P.R. Laws tit. 5, § 4624
The payment of maintenance fees or lack thereof and other matters shall be governed by the following norms:
All member-owners are bound to contribute with the payment of the maintenance fees established by regulation or the assembly of members.
Said fees shall be paid in monthly installments and shall be due on the first day of each month. The member-owner shall have a grace period of ten (10) days to pay or otherwise sanctions or conditions may be imposed, pursuant to the general rules.
Any member who owes the equivalent of three (3) installments shall be deprived of his/her rights as a member to participate with voice and vote and to elect or be elected in the assembly of the cooperative until the total amount of the debt is settled. In addition, he/she may be suspended from any service provided from a common area, such as water, electricity, telephone or other utilities, or the use and enjoyment of the common areas of the cooperative, except for those common areas that are essential for access to the housing unit.
The debts of the members with the cooperatives shall constitute a lien upon their housing unit. Any voluntary or involuntary acquirer of a housing unit shall be solidarily liable for said debt, without prejudice to his/her right to collect from the grantor those amounts he/she paid as joint debts.
If the mortgage creditor of a housing unit acquires it involuntarily through the foreclosure of a mortgage, he/she shall assume the responsibility to continue to pay the contributions corresponding to said housing unit.
Mortgage credits constituted prior to submitting the real property to this regime shall be subject to the provisions of the Mortgage Law and the Property Registry Act, §§ 2001 et seq. of Title 30, but the creditor, upon initiating the procedure for their collection, shall direct the action simultaneously for the total amount guaranteed against the cooperative and all the member-owners of the housing units that are subject to such credits. If said credits are constituted after the organization of the real property, they shall be distributed in the manner provided in the Mortgage Law and the Property Registry Act, §§ 2001 et seq. of Title 30, establishing the amount or part thereof for which each housing unit shall be responsible.
History —Sept. 1, 2004, No. 239, § 35A.34.