Gastos Comunes: What do I legally HAVE to pay?

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Gastos Comunes: What do I legally HAVE to pay?

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Started 2 years ago by mfinch17
Latest reply from ChileExpat

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mfinch17
Member

I'm renting in Viña del Mar. We don't mind paying our fair share of the "actual" community expenses like maintenance of elevators and hot water boilers, etc., but there are many other charges that involve improvements in the building that we as renters do not have any investment in. In particular, part of our gastos go into a reserve fund. Why should we be contributing to a reserve fund for repairs or improvements to a building where we own no property? Those expenses are different than maintenance right? Or am I taking crazy pills?

I'm mostly looking for anyone who has been successful contesting expenses in their gastos comunes by having some knowledge of real estate laws in Chile. Also, any information on English speaking real estate lawyers in the Valpo/Viña area. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Mike :)

Posted 2 years ago #
ChileExpat
Key Master

In my experience the reserve fund is not only for future investments, but also for unforeseen expenses, such as repair of damage to a roof from a fallen branch (this happened in my last apartment). From what I can tell, the Ley de Copropiedad pretty much says that (if you are comfortable reading Spanish see: http://www.copropiedad.cl/noti_juridicos/personas.htm -- the paragraph starting with "Ahora bien, el propietario puede convenir en el respectivo contrato de arrendamiento..."). My understanding of what that lawyer says is that if there is language in your rental contract about what *type* of gastos comunes you have agreed to pay, then you may not be liable for "extraordinary" expenses, but that at the end of the day you, and not the owner, are the responsible party in the community. I have no legal training myself, but it looks like an issue worth pursuing if you're paying a lot for what seem like investments.

As for the English-speaking real estate lawyer in Viña/Valpo, I'm working on the expat.cl Business Directory now and will launch sometime in the next week, so I can't help you out with that just yet. Stay tuned!

Posted 2 years ago #

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