Division
Condominiums are created because the owner/lessee of a building, for instance a contractor or a private person, decides to divide this building into separate legal units (homes and/or business accommodations), mostly with the intention to sell them either to the tenants or, if it concerns new construction, to those who respond to the advertisement of the sale. The division into condominiums is laid down in a notarial deed: the deed of division. On a division drawing belonging to it, the boundaries between the various condominiums and those of the common areas are indicated exactly. The division drawing and the deed of division are jointly registered in the public registers of the Land Registry Office and the public registers of Aruba, and can be requested and inspected by everyone.
One of the most important parts of the deed of division are the property division regulations.
Property division regulations
Rules of use
The property division regulations contain provisions and regulations that could be called the rules of conduct for owners/occupants. In almost all notarial deeds in which a building is divided into condominiums, reference is made to the so-called Model Rules and Regulations. These Model rules and regulations have been drawn up by notary's office Yarzagaray, Bödeker & Partners on February 9, 2006, and will be declared applicable to all complexes divided by our notary's office.
Each deed of division lists some specifications and sometimes deviations from the model rules and regulations, only applicable to that specific condominium building. For as you will understand: no two buildings are the same. One building does have air-conditioning everywhere, for which an arrangement on the energy expenses and the maintenance of the air-conditioning has to be inserted; the other building does not have this facility, but, in turn, has a central area or laundry room for general use, for which a separate arrangement has to be inserted in the property division regulations.
Model rules and regulations and the deviations from same in the deed of division jointly constitute the Property Division Regulations for this specific building, further described in the deed of division. Amendment to the Property Division Regulations can only be made with the cooperation of all condominium owners. All mortgagees and other holders of a restricted right on the condominiums (for instance usufructuaries) also have to agree to the amendment, as well as judgment creditors, if any.