Debrecen
Antall József str. 36., gf. 1.
+36 20 445 8480
On weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM
Open: 8 AM to 5 PM
On weekends we are closed
Antall József str. 36., gf. 1.
On weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM
On weekends we are closed
A condominium lawyer handles the legal affairs of the condominium as a community: recovering common charge arrears, drafting the deed of foundation and the organisational and operational rules, preparing general meeting resolutions, and, when a condominium is established, conducting the land registry procedure. The framework for condominium relationships is set by Act CXXXIII of 2003 on condominiums: a resolution ordering the registration of a mortgage for common charge arrears, for example, must expressly be put in a public deed or in a private document countersigned by an attorney. Dr. Andirkó Law Firm is led by dr. Andirkó Balázs István LL.M., real estate law specialist. In condominium matters we act primarily for building managers (közös képviselő), condominium management companies and property developers, with in-person consultations in Debrecen and Hajdúböszörmény and online, by video call, throughout the country.
This is the question building managers bring to us most often, and it is the area where the result of the engagement becomes tangible the soonest.
Common charges are borne by the co-owners in proportion to their ownership shares, unless the organisational and operational rules provide otherwise. If a co-owner does not pay, the Act gives the community a three-stage set of tools.
First stage: formal notice. The organisational and operational rules must set out the tasks of the building manager or the chair of the management committee in recovering common charge arrears: giving the debtor co-owner formal notice with a deadline, initiating the issue of an order for payment if that proves unsuccessful, and – where authorised – submitting the application for the registration and deletion of the mortgage. If the organisational and operational rules do not settle this, the building manager has no real tool for handling the arrears.
Second stage: mortgage. By its resolution, the general meeting may order that the separate property of a co-owner who is in arrears by at least three months’ worth of common charges, together with the related share of the common property, be encumbered with a mortgage as security for payment of the arrears. When the resolution is adopted, the co-owner in arrears may not exercise their voting right, and their ownership share must be disregarded when establishing the quorum.
Two rules are worth highlighting separately.
The first: the building manager or the chair of the management committee may order the encumbrance with a mortgage even without convening a general meeting, if the organisational and operational rules so authorise them. This can shorten arrears management by weeks, and in some cases by months. If your rules do not contain this, it is worth adding it at the next general meeting; we prepare the text of the amendment and the draft resolution for it.
The second: the general meeting resolution ordering the registration of the mortgage, or the building manager’s disposition, must be put in a public deed or in a private document countersigned by an attorney or by a chamber legal counsel. There is no departing from this: without an attorney’s countersignature the land registry will not register the mortgage. The same applies to deletion – once the arrears have been settled, the building manager must issue the consent needed for deletion within eight days of settlement.
The registration of a mortgage may be ordered again for every further three months’ worth of arrears, so accumulating debt can be secured repeatedly.
Third stage: enforcing the claim. If the mortgage alone does not produce a result, order for payment proceedings follow, and then enforcement. A standalone practice area of our firm is debt recovery, so we see this stage through as well.
Managing arrears is one of the building manager’s most delicate and legally riskiest tasks. Entrusting it to an attorney lifts both an administrative burden and a liability risk at once.
Legal questions arise continuously while a condominium operates: contracting with a builder or a service provider, a damages claim after water ingress, data protection questions, insurance matters, arrears. Under an ongoing engagement you get answers to these quickly and at a predictable fee, without having to give a separate instruction for every single matter.
For building managers and condominium management companies looking after several buildings we can also conclude a portfolio-level agreement: with standard templates for the operational rules and resolutions, a common arrears management process and a single point of contact.
The deed of foundation must specify the flats and non-residential premises that become separate property, the ownership share of each co-owner in the parts of the building and in the plot held in common ownership and the method of determining these, the list of the parts of the building that become common property, any other data, right and fact required by the rules of the land registry, and the common name of the community.
The community adopts the organisational and operational rules at the inaugural general meeting – or at the latest at a general meeting held within sixty days after it – by a resolution passed with at least a simple majority of all ownership shares. Among other things, the rules must cover the use of separate property, the bearing of common charges and the payment of arrears, the powers and procedure of the general meeting, and the tasks of the building manager and the audit committee.
An outdated or incomplete deed of foundation and set of operational rules costs more in the long run than amending them: the municipal clerk (jegyző) may launch legality supervision proceedings, and poorly prepared resolutions become open to challenge.
Acting within their powers, the building manager or the management committee must prepare and implement the resolutions of the general meeting, ensuring that they comply with the law, the deed of foundation and the organisational and operational rules. Legality supervision of the condominium’s operation is exercised by the municipal clerk, who also checks whether the operation and the general meeting resolution comply with the law. On an action brought by the clerk, the court may annul a resolution that infringes the law and may, where necessary, order a new resolution to be adopted.
This liability falls on the building manager. That is precisely why it is advisable to have risky decisions reviewed in advance, rather than having to defend them afterwards.
If you are developing a multi-unit building, establishing the condominium is not the last administrative step in the project but one of the first strategic decisions. The deed of foundation determines the ownership shares, the dividing line between common and separate property, the fate of the parking spaces, storage units and loft areas, and what can later be sold separately. A mistake made here is hard to put right afterwards: correcting it typically requires a qualified majority or the agreement of the co-owners, which is difficult to obtain once the flats have been sold.
If, as seller, the developer concludes the sale and purchase contractfor every flat with its own attorney, the documentation of the whole project stays uniform and the buyer does not have to pay a separate attorney’s fee. You can read more about the project attorney arrangement on our construction contract page.
Clear boundaries save time for both sides. Our firm represents the condominium as a community and the professionals who run its affairs. We do not take on personal conflicts between co-owners: neighbour law disputes, noise and smoking complaints, disagreements over keeping pets, personal grievances over what was said at a general meeting, or disputes between the building manager and a single co-owner.
This does not mean that such situations are not stressful. It means that they can rarely be settled satisfactorily through litigation, and that the cost of proceedings typically exceeds the value of the interest in dispute. The pre-litigation mediation procedure under the Condominium Act is available in disputes between the community and a co-owner, or between the community and a third party; for conflicts between co-owners, clarifying the house rules or general mediation is more likely to be the answer.
If you are a private owner and your question concerns the sale, gifting or letting of your own flat, we are of course happy to help in those matters: property sale and purchase contract, property gift contract, lease contract.
Real estate law specialist. Dr. Andirkó Balázs István LL.M. obtained his real estate law specialist qualification at the University of Debrecen and also holds an LL.M. as a compliance law specialist. The firm has been operating since 2020 and is a member of the Debrecen Bar Association.
Clear and efficient communication. We do not expect anyone to be familiar with legal terminology. We do consider it important, however, that our clients understand throughout what is happening. As a building manager this matters all the more, because it is you who has to explain at the general meeting what you heard from us.
A transparent procedure. We keep you informed about the state of the matter. For partners managing several condominiums we provide regular, consolidated reports on the arrears cases in progress, so that they can be used directly at the general meeting.
Debt recovery and condominium law in one pair of hands. Recovering common charges does not stop at registering the mortgage. A standalone practice area of the firm is debt recovery, so arrears management stays with the same firm from start to finish.
Online consultation. If time or distance makes a personal meeting impossible, the consultation can also take place via Teams, Zoom, Google Meet or FaceTime.
Our other practice areas: real estate law and construction, corporate law, employment law, family law.
The general meeting may order the separate property of the co-owner in arrears, together with the related share of the common property, to be encumbered with a mortgage if the co-owner is in arrears by at least three months’ worth of common charges. Registration may be ordered again for every further three months’ worth of arrears.
Yes. The general meeting resolution ordering the registration of the mortgage, or the disposition of the building manager or the chair of the management committee, must be put in a public deed or in a private document countersigned by an attorney or by a chamber legal counsel. The same applies to the deletion consent to be issued once the debt has been settled.
Not necessarily. The building manager or the chair of the management committee may order the encumbrance with a mortgage even without convening a general meeting, if the organisational and operational rules so authorise them. If the rules do not contain this, it is worth granting the authorisation at the next general meeting.
No. When the resolution is adopted, the co-owner in arrears may not exercise their voting right, and their ownership share must be disregarded when establishing the quorum. The resolution must be served on them, setting out the available remedy.
Once the arrears underlying the registration have been settled, the building manager or the chair of the management committee must issue the consent needed for deletion of the mortgage within eight days of settlement.
Within sixty days of the resolution being adopted, if it infringes the law, the deed of foundation or the organisational and operational rules, or if it substantially harms the legitimate interests of the minority. The action does not prevent the resolution from being implemented, but the court may suspend implementation in justified cases.
The community adopts them at the inaugural general meeting – or at the latest at a general meeting held within sixty days after it – by a resolution passed with at least a simple majority of all ownership shares.
A condominium may be established on an existing building or one yet to be constructed if it contains, or can be configured to contain, at least two flats or non-residential premises that can be registered as separate property. Establishment also requires the registration of the condominium title in the land registry.
The flats and non-residential premises that become separate property, the ownership share of each co-owner in the parts of the building and in the plot held in common ownership and the method of determining these, the list of the parts of the building that become common property, any other data, right and fact required by the rules of the land registry, and the common name of the community.
Legality supervision of the condominium’s operation, its bodies and the operation of those bodies is exercised by the municipal clerk (jegyző), who also checks whether the operation and the general meeting resolution comply with the law, the deed of foundation and the operational rules. On an action brought by the clerk, the court may annul a resolution that infringes the law.
The general meeting may decide on installing and operating a camera system for monitoring the parts of the building, the premises and the areas in common ownership by the affirmative vote of co-owners holding at least a two-thirds majority of all ownership shares.
No. Our firm represents the condominium as a community and the professionals who run its affairs – building managers, management committees, condominium management companies and developers. The pre-litigation mediation procedure under the Condominium Act is available in disputes between the community and a co-owner; for conflicts between co-owners, clarifying the house rules or general mediation is usually the more suitable solution.
When you contact us we examine the legal status of the property and explain how the contract will be concluded, the attorney's fee and the expected costs. If you go on to instruct us, the fee for the first consultation is credited against later fees.
We draft the appropriate type of contract and provide the lawyer's countersignature.
We provide representation before the land registry authority, the tax authority and – depending on the type of case – any other authority or body.