March 26, 2026 · 3 min read
You buy a flat: the community debts you get thrown in
A flat comes with baggage: the law makes the property answerable for part of the previous community debts.
What the property answers for
The transferred flat remains attached to the payment of community debts from the year of purchase and the three preceding years. Translation: if you buy with hidden debts from that period, the community can recover them from the flat (from you).
The shield: the debt certificate
To complete the deed, the seller must provide a certificate from the community (issued by the secretary with the chair approval) stating whether they are up to date. The buyer can expressly waive it… do not.
For the chair/secretary: issuing it properly
- Reflect the exact debt as at the date of issue (charges, levy instalments due, agreed interest).
- Include approved levies not yet fallen due: the legal criterion is that levy instalments falling after the sale correspond to whoever owns the property at each due date — let the buyer know what is coming.
- Respond promptly: the law sets a short deadline (7 days) and whoever certifies is liable for losses caused by inaccuracy.
For the seller
Get up to date before selling: the debt surfaces in the certificate one way or another, and torpedoes the signing.
The management moral
A community with charges up to date and an orderly history issues certificates in minutes. Another sign that administrative health is worth money — literally.
Keep reading
Selling the flat: the debt certificate the chair has to sign
Without that document there is no completion. What it says exactly, who signs it, how long it takes and what happens if the seller owes money.
Tenants in the building: what they may do, what they must do and who answers
The rented flat: communication, rules, common areas and the three-way relationship between owner, tenant and community.
A neighbour is having work done: rights, hours and limits
Building work inside a flat: what the community can require, what the owner must notify, and how to handle the damage.
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