Living in a residential complex means having benefits such as security, maintenance of common areas and shared services.
However, it also requires compliance with economic obligations through the timely payment of administration fees.
In Colombia, theThe legislation determines when these debts cease to be legally enforceable, under what conditions this period is interrupted and what sanctions the administration can apply in the event of non-compliance.
The Civil Code establishes the general prescription periods for actions. According to the regulations, “executive action expires in five (5) years and ordinary action expires in ten (10) years.”
This means that, in collection processes derived from common expenses, the prescription can be invoked after five years from the date on which the obligation arose, unless said period has been interrupted by a partial payment, a lawsuit or other legal act that certifies recognition of the debt.
However, in practice a debate usually arises: whether administration fees should be claimed through executive action or ordinary action. The type of process determines the applicable term, so each case must be evaluated according to the nature of the title and the procedure followed by co-ownership.
A central point is that prescription does not operate automatically. The debtor must allege it in a judicial process so that the obligation is legally extinguished.
In the words of the article published by Week“the extinction of the obligation by prescription does not occur automatically in procedural practice. In order for the creditor to stop being able to judicially collect a sum due to prescription, the debtor must invoke the exception of prescription before a judge or initiate the corresponding action to obtain the judicial declaration.” Until there is such a decision, the co-ownership maintains the power to continue collection efforts.
The Civil Code also indicates that a partial payment, a conciliation or even the filing of a lawsuit interrupt the prescription. In that case, the year count is restarted from zero. Article 2536 of the same code expressly regulates it.
Regarding interests and sanctions, Law 675 of 2001, which regulates horizontal property, contemplates additional measures. According to the text cited by Week“the delay in the payment of expenses causes late payment interest equivalent to one and a half times (1.5×) the current bank interest certified by the Financial Superintendence, unless the assembly has established a lower interest in the regulations.” This means that each co-ownership can reduce that percentage if the co-owners agree, but never exceed it.
For August 2025, the Financial Superintendency set the current bank interest for consumer and ordinary credit at 16.78% effective annually. Multiplied by 1.5, the result shows a default interest close to 25.17% per year. This figure is the general reference for calculating interest in late payment processes, unless there is an agreement in the assembly that determines a lower rate.
Additionally, the law authorizes other measures of economic and social pressure against non-compliance. Among them, the internal publication of the list of defaulters within the group, the imposition of fines that can reach up to double the value of the monthly payment – with a limit of ten times that value – and the temporary restriction on the use of non-essential common property such as a swimming pool, gym or community room. All these sanctions must be contemplated in the horizontal property regulations and applied respecting due process.
In the event that an owner considers that his debt has already expired the statute of limitations, it is not enough to express this to the administration. The regulations indicate that it must be requested before a judge for him to declare it. The publication of Week emphasizes that “if you consider that the debt is already prescribed, the correct way is not to demand it by letter: you must raise before a judge the exception of prescription or the corresponding demand for a judge to declare it.”
On the other hand, if it is an administrator or member of the board, it is essential to document all the steps taken towards the debtor, since these actions can interrupt the statute of limitations. The evidence of communications, partial payments or acknowledgments of the debt will be reviewed by a judge in the event of litigation.
