Unpaid Condominium Dues: Simplified Preventive Seizure!
Following the model of the existing provisions governing residential leases, the new law on substandard housing has amended Article L.511-2 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures and now allows the association of co-owners to initiate a preliminary attachment of the bank accounts of co-owners who are in debt, without a court order, for the payable contributions referred to in the first paragraph of Article 19-2 of Law No. 65-557 of July 10, 1965. Thus, authorization from the enforcement judge is no longer required to place a provisional attachment on contributions due under the provisional budget, on expenses for work not included in that budget but which have been approved by a vote, or on contributions that have become due due to the failure to pay a single contribution by its due date. It should be noted, however, that the defaulting co-owner must first have received a formal notice of default that went unheeded. The co-owner also retains the right to challenge the validity of the seizure before the competent judge, who could then order the co-owners’ association to pay damages to compensate for the harm caused by the measure (particularly in the event of procedural irregularities). This new provision, which has been sought for many years, aims to secure the finances of condominium associations and prevent situations of financial deadlock.
