In a co-ownership sale, who pays the charges: the seller or the buyer?

The legal principle: the debtor is the co-owner on the due date

The principle rule is laid down by Article 6-2 of the Decree of 17 March 1967: payment of the provision on charges (provisional budget) falls on the seller or the buyer depending on whichever is co-owner on the day the provision falls due. For the provisional budget, the due date generally falls on the first day of each quarter or of the period set by the meeting.

For expenses outside the provisional budget (major works, etc.), the surplus or shortfall revealed by the approval of the accounts is also charged to whoever is co-owner at the time the corresponding sums fall due. It is the managing agent who, on receiving notification of the sale, closes the accounts and determines what falls to each party vis-à-vis the association.

The contractual arrangement in the deed of sale

The rules of the decree determine which of the seller or the buyer is the debtor vis-à-vis the association. But the seller and buyer can arrange between themselves the final allocation of the charge. In practice, the notarial deed very often provides for a pro rata temporis allocation: each party bears the charges corresponding to their effective period of ownership over the current quarter.

This agreement is not enforceable against the co-owners' association, which continues to claim the sums from the co-owner designated by the decree. It governs only the internal relations between the seller and the buyer.

• The decree designates the debtor vis-à-vis the co-owners' association
• The deed of sale can allocate the final charge pro rata between seller and buyer
• This arrangement is not enforceable against the association, which applies the decree

The role of the notaire and the objection over the price

The notaire plays a central role. Before the sale, they obtain from the managing agent a dated statement (provided for by Article 5 of the 1967 Decree) recapitulating the sums owed by the seller to the association and those that will fall to the buyer. This statement makes it possible to settle the seller's situation at the time of the sale.

To secure the recovery of unpaid charges, the managing agent has a right of objection over the sale price, exercised by registered letter within a set period after notification of the sale by the notaire. This objection allows the association to recover the charges owed by the seller before the price is paid to them.