HORIZONTAL PROPERTY LAW OF ECUADOR

ISSUED BY THE LEGISLATION AND CODIFICATION COMMISSION OF H. NATIONAL

CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR
Art. 1.- The various floors of a building, the apartments or premises into which each floor is
divided, as well as the apartments or premises of single-story houses, when they are
independent and have access to the public road directly or through a common passage,
may belong to different owners.
The property title may consider the basements and habitable attics as a floor, apartment or
premises, provided that they are independent of the other floors, apartments or premises.
The ground floor is the floor that is at the level of the street that the building faces, or the
lowest level street when the building faces more than one street, or the level of the land on
which the building is built.
The basement floor is the floor immediately below the ground floor. If there is more than
one floor in the basement, it will take the ordinal number, as they move away from the
ground floor.
The floor immediately above the ground floor is called the first floor; second floor to the
one immediately above the first; and so on.
The mezzanines will be part of the floor to which they are attached and cannot be
considered as independent floors.
The law establishes as an essential requirement for an apartment or premises to belong to
different owners, two conditions already noted when talking about the attics and the
basement and they are these:
1.- that they are independent:- That is, the enjoyment of ownership by their owners
maintains characteristics of absolute separation from that which the owners of the other
apartments, apartments or premises exercise over their own property, since the exercise
of co-ownership rights over exclusive assets. Of course, the limits of this exercise are
marked by the regulations of the horizontal property regime.
2.- they must have access to public roads directly or through a common passage.- this
condition is a direct result of the previous one since it could hardly be said to speak of
independence if for the purposes of income or expenses

Art. 2.- Each owner will be the exclusive owner of his or her apartment, apartment or
premises and joint owner of the assets intended for common use.
Art. 3.- Common property and indivisible domain for each of the owners of the property are
considered to be those necessary for the existence, security and conservation of the
building and those that allow each and every one of the owners to use and enjoy their
apartment. , department or premises, such as the land, the foundations, the walls, the roof,
the doorman's room and its dependencies, the general heating, cooling, electrical energy,
sewage, gas and drinking water installations, the lobbies, patios, entrance doors, stairs,
accessories, etc., except as provided in the following article
REGULATIONS TO THE HORIZONTAL PROPERTY LAW
Official Registry No. 270
Executive Decree 1229
06/09/1999
Official Registry No. 396
Executive Decree 1759
12/23/2001
CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS AND PRINCIPLE

ARTICLE 1: PURPOSE.- The purpose of this General Regulation of the Horizontal
Property Law is to establish the principles and rules that must govern all properties whose
domain is constituted as a condominium or declared as a horizontal property regime.
ARTICLE 2: GENERAL SCOPE OF PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS.- All properties
declared under the horizontal property regime, or constituted as a condominium, must
meet the requirements contemplated in the Horizontal Property Law, this regulation and
the internal regulations issued to its administration, use, conservation, repair, maintenance
and security. If it is a property constituted as a condominium, or declared as a horizontal
property regime, whose purpose is commerce, the internal regulations must state the rules
for its promotion and advertising.
In the event that the property constituted as a condominium or declared as horizontal
property, is constituted by a mixed housing and commercial building, or is a complex of
housing and a shopping center, the rules of this general regulation will be applied,
differentiating the destination for which The property was built, constituted as a
condominium or declared as horizontal property.
CHAPTER III:
OF EXCLUSIVE DOMAIN ASSETS
Art. 13.- Exclusive assets.- Exclusive domain assets are: the apartment, house or housing
apartment or commercial premises belonging to the co-owners that are delimited in the
horizontal property plans, susceptible to independent use, with the elements and
accessories that are found in them, such as: interior doors, sanitary services, closets and
those not declared as common property.
Art. 14.- Rights and powers over exclusive assets.- Owners of ownership over exclusive
assets may use their apartment, apartment or commercial premises in accordance with the
provisions of the Horizontal Property Law, these General Regulations and the internal
regulations established. dictate. Whatever the legal act that is carried out on an exclusive
asset, it will include the rights over the common property assets that correspond to the
owner of the domain of the apartment, apartment or commercial premises.
Art. 15.- Taxes on exclusive assets.- Taxes, fees and contributions and other taxes that
affect exclusive assets will be the responsibility of each of their owners.
Art. 16.- Requirements to modify exclusive assets.- To introduce modifications to exclusive
assets it is necessary:
a) That the projected work does not compromise the resistant structure, safety, solidity or
health of the property constituted as a condominium or declared as Horizontal Property,
unless said modifications, in addition to not compromising them, have the authorization of
the co-owners attending the Assembly of Co-Owners in which said request is discussed
and approved and which, in addition, is in accordance with the provisions of the Horizontal
Property Law, these General Regulations and the internal regulations of each property that
are issued from time to time; and,
b) That the owner obtain the respective construction permits from the respective
Municipality, if necessary.
Art. 17.- The obligations of the owners and users, in any capacity, with respect to the
exclusive goods.- The following are the obligations of the owners or users with respect to
the exclusive goods:
a) Carry out the necessary repairs for the conservation, maintenance and improvement of
each of its apartments, apartments or commercial premises, being responsible for any
damage that through its fault has been caused or will be caused to common property or
other exclusive property;
b) Allow entry to your exclusive property to the people in charge of planning, inspecting or
carrying out work of common interest that affects common property or neighboring
exclusive property;
c) Maintain the property in the best conditions of hygiene, cleanliness, conservation and
safety.
Without prejudice to the obligations contained in these General Regulations, the Assembly
of Co-Owners may establish others that complement those established.
Art. 18.- Prohibitions on owners and users, in any capacity, with respect to their exclusive
assets.- It is prohibited for owners and users of exclusive assets in relation to them:
a) Carry out works on their exclusive assets without complying with the requirements
established in the Horizontal Property Law, these General Regulations and the internal
regulations issued for each property.
b) Build new apartments, apartments or commercial premises, or make constructions of
any kind, excavations or carry out works of any kind, if they contravene the provisions of
the Horizontal Property Law, these General Regulations and the internal regulations
issued. for each property. The permitted works will require the consent of the co-owners
referred to in article sixteen.
c) Use the apartment, apartment, commercial premises for a purpose other than that
provided for in the internal co-ownership regulations, or to that authorized by the
competent Internal Body, or for which they were built, or used for illicit purposes, or
allocate them to activities. prohibited by law, contrary or violating good customs and
morality in general or, when they affect the cleanliness or health of the condominium or the
safety and good conservation of the property constituted as a condominium or declared as
horizontal property;
d) Install machines that cause noise, produce vibrations, interfere with or distort radio and
television waves or alter the flow of electric current;
e) Store explosive, toxic, unhealthy, smelly or prohibited substances;
f) Give your apartment, apartment or premises for sale or lease to any person without prior
written communication sent to the administration of the housing complex or shopping
center declared as horizontal property, in accordance with the provisions of literal k) of
article 18; and,
g) Carry out acts in general that are contrary to the Horizontal Property Law, this General
Regulation, the internal regulations, the provisions of the Assembly of Co-owners and the
Administrative Bodies of the property constituted as a condominium or declared as
horizontal property.
CHAPTER IV:
OF SANCTIONS
Art. 19.- Sanctions.- The performance of one or more of the prohibited acts will be
sanctioned in accordance with the Horizontal Property Law, these General Regulations
and the internal regulations issued for each property, without prejudice to the payment of
repairs. and compensation if applicable.
In the event of default in the payment of ordinary and extraordinary expenses, the co-
owners meeting in the General Assembly will agree and arrange for the person to manage
the property declared as horizontal property to collect the respective default interest
calculated based on the rate of current active interest of the Central Bank of Ecuador, for
each month or fraction of a month without cancellation, in addition to the corresponding
extrajudicial and judicial collection expenses that may arise. If a co-owner or user does not
pay the established expenses, after thirty days of agreement, the person who exercises
the administration of the property declared as horizontal property will have the legal
representation of all the condominium owners to initiate the necessary legal actions for its
collection in accordance with the provisions. provided for in the Horizontal Property Law,
these General Regulations and the internal regulations issued for each property.
In case of recidivism, the person who manages the property, in addition to holding legal
representation, will take the measures and initiate the relevant legal actions provided for in
the Horizontal Property Law, these General Regulations and the internal regulations
issued. for each property.
The co-owners, due to the right to use the housing apartment or commercial premises
granted to their tenants and/or bailees, arising from the respective contract, in the event of
non-compliance with their obligations, they will assume said non-compliance and must
also to request the establishment of the sanctions detailed above, terminate the lease or
loan contract and proceed to recover the housing apartment or commercial premises
immediately, observing the procedure agreed upon in the contract or any other procedure
provided for in the Law. .