One unit in prolonged arrears is enough to break a small building's budget. And one badly handled collection is enough to poison relations between neighbours for years. It pays to have a process in place before the problem appears.

First: find out what is going on

Not every late payment is a refusal to pay. It may be a changed bank account, an out-of-date address, a rented unit where the tenant wrongly assumed the fee was the landlord's, or a temporary financial difficulty. A phone call in month one resolves more cases than a registered letter in month six.

A calendar that works

Month 1 — informal reminder. Direct contact, by phone or email, with the unit's statement of account.
Month 2 — written notice. A letter setting out the debt month by month, the interest applicable, and a concrete deadline.
Month 3 — payment plan. A written instalment agreement approved by the manager. Being paid over time beats litigation.
After that — the legal route. If there is no response and no agreement, the matter proceeds.

Recording each step matters. Without a record, the assembly cannot judge what was done and a court cannot confirm the debt was ever claimed.

The minutes are the collection instrument

This is the point many buildings miss: the assembly minutes approving the budget and setting the fees — together with proof that the owner was notified — constitute an enforceable title against a non-paying owner. The condominium does not need to first obtain a judgment establishing the debt; it can move straight to enforcement.

Hence the importance of well-drafted minutes. Minutes that do not break the fee down per unit, or that were never communicated to absent owners, weaken the whole collection effort.

Interest and costs

Late fees accrue default interest at the legal rate from the date each instalment fell due. Collection costs may also be charged to the defaulting owner where the internal regulation or an assembly resolution provides for it. These criteria should be defined in advance — not invented case by case.

What to avoid

Cutting services to the unit (water, electricity, use of the lift) as leverage. It is not permissible and exposes the condominium to liability.
Naming the debtor on a notice in the lobby. Besides being ineffective, it raises a data-protection problem.
Letting the debt lapse. Fees are subject to limitation periods; postponing collection for years can mean losing it altogether.

Prevention is cheaper

Direct debit as the default payment method, fees communicated in advance, a per-unit statement any owner can consult, and clear annual accounts cut arrears dramatically. Most late payments are not bad faith — they are missing information.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice on any specific case.