Living in a tenant-owner apartment differs in many ways from living in a rented apartment or detached house.
As a tenant-owner, you do not own the apartment in which you live: rather, you own a share in a tenant-owners’ association which grants you a usufruct for the apartment. It is the association that owns the actual building and apartment. You are also a member of the tenant-owners’ association. The building, land, and common areas are jointly managed by all the members of the association.
You have many rights as a tenant-owner, but you also have certain obligations. As a tenant-owner you are, for example, obliged to pay an annual fee and to repair and maintain your apartment internally. You are also, amongst other things, obliged to obtain the permission of the Board to sublet your apartment or to make significant changes in the apartment. A tenant-owners’ association has statutes with which every tenant-owner is obliged to comply.
We can advise you, whether you live in a tenant-owner apartment or are intending to buy or sell one. We can assist in connection with, amongst other things, disputes between purchasers and vendors, or between members and associations, and can help in drawing up and interpreting agreements.