Overdue condominium fees in Portugal: how to recover them in time

In Portugal, overdue condominium fees are recovered with the assembly minutes, which count as an enforceable title, and the administrator must go to court within 90 days of the first missed payment once the debt reaches the social support index (article 6 of Decree-Law 268/94). Waiting is costly: ordinary fees become time-barred after five years.

There is one figure almost no condominium ever calculates: the fees it will never see again. Ordinary contributions are periodically renewable payments, and point g) of article 310 of the Civil Code gives them five years. Once that runs out, the debtor only has to invoke the limitation and the condominium loses the right to enforce payment in court.

The hard part is not the procedure. It is starting on time.

Serving notice on the debtor: the first and cheapest step

Before anyone mentions courts, the defaulting owner should be formally notified, in Portuguese practice an interpelação: a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, sent by the administrator, listing the months in arrears, the exact amount of each instalment, the accumulated total and a concrete deadline to pay. A large share of arrears ends right here, because many debtors pile up fees out of disorganisation rather than bad faith. Always break the debt down month by month; a letter with one big round number invites a dispute, while a detailed statement closes the conversation. If you own a flat in Portugal and live elsewhere, make sure the administrator has your current address and email: the letter goes to whatever address is on file.

Since Law 8/2022, the administrator can no longer put the matter off indefinitely: court action must be filed within 90 days of the first missed payment, unless the assembly decides otherwise and provided the debt reaches that year's social support index (IAS). An administrator who fails in the duties the law assigns is civilly liable for the omission (article 1436(3) of the Civil Code). A payment plan is still perfectly legitimate, and often more profitable than years of litigation. Put it in writing, have the debtor sign it and take it to the assembly, whose resolution is also what the law accepts for setting the 90-day deadline aside.

Do the assembly minutes work as an enforceable title?

They do, and they are the centrepiece of the whole recovery.

Under article 6 of Decree-Law 268/94, as amended by Law 8/2022, the minutes (ata) of the assembly that set the contributions are an enforceable title against any owner who fails to pay on time. The condominium can skip the phase where the existence of the debt is argued and move straight to enforcement.

For that to work, the minutes must state the annual amount each owner has to pay and the due dates. Minutes with only a global budget, and no per-unit figures or dates, send the condominium back to a declaratory action or to another assembly.

Legal note: the enforceable title also covers default interest at the statutory rate and monetary penalties, the latter only if they are in the condominium regulations or were approved by the assembly. Without that, you collect the principal plus statutory interest.

Justices of the peace or direct enforcement?

The julgados de paz (Portugal's justices of the peace) hear claims up to 15,000 euros (article 8 of Law 78/2001), including disputes over owners' rights and duties, unless the assembly has made arbitration compulsory. They are cheaper and more informal than the ordinary courts, and a case opens with pre-mediation unless either party has opted out. They are the natural route when the minutes do not work as a title and the debt has to be proved.

When the minutes tick every box, the most direct path is enforcement proceedings: file the title and move to seizure, with no debate about whether the debt exists.

Can the debtor's unit be seized?

It can, but not first. Seizure starts with the assets easiest to turn into money that cover the debt, such as bank balances, salary or rent the debtor receives (article 751 of the Code of Civil Procedure). If the flat is the debtor's permanent home, it can only be seized when the other assets would not pay the debt within 30 months for lower-value claims, or 12 months for higher ones. For an owner who lets out a Portuguese flat, that means the rent can be seized before the flat itself.

When do the fees expire, and how do you avoid getting there?

The five-year period applies to ordinary contributions, including payments into the common reserve fund. An extraordinary levy approved for a specific repair is not periodically renewable and may fall outside point g), under the general twenty-year period of article 309; do not rely on that if the levy was paid in monthly instalments. A demand letter does not interrupt the limitation period. Judicial service does (article 323 of the Civil Code), and so does the debtor's own acknowledgement of the debt, such as a signed payment plan.

A building that has just removed its management firm often inherits fees three or four years old, and those are the ones to chase first. After that, bring budget minutes with per-unit annual amounts and due dates to the January assembly. Vecinly records each unit's fees month by month, which is the statement a demand letter needs; our page for board presidents shows how a volunteer administrator uses it.

Pull the list of fees more than four years old today. They are the first to expire, and no letter will save them.

Information updated in September 2026. This article applies to condominiums governed by Portuguese law, is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.