Ad Corpus -(adv. expression) ad corpus, in bulk ; allocation (usually of Price) by the body, that is, with no regard to specific measurements.

Ad Mesuram – (adv. Expression) ad mesuram, ascertainment by measurement, allocation (ussualy of Price) by measurement.

Amparo – (n) 1. Shelter, protection, cover, defense, safeguard, refuge, asylum, haven, sanctuary, harbor, safety zone, retreat, hole, cover; 2. Shelter, security, safety, safekeeping, preservation, protection, seclusion, hiding, concealment, support, help, aid, assitance; 3. Inmunity, privilege, exemption, exception, prerogative, right, freedom; 4. Short for juicio de amparo (amparo action )also know  as amparo de garantías or juicio de garantías.

Comodato – A unilateral contract in which the lender grants the use of real or personal property but without receiving anything in return from the borrower and which is nevertheless enforceable by a court of law; the statutory contract functions as an instrument to protect lender´s rights in the loaned property by providing prima facie evidence of ownership and by requiring the borrower to indemnify the lender for any damage or loss beyond normal wear and tear / A free loan is a contract whereby one of the parties agrees to grant the free use of non-fungible property, and the other party, in turn, agrees to return that specific property.

Edicto – (n) 1. Ordinance, proclamation, edict; 2. Service of process by publication, legal notice, public notice; in rules of civil procedure, notice or citation published in official periodicals and/ or newspapers, or poste on the courtroom bulletin board, the purpose of which is to summon a person whose identify or address is unknown, in order to appear and be heard in court.

Ejecutoria – (Adj) 1. Executory, executable, enforceable, not yet executed, not yet performed, unexecuted, unfinished, unfulfilled, unperformed, final, irrevocable, ready for execution; (n) 2. Final judgment, court, decree which is ready for execution; 3. Court precedent, authoritative decision, judicial precedent, prior decision, prior court opinion, judicial antecedent, prior instance, frame or reference, similar case, authoritative example, model, criterion.

Ejido – (n) Ejido, land-reform system, communal system, ejido community; concept peculiar to Mexican law with no equivalent under U.S. or common law and which is the cornerstone of Mexican agrarian or land-reform law; Modern Mexico borrowed the concept to name its land-reform system instituted in the aftermath of the 1919 Mexican Revolution.

The land has been divided into three different categories; tierras para el asentimiento humano (human settlement land or land designated for the village), tierras de uso común (land used in common by ejido members or land designated for common use and exploitation) and tierras parceladas (land parceled out to ejido members or land designated for individual use and exploitation); this last category may vest the individual ejido member with full title to his or her parcel and thus may now be transferred and mortgaged, provided the time-consuming of process certification by the federal government has been completed. The structure of an ejido as a legal entity a legal entity resembles that of a corporation, with an asamblea general de ejidatarios (general meeting of ejido members), as the supreme internal authority, a comisariado ejidal (a three- member managing board), and a consejo de vigilancia ( a three- member board of examiners): (a) to be eligible to become an ejido member, the applicant must be a Mexican citizen, who is of age, or who, being of any age, is the head of a household or is an heir of an ejido member, and has taken up residence in the respective ejido; (b) The internal regulations of the ejido shall be recorded in the National Land-Reform Registry and shall contain general information on the ejido´s organization, the requirements to admit new ejido members, the rules for the exploitation of lands reserved for common use, and all other provisions that, in accordance with law, are to be included in the internal regulations.preme internal authority, a  corporation, with an

Escritura Constitutiva – articles of incorporation, charter, certificate of incorporation, articles of association, memorandum of association, partnership agreement, bylaws; in corporate law, the terms escritura constitutiva and estatutos (bylaws) may be used interchangeably, since Mexican statute law requires that the estatutos be embodied within the escritura constitutiva (articles of incorporation) and, in practice, the two concepts are used as synonyms: The articles of incorporation of a corporation, limited liability company or partnership shall include, among other requirements, the following; the name, nationality and address of each individual or corporate entity that incorporates the corporation, limited liability company or partnership, its corporate purpose, and the name or corporate name of the company.

Escrutador – Inspector, teller, scrutineer; official examiner of shares represented at a shareholders ‘meeting and of votes in an election or corporate resolution; person in charge of verifying attendance and counting votes at elections or share holders ‘meetings.

Fideicomiso – (n) trust, trust agreement, custody, control, possession and control, holding; in contract law, a transaction whereby the fideicomitente (settlor) transfers certain assets to the fiduciario (trustee) (which in Mexico may only be a bank or other financial institution authorized to act as such) to be used by the trustee for a particular lawful purpose for the benefit of one or more fideicomisarios (beneficiaries) (though, in some instances the term may be similar, but not identical, to an escrow): all types of property and rights, except for those which in accordance with the law are strictly personal to the holder thereof, may be the subject of a trust.

Juicio de Amparo – (also Juicio de Garantías) – amparo action, constitutional remedy, action for constitutional relief under a writ of amparo, constitutional action alleging the violation of rights committed by the government or by a court of law; in federal rules of procedure, constitutional proceedings with no exact equivalent under U.S. law, the main purposes of which are: (a) to preserve the rights and freedoms established by the federal constitution against legislative and executive acts, governmental acts of authority and court decisions, and (b) to preserve local and federal sovereignty in interstate or federal-state disputes; relief applies only to petitioner and the decision serves only in subsequent cases, and odes not have the same force and effect as a precedent under U.S. law. There are two types of proceedings: Amparo Indirecto (indirect amparo action) which is an action Heard in federal district court against: (i) Federal, state or municipal laws, (ii) regulations issued by the executive branches of the state and federal governments, and (iii) acts of authority of federal, state or municipal government agencies, and amparo directo (direct amparo action) which is Heard in a federal circuit court against final court decisions that viable the federal constitution; in both cases the acto reclamado (government action being contested) may be subject to a suspención provisional (temporary injunction), which may be issued upon the filing of the petition, and a suspensión definitiva (permanent injunction) which may be issued only after a hearing has been held allowing for the submission of the evidence and presentation of legal arguments, but in both cases the order is directed to the government authority or court in questions and note to the individuals and business entities who are parties to the proceedings. A recurso de revisión (motion for review) may be filed with the Suprema Corte de Justicia (Mexico´s Supreme court) against a judgment made under a write of amparo, but only of constitutional issues: a writ of amparo may be filed against final judgments or awards and ruling that put and end to the proceedings, whenever entered by civil, administrative, or labor courts, involve actions, defenses, or matters that have not been dealt with at trial, or when they omit or expressly refuse to include all such actions, defenses or matters at trial.

Medios Preparatorios a Juicio – pre trial procedure, pre trial; in rules of civil procedure, procedure used to secure evidence or satisfy formalities necessary to bring suit: any private document that sets forth a debt for an amount certain and subject to a term already expired will allow the creditor to  file a pre- trial action, by submitting the document to the court, showing factual cause, and requesting and order directing the debtor to acknowledge his or her signature and the amount of, and the facts giving rise to, the debt.

Notario – (n.) (also notario público) notary, notary public, certifier, official attester; person who, in addition to being an attorney licensed to practice law, has successfully taken and won an examen de oposición (competitive examination) and been assigned one of the very limited number of notarial offices in a state or in the Federal District that has become available due to the death, resignation or removal of a former notary or the increase in the number of authorized notarial offices, and who provides a service to the public without being a civil servant, but whose duties are regulated by state law and whose performance is subject to the oversight of state regulators; a notary public is personally liable for negligence or breach of duty and may be subject to the suspension or revocation of his or her license and also to criminal prosecution: a notary public performs his or her duties without receiving any salary or a retainer from the government or from any public or private entity, but is entitled to receive from his or her clients the payment of fees in accordance with the authorized schedule of fees, and also the proper expenses incurred in providing notarial services.

Notificación por Edictos – Notice by publication, citation by publication, notification by publication, service of process by publication, services by publication, notice given by publishing it in the official gazette or by an insertion in a newspaper of general circulation; notice by a court of law to a person affected thereby, whose address is unknown to the court, given by publishing it in an official gazette and/ or a newspaper of general circulation: services by publication is required when persons whose identity is uncertain are involved.

Nulidad Relativa – voidable action, relative nullity; nullity that may be claimed only by an interested party and with in a certain period of time.

Objeto del Contrato – subject matter of a contract, scope of contract, contractual purpose: the object  that is the subject matter of a contract must exist in nature, be determined or determinable as to its type, and be the subject of trade.

Obligación – (n) 1. Obligation, covenant, agreement, commitment, duty to perform, promise, account payable; in civil law, a legal relationship between two parties in contract or under the law, whereby a party, called deudor (obligor), is bound to perform or to refrain from performing some act in favor of another, called acreedor (oblige): the obligation to render a service may be performed by a third party except when it has been expressly agreed that such performance must be personally provided by the obligor; 2. Duty, responsibility, liability, onus, burden, charge; 3.requirement, prerequisite; 4.assignment, chore, task, commission; 5. Debt, dues, indebtedness, amount due.

Oficialía de Partes –The procedure for the final disposition of individual and collective employment disputes of a legal nature shall commence with the filing office of a Conciliation and Arbitration Board of competent jurisdiction, which on the same day but prior to the close of business shall remit the complaint to the relevant Special Board.

Oficio – (n) 1. Trade, craft, occupation, business, work; 2.official notice, oficial communication, letter from a government agency; 3.goverment ruling: notices to government defendants in, and government authorities which are necessary parties to, an amparo action shall be made by oficial communication, sent by certified mail, return receipt requested.

Permuta – (n) barter, barter agreement, barter transaction, Exchange, Exchange, agreement, swap, trade, by Exchange,  trade- off; in contract law, the Exchange of real or personal property in return for another more desirable of equal or similar value, and also the Exchange of one service for another, without using money; however, for tax purposes an Exchange is deemed to involve two separate purchase- and- sale transactions, each subject to the tax treatment applicable for income tax,, value added tax, real estate transfer tax and any other applicable tax and government charges: if one of the contracting parties proves that the property that was tendered as the subject matter of the Exchange was not owned by the transferor, such contracting party may not be compelled to deliver the property that, in turn, he or she promised to transfer, and will discharge his or her obligation by returning the property so tendered,

Registro Federal de Contribuyentes – (also RFC and previously called Registro Federal de Causantes) 1. Federal Taxpayer Registry; 2. (also registro fiscal or clave del Registro Federal de Contribuyentes) federal taxpayer identification number, federal taxpayer ID, tan ID number.

Registro Nacional de Inversiones Extranjeras – National Foreign Investment Registry, Foreign Investment Registry; non- public registry kept by the Secretaría de Economía (Deparment of the Economy) to record: (a) Mexican companies having equity (whether directly, indirectly, or through trust) held by foreing investors, Mexican nationals having another nationality and living abroad, or what the law characterizes as “neutral investment” (that is, non-voiding foreign capital authorized by law but not counted as “foreign” for purposes of determining the maximum percentage of foreign equity in certain types of restricted businesses); (b) foreign companies, non-Mexican individual or Mexican nationals having another nationality and living abroad, doing business in Mexico either directly or through branches or permanent establishments, and (c) trusts created to hold shares of stock or equity interests in Mexican companies, or to hold real estate or neutral investment that grant beneficial interests to foreign investors or Mexican nationals having another nationality and living abroad.

Registration must be applied for whit in 40 business days following the date on which the action triggering the registration requirement is formalized and must include, among other data, the identity, nationality and principal place of business of the foreign investors or qualifying Mexican nationals, the identity of the Mexican vehicle and amount of the actual and intended investment; such registration must be renewed every year (by providing updated economic and financial information on the status of the investments made), and whenever the information provided in the original application or its renewals changes: any applications, notices and information to be submitted to the National Foreign Investment Registry shall be submitted using the approved format, accompanied by the required supporting documentation, but documents written in a language other than Spanish shall be accompanied by a translation prepared by a certified expert translator.

Registro Público de Comercio – Public Commercial Registry; government office in charge of registering commercial instruments, which although created and regulated by federal law, is managed in conjunction with the Registro Público de la Propiedad (Public Real Estate Registry) in each municipality seat or state judicial district of the country; the registration of corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships in the Registry is mandatory, while the registration of sole proprietorships is optional.

Prueba Plena – conclusive evidence, crear and convincing evidence, prima facie evidence: los documentos públicos hacen — — salvo el derecho de las partes de redargüirlos de falsedad / Public documents constitute prima facie evidence, without prejudice to the right of the parties to dispute the authenticity thereof.

Registro Público de la Propiedad – Public Property Registry, Public Real Estate Registry; state government agency in charge of recording title to real and personal property including title information and liens on such property, as well as any other information affecting the property, to give notice to the world thereof: / no court action challenging a title to real estate, or contesting any rights in rem thereon or any other interest recorded or registered in favor of a specified person may brought, unless a concurrent action on the same grounds is filed against the Public Real Estate Registry seeking the annulment or cancellation of the recording of any such title, right or interest.

Zona federal Marítimo Terrestre (also zona federal or ZOFEMAT) – Federal maritime zone (term that is somewhat of a misnomer, since the federal zone is not restricted to seafront áreas), federal waterfront corridor, area of federal jurisdiction along beaches and rivers and around bodies of water flowing into the sea; federal property for public use consisting of: (a) a 20 meter buffer area of passable beach land measured from the cota de pleamar máxima ( mean high tide line) along the country´s shorelines; (b) the zona federal de ribera (Federal riparian zone), that is a 10 meter buffer area on each side of a riverbank, between the river mount and 100 meters upstream; (c) The entire surface area of all keys and reefs located in the country´s territorial sea; and (d) a 20 meter buffer area around lakes, lagoons, swamps and other natural wetlands directly or indirectly connected with the sea, measured from the highest water line. The Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Department of the Environment and Natural Resources) is in charge of demarcating the boundary lines of, exercising jurisdiction over, and granting concessions to private parties for the use of, the federal maritime zone: in the event that the federal maritime zone is encroached, in whole or in part, by water ore ven if water encroached private properties abutting the federal maritime zone, a new demarcation line shall be drawn and the land that becomes part of the new federal maritime zone shall no longer be considered private property.

Zona Restringida – restricted zone; an area of land, formerly know as zona prohibida (prohibited zone) that spans 50 kilometers from Mexico´s coasts and 100 kilometers from Mexico´s land borders whose direct ownership by foreigners, either individuals

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With all respect to real estate agencies, normally the selling party is required to pay, at a minimum, a 4% commission to the real estate agent. This is solely to cover the real estate fees, the preparation and negotiation of the offer and to coordinate the closing process.

When one hires a lawyer to oversee this transaction, they receive all of the above services, as well as, receiving professional legal advice to negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract. This legal advice is crucial to obtaining the most convenient agreement possible.

Having professional legal services, for these types of transactions, will definitely improve the terms and conditions of the contract and/or offer to purchase. This will establish the best situation to complete the deal and minimize your risk considerably. Professional legal services will also provide the needed guidance to reduce costs and eliminate unnecessary expenses.

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Despite what many people may think of our judicial system, law and reason can prevail without needing to pay a single penny.

JLGM

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Some condominium’s bylaws refer to paying ordinary maintenance fees in quarterly payments. Article 48 of Nayarit State Condo Law states that the fees for common expenses, when condominium owners do not pay punctually, are subject to interest legally determined or fixed in the by-laws or by agreement of the owners in a general assembly. Recovery of the unpaid fees and the interest penalty can only be pursued when there are at least three outstanding payments. If the payment of maintenance fees is left at four month periods, the owners’ assembly would need to wait a full year, before it could pursue collection from a delinquent owner. Payment of fees monthly is common and would enable owners to pursue collection after three months. Enabling owners to pay their whole year’s fees or several months’ fees earlier than required will help with cash flow as the full amount of some annual costs must be paid early in the year.

Jose Luis Garcia Mazin

Puerto Vallarta & Riviera Nayarit Attorney at law,

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The implementation of fines and penalties cannot be at the discretion of the Council or the Administrator.  Rather, only agreements taken by the assembly (HOM) are mandatory and binding to all owners and/or occupants.  Therefore, in order for the Council or the Administrator to have the authority to implement such penalties and “rules/policies” as intended in article of the bylaws mentioned above, said penalties and policies must be itemized in the bylaws and approved by the HOM as established in article 1021 of Jalisco’s Civil Code, which clearly states that the HOM is the only organization with authority to create and/or modify bylaws.

The agreements taken by the HOM are considered binding on all owners and/or occupants as long as the meetings have been legally constituted.

Likewise, Articles 1012 and 1017 of Jalisco’s Civil Code enumerate the duties and powers of the Administrator and Council and none of those items grant either of them authority to implement such measures.

Article 1266 (second paragraph) of the law, also states that the interpretation and fulfillment of contracts/agreements cannot be at the discretion of the parties to such contracts/agreements.

If you have a similar issue in your condo, contact me for an appointment on line.

J. Luis Garcia Mazin

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In the majority of property trusts that belong to condominiums, they expressly stipulate that the trustees can attend and vote at condominium assemblies as long as property/ownership issues are not discussed.

That power should NOT be confused with an authorization for the trustee to grant a power of attorney to a third person in turn, unless they have also been granted to do so in their trust deed.

In the event that such authorization is not available in their trust deeds, they must necessarily instruct the trust bank in writing to grant a proxy or power of attorney in favor of the person appointed for that purpose by the trustee.

More FAQ´S click here

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 In my experience, this would be feasible if 100% of the condominium owners approve it, otherwise it would not be possible for the following reasons:

a) The law establishes that the exclusive ownership is based on a percentage of the common-use areas and goods, which cannot be subjected to a dividing action, as it is inseparable from the individual property;

b)  The separation of a private unit would affect the interests of the rest of the private units, necessarily increasing their percentage of ownership, which cannot happen without the consent of each affected owner.

Find More Information here

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In the state of Jalisco, bylaws can only be modified through an extraordinary homeowners’ assembly and the approval of at least 75% of the total ownership is required. The law states that extraordinary assemblies can be held with the number of condominiums that attend but the agreements will only be valid if they are approved by a representation of at least 75% of the total ownership.

In the state of Nayarit, any amendment to the bylaws must also be agreed upon in an extraordinary meeting to which at least 51% of the condominium owners attend, but the resolutions will require a minimum of vote’s representation of 51% of the value of the undivided property of the condominium.

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