P.R. Laws tit. 31, § 1268a
The obligation of each owner for his proportionate share in the common expenses shall constitute a lien on his corresponding accommodation, timeshare or vacation club right. Therefore, the voluntary acquirer of an accommodation timeshare or vacation club right shall be jointly liable with the conveyer thereof for the amounts owing by the latter, pursuant to this subchapter, up to the time of the conveyance, without prejudice to the acquirer’s right to recover from the other party, the amounts paid by him as such joint debtor.
The aforesaid obligation shall be enforceable on whomever maybe the owner of the accommodation, timeshare or vacation clubright, even if the same has not been recorded in the Registry of Property, or alienated in favor of any person.
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in any other statute, the lien herein constituted shall be subordinate only to (i) the lien for real property taxes constituted pursuant to the provisions of §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21, known as the “Autonomous Municipalities Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of 1991” or any successor statute thereto (ii) the lien which may be constituted by any present or future statute providing for the creation of tourism improvement districts and intended to secure the collection of any assessments which may be imposed in connection with said districts, and (iii) the lien which may be constituted by any present or future statute providing for the creation of special infrastructure improvement districts and intended to secure the collection of any assessments which may be imposed in connection with said districts. The effectiveness of this lien shall not require the recording in the Registry of Property of an attachment to the property so encumbered, but the lien shall only secure against third parties an amount equivalent to the last five annual charges of assessments of common expenses and the current year.
The delinquent titleholder shall be required by certified mail, return receipt requested, sent to the last address of record with the administrative entity to pay all sums owed on account of its unpaid participation in common expenses. Said demand will also contain a warning to the effect that if payment is not made within thirty (30) days, the creditor may proceed to collect the indebtedness by means of the non-judicial procedure established in Subchapter XIII of this chapter.
Upon expiration of the aforesaid thirty (30) days, the creditor of a debt for unpaid common expenses may obtain a cautionary notice of attachment of the real property right over the time share or vacation club right or the individual accommodation of the delinquent titleholder, without any requirement other than the presentation in the Registry of Property of a certificate of attachment executed by an authorized officer of the managing entity under oath, either before a notary public setting forth the following:
(1) Name and social security of the delinquent titleholder, if such information is contained in the records of the managing entity (but the validity of the certificate of attachment will not be affected if the social security number is omitted or is incorrectly transcribed),
(2)
(a) In the case of an individual accommodation, the particulars described in § 1264(1)(b) of this title, related to the specific accommodation, as well as the share pertaining to that accommodation in the facilities.
(b) In the case of a time share or vacation club right, the particulars described in § 1264(1)(b) of this title, related the accommodation which is the object of the timeshare or vacation club right, the share pertaining to said timeshare or vacation club right in the facilities, as well as a full and accurate identification of the timeshare or vacation club right being conveyed, as the same was identified in the deed of dedication.
(3) The recording data of the right subject to the cautionary notice.
(4) The total amount of unpaid common expenses.
(5) That said amount is due and payable in full.
(6) A summary of the steps previously taken to demand payment and that, in spite thereof, payment has not been made.
Once the certificate of attachment is filed in the Registry of Property, said certificate shall constitute sufficient notice of attachment after which the nonjudicial foreclosure procedure of this Subchapter XIII of this chapter may be commenced. Immediately after the receipt of the certification of attachment, the Registrar in charge of the corresponding Section of the Registry of Property in which the certification was filed, shall record and return the same to the creditor within sixty (60) days, confirming that it has been recorded, in which case the fees to be collected by the Registry shall be as established in §§ 2001 et seq. of Title 30, better known as “the Mortgage Law of Puerto Rico”.
If a certificate of sale of a real property right subject to attachment is filed, the cautionary notice will be of no further force and effect and shall be cancelable as provided in §§ 2456 and 2465 of Title 30.
Any titleholder who owes two or more installments of common expenses shall be temporarily deprived of the exercise of his right to vote at the meeting of owners of the regime until his debt is fully paid and the managing entity shall have the right to cut off any services being provided to the accommodation assigned to the delinquent titleholder during his occupancy period, subject to the managing entity’s prior compliance with the provisions contained in subsection (5) of § 1256c of this title with respect to the denial of use of accommodations and facilities of a timeshare plan or vacation club to third parties receiving use rights in the delinquent’s titleholder timeshare or vacation club period through an affiliated exchange program when such third parties are involved.
History —Dec. 26, 1995, No. 252, § 12-132; Jan. 5, 1999, No. 3, § 39; July 29, 2010, No. 106, § 4.