guide for Administrators

The regime does not exist until it is recorded in a public deed. Of everything Article 9 requires, two items become operational every month: the description of each exclusive-property unit with the percentage of undivided ownership (indiviso) assigned to it (sections II and IV), and the Internal Bylaws (section IX). That percentage is not a dormant notarial detail: it splits the fees and weighs the votes.

The deed and any other act affecting ownership are recorded with the Public Property Registry (Article 10). To amend it, Article 11 requires a combination almost nobody remembers in full: an Extraordinary Assembly attended by at least a simple majority of the owners, but with votes representing 75% of the condominium's total value. Attendance by headcount, decision by ownership share.

If your internal bylaws are the template the developer left behind, how to write condominium bylaws that actually work covers that ground.

The General Assembly is the condominium's supreme body, and it comes in exactly two kinds (Article 29):

Read it again: quarterly. Four ordinary assemblies a year, not one. The section was amended on 13 January 2015, so gathering the community once in December stopped being a tradition and became a breach of article 29. The opposite mistake costs too: the four cases in section II are closed, and calling an extraordinary assembly outside them takes genuine urgency.

The mechanics of building the agenda and drafting the minutes are covered in how to run an owners' assembly.

The notice must state who is convening, the kind of assembly, the date and place inside the condominium and the agenda (Article 32, section I).

How it is served (section II). Personally, by posting the notice in a visible place in the condominium and on its door, or by leaving it inside each unit where possible. Mexico City's law does not mention email, unlike Quintana Roo's. Send the notice by email and through the app as well — it leaves a trail — but do not let that replace the service the law actually requires.

Who may convene (section III). The Administrator, the Oversight Committee, the Procuraduría in the cases the law lists, and the owners themselves by filing the notice with the Procuraduría: 20% in condominiums of 2 to 120 units, 15% from 121 to 500, and 10% above 501. And one line that settles entire arguments: owners who are delinquent or in breach have no right to convene.

An announcement board that also sends the notice by email, with delivery receipts unit by unit does not replace article 32 service, but it proves you also told people.

The deadlines and quorums in section IV of Article 32 are legal minimums, not suggestions:

Here is Mexico City's trap: attendance is expressed in owners, but the vote is not. Article 31, section III gives each owner votes equal to their unit's percentage of undivided ownership. You seat the meeting by counting heads and decide it by counting shares; if your minutes blur the two, you have handed anyone a way to challenge the resolution. From the same article: voting is personal and direct, no one represents more than two owners, and the administrator may represent none (section IV). And whatever is agreed binds everyone, including those absent and those who dissented.

The minutes go into the minute book authorized by the Procuraduría, which the secretary must keep in sight; if the book does not turn up they are drawn up on separate sheets, recording that circumstance, and the Procuraduría is informed within fifteen business days. Afterwards the Administrator informs each owner in writing within 7 business days of the resolutions adopted (Article 31, sections VIII and IX). Keeping the minutes in a repository with access levels for admin, owners and everyone turns that duty into a thirty-second search.

Polling first does not replace the formal vote, but a poll that can be weighted by ownership share and exported per unit tells you whether the resolution has the numbers before you convene.

The condominium is run by whoever the General Assembly appoints (Article 37), which distinguishes the Owner-Administrator — an owner who is not a professional administrator — from the Professional Administrator. Article 38 requires the owner-administrator to prove they are current on their own obligations from the start and throughout their term; the professional to file the contract with the Oversight Committee, the bond and the certification issued by the Procuraduría; and both to take the training within 30 calendar days (Article 81) and register the appointment with the Procuraduría within 15 business days, because it is fully valid against third parties and authorities only for whoever can show a current registration. The term is one year, renewable for two more consecutive terms (Article 42).

The Oversight Committee is two to five owners, serving one year on an honorary basis (Articles 47 and 48). It reviews the accounts, issues an opinion on the account statements, supervises how the funds are invested, and is jointly and subsidiarily liable for the administrator's irregularities it knew about and failed to report to the assembly (Article 49).

Removal. The Assembly may freely appoint, ratify and remove the Administrator (Article 33, section II): it does not need serious cause, it needs an assembly. And the final paragraph of Article 43 adds a route for breach of any of its sections — revocation of the mandate at the request of at least 20% of the owners, ratified by the assembly.

Handover. Article 44 requires the outgoing administration to hand over to the incoming one, within no more than seven calendar days, every document: account statements, minute book, securities, property, and everything related to administrative and judicial proceedings. After that, the incoming administration may start whatever administrative, civil or criminal actions apply, and Article 87, section VII punishes that breach with 50 to 300 times the current UMA.

This is the easiest duty to audit, because the article spells out exactly what it must contain. Article 43, section XII requires delivering monthly, to each owner, an account statement approved by the Oversight Committee and obtaining proof of receipt. It must show:

1. Item a) — an itemized statement of income and expenditure for the previous month.
2. Item b) — the amount of outstanding contributions and fees, with the itemized breakdown available to the owners who ask for it, withholding for safety the personal data of owners and occupants.
3. Item c) — the balance of bank accounts and invested funds, stating interest.
4. Item d) — a detailed list of amounts payable to suppliers.
5. Item e) — an itemized list of delinquent owners and the amounts they owe.

The owner has eight days from the day after delivery to object; once that passes they are deemed to agree. Notice the tension between items b) and e): the law asks for the delinquency list and, in the same breath, orders personal data withheld, so the prudent reading is to identify by unit rather than by name. And do not confuse the two clocks: the statement goes monthly to each owner, and separately the Assembly reviews and approves the half-yearly statements (Article 33, section VIII).

With per-unit statements generated automatically, that monthly delivery stops being an afternoon in a spreadsheet.

Article 55 requires the fees the Assembly sets to be paid on time and defines what they are for, all split in proportion to each unit's ownership share: the administration and maintenance fund for day-to-day common-area spending, the reserve fund for tools, machinery, labour, works and maintenance, and extraordinary expenses, available when either fund falls short — paint, waterproofing, pump replacement, cistern cleaning or major repairs.

Article 56 is the legal answer to the classic "but I never use the pool": fees are not subject to offset, personal defences or any other circumstance that could excuse payment. With one escape hatch worth knowing: if the owner proves they lack the means or is in declared insolvency, the Assembly may agree they pay with work for the condominium.

And the number almost nobody quotes correctly: on unpaid fees, treating each outstanding fee separately, the rate is the statutory interest, which may not exceed nine percent per year (Article 33, section V). If your bylaws say 5% a month, they are far above the legal cap. Before approving a fee, review how the maintenance fee is calculated by ownership share.

Article 34 defines the delinquent owner precisely, and the threshold is not the same as in other states: two or more unpaid fees for the maintenance and administration fund and the reserve fund; one unpaid extraordinary fee; or a final judgment ordering unpaid damages to the condominium.

The effect operates by operation of law, with nobody having to resolve it first: the delinquent owner's vote is suspended while their right to speak is always preserved, they are not counted towards the seating quorum, and they are barred from being elected Owner-Administrator or a member of the Oversight Committee. With one express exception: they do vote in assemblies convened to amend the founding deed, wind up the regime or affect title to the property.

Restricting services. The General Assembly decides this, not the administrator acting alone: Article 33, section XII empowers it to resolve on restricting electricity, gas and other services for non-payment, provided those services are paid for out of those ordinary fees. And it closes with an unqualified prohibition: "the potable water service may not be restricted".

Court collection. Article 59 opens the civil enforcement route with a file of mandatory pieces: the statement of liquidated debts signed by the Administrator and the president of the Oversight Committee, the unpaid receipts, and a copy certified by a Notary or by the Procuraduría of the minutes or bylaws where the fees were set. It is available with two ordinary fees or one extraordinary fee outstanding.

The debt follows the unit. The new owner takes it with those charges attached (Article 28) and is jointly liable unless the Administrator has issued the no-debt certificate (Article 60), issued in no more than five business days from the day after the request (Article 43, section XXV).

For the full protocol, see delinquent neighbours: what the law says and how to collect; a per-unit delinquency map with late fees that apply themselves is the record that holds it together.

PROSOC — the Procuraduría Social de la Ciudad de México — appears in this law in three roles. Registration and training: it authorizes the minute book, registers the administrator, certifies the professional and teaches the mandatory courses (Articles 38, 43 s. I and 81).

Dispute resolution: it has jurisdiction over conflicts between owners, or between them and their Administrator or Oversight Committee, through conciliation, arbitration and the administrative sanctions procedure, applying the principle that a deficient complaint is supplemented in the owner's favour (Article 63). Before conciliation you must show prior mediation before the Administrator or the committee (Article 64).

Sanctions: Article 87 sets fines in Unidades de Medida y Actualización:

And there is a ladder beyond the fine: Article 88 empowers the Assembly to compel performance through the civil courts and, where the breach is repeated or serious, to seek penalties that may even reach the sale of the property.

A review you can run on your own administration today, with the article beside each line:

• Four ordinary assemblies a year, not one (art. 29, s. I)
• Notice of an ordinary assembly given 7 calendar days in advance, with 30 minutes between notices (art. 32, s. IV); an extraordinary one of extreme urgency, with whatever advance the circumstances demand (art. 32, s. V)
• Service in person and posted in a visible place, documented (art. 32, s. II)
• Quorum counted in owners, voting counted in ownership share (arts. 32 s. IV and 31 s. III)
• Minute book authorized by the Procuraduría, in sight at every assembly (arts. 43 s. I and 31 s. IX)
• Resolutions communicated in writing within 7 business days (art. 31, s. IX)
• Administrator registered with the Procuraduría and trained within 30 calendar days (arts. 38 and 81)
• Monthly account statement with the five items, Oversight Committee approval and proof of receipt (art. 43, s. XII)
• A receipt for every payment you take (art. 43, s. XI)
• Late interest within the 9% annual cap (art. 33, s. V)
• Service restriction resolved by the assembly, and never potable water (art. 33, s. XII)
• No-debt certificates within five business days (art. 43, s. XXV)
• Oversight Committee seated and with real access to the accounts (arts. 47 and 49)

If you fail three or more, the problem is not effort: it is that there is no system.

Koti does not provide legal advice. What it does is remove the manual work behind everything the law obliges you to document:

• Per-unit account statements, generated automatically and downloadable by the resident.
• A receipt when each payment is approved, carrying the community's logo.
• Configurable late fees, applied automatically the day after the due date.
• A delinquency map showing which units crossed the article 34 threshold.
• Special assessments with per-unit amounts and a live collection rate.
• Financial reports of income, expenses and cash flow, exportable for the assembly report.
• Documents with three access levels: admin, owners and everyone.
• Polls with one vote per resident, per unit, or weighted by ownership share, exportable to CSV.
• Stamped CFDI 4.0 issued when the payment is recorded, available as a platform add-on.

And one honest clarification: card, transfer and SPEI payment inside the app is in development. Today payments are recorded by reference and bank reconciliation.