Charging Expenses to a Single Owner: Is the Resolution Lawful?

Charging an expense to a single owner, or a narrow group, without a basis in the law, the title or actual use, is an unlawful allocation that taints the resolution. If the meeting merely misapplies the existing criteria in a single case, the resolution is voidable and must be challenged within thirty days; if instead it purports to permanently change who must pay, redrawing the burden of expenses without everyone's consent, the resolution is void and challengeable with no time limit. Distinguishing the two cases is essential to understand how and when to react.

The legal sharing criteria as a starting point

Article 1123 of the Italian Civil Code sets the general rule: expenses for the preservation and enjoyment of common parts are borne by owners in proportion to the value of each one's property, unless otherwise agreed. It then provides two corrections: expenses relating to things intended to serve owners to different degrees are shared in proportion to use, and things serving only part of the building are borne by the group that benefits. Alongside these are specific criteria, such as those of Article 1124 for stairs and lifts and Article 1126 for exclusive-use roof terraces.

An allocation is lawful when it correctly applies these criteria or those provided by a valid agreement. It becomes unlawful when it charges an owner a share that is not theirs, or exempts others from a burden they should bear, without a statutory or contractual basis.

When the resolution is only voidable

If the meeting intends to apply the current criteria but miscalculates, charging an owner more than their due by mistake, the resolution is voidable. The defect concerns the concrete application of the rule, not the rule itself. The owner concerned, if absent, dissenting or abstaining, must challenge within thirty days under Article 1137; once the deadline passes without a reaction, the error consolidates and the allocation becomes final.

This category includes clerical calculation errors, the wrong attribution of an expense to the wrong table, and the failure to consider a partial condominium. These are remediable situations if contested in time, but they become binding if no one acts.

When the resolution is void

The picture changes when the meeting does not misapply the criteria but purports to change them to an owner's detriment. Some examples:

• A resolution establishing, for the future, that a certain category of expenses falls only on one owner, without the consent of all those concerned.
• A resolution permanently exempting some owners from expenses that by law or title also fall on them.
• A resolution charging a single owner with an expense relating to common parts intended to serve the whole building, altering the arrangement of rights.
• A resolution introducing a sharing criterion conflicting with an agreement, without amending it unanimously.

In these cases the majority oversteps its powers, affecting individual rights and the stable arrangement of expenses: the resolution is void, without effect from the outset, and may be challenged at any time by anyone with an interest, even by someone who voted in favour.

How the harmed owner reacts

The first step is to correctly qualify the defect, because the timing depends on it. If it is an application error, the owner must act within thirty days so as not to lose the right to challenge. If instead the resolution permanently changes the allocation or unlawfully loads it onto them, the short deadline does not bind them, but it is still prudent not to wait, because instalments and possible recovery actions accrue in the meantime. In both cases it is advisable to ask the manager for the allocation documentation and check the thousandths applied.

Correct allocations from the outset

The best defence against challenges is an allocation that precisely applies tables and criteria, so as not to generate errors or suspicions of favouritism. With AmministraPro the manager sets the correct criterion and table for each type of expense, obtaining a transparent allocation that can be reconstructed item by item, making clear to every owner why they pay a given share. The allocation and reporting features are described on /funzioni and the plans for every firm on /prezzi.