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HOAs on alert over rising fees and growing delinquencies - Ambito Financiero
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Consorcios en alerta por suba de expensas y aumento en la morosidad
Mientras la morosidad en los consorcios alcanza niveles del 17%, llevar adelante el mantenimiento en los edificios se vuelve un desafío.
www.ambito.com
July 28, 2025
As delinquency rates in consortia reach 17%, maintaining buildings is becoming a challenge.
Today, buildings are struggling between routine maintenance and the need to raise revenue.
Cracks, damp, broken pipes, an out-of-service elevator, or balcony maintenance. Building repairs are the order of the day, but in a context where delinquency rates among consortia in CABA and the Province of Buenos Aires are hovering around 17%, managing the work becomes a challenge.
According to data from ConsorcioAbierto, late payments on expenses became a trend that continued throughout 2024 and will continue into 2025. Meanwhile, extraordinary maintenance and construction work are among the consortia's main expenses: they already represent between 7 and 8% of expenses.
“Today, buildings are struggling between routine maintenance and the need to raise funds to address specific tasks that can't wait, in a context where paying expenses represents a significant burden on the family budget,” says Albano Laiuppa, director of ConsorcioAbierto.
“The number of delinquent UFs is usually the same, but what increases is the amount of the debt. Our analysis for the month of June reveals that the average interest rate in Buenos Aires City is 5% and in the Province of Buenos Aires, 6.4%. With these percentages, we focus on communication between all parties to develop payment plans and reverse the situation as soon as possible,” says Laiuppa.
What to do with repairs
When discussing repairs to a building , the first thing to do is distinguish between those that are necessary and those that are urgent . A necessary repair is any that must be done to keep the building habitable, safe, and functional. Its execution requires approval from the assembly. An urgent repair is one that cannot wait. It is carried out to prevent serious and imminent damage and must be resolved immediately, even without prior authorization from the assembly.In this context, the role of the consortium administrator plays a central role. According to Article 2067 of the National Civil and Commercial Code, one of the administrator's duties is to ensure the preservation of common property and areas, the safety of the building structure, and compliance with all safety standards and inspections imposed by local regulations.
This involves not only ensuring general maintenance but also responding to any situation that poses a risk. Even if the owners' meeting decides not to carry out a certain repair, the administrator is still legally obligated to intervene if the safety or habitability of the property is compromised.
In the specific case of urgent repairs, the regulations are even clearer. Article 2054 empowers any owner to intervene directly when necessary and the administrator or the Board of Owners is not present. "It exists so that the owner has the authority to carry out this action when necessary, subject to two requirements: urgency and absence. And the assembly must subsequently ratify what has been done," adds Martín Lermer, a lawyer specializing in horizontal property and director of Estudio Lermer.
The specialist's advice is that, in the event of damage or repair, always request a prompt expert appraisal to determine whether the repair should be urgent or can be postponed.
Extraordinary expenses
On the other hand, in a context of high default rates, it is important to distinguish how these repairs are financed. The Code establishes that extraordinary expenses are those determined by the Assembly to be extraordinary. However, when it comes to urgent repairs, the law clarifies that prior authorization is not required, nor is it necessary for the funds to come from extraordinary expenses. In these cases, the expenses must be covered through ordinary expenses, as this is an urgent obligation of the administrator and the consortium.But today, problems arise when a neighbor refuses to pay or is late, and in that case, the rest of the owners and tenants end up being responsible. " Unfortunately, the neighbor who pays has to pay for the one who doesn't. In those cases, the administrator will have to incur a new expense to collect the difference, something that, in the inflationary context we were experiencing, was a challenge and continues to be so," Lermer emphasizes, although he clarifies that, sooner or later, the defaulter will be found.
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