About Our Books

Jalisco Condo Manual

. . . a step-by-step guide and reference manual for Mexican condominiums

If you own a condo apartment or a house in a gated condo, you should be aware of the most common mistakes your condo management could be making that can lower the value of your property.

If you’re a member of a condominium Board, you owe it to yourself and the homeowners you represent to make sure

your condominium is being run efficiently, properly, and in compliance with the state condo law.

If you’re thinking about buying a condo, you need to be able to tell whether the condo is being administered properly. This could directly affect both your experience as a resident and your future property value.

If you’re a real-estate agent, you owe it to your clients to know how to spot problems with the running of the condominiums your they’re looking at.

You’ve probably found that there’s widespread misinformation about the nuts and bolts of running a condominium in Mexico, condominium associations, and the condo laws — assuming you can find any reliable info at all!

Much of the problem comes from unsubstantiated opinions or maintaining of the status quo. Often, people having experience with a condo in Canada or the U.S. will try to apply this to a Mexican condo — unfortunately, they don’t operate the same way! Some early condos made mistakes when they were set-up, and these have been continued by new condos copying them! Eventually, poor (and often, illegal) practices became the standards on which new condominium administrations are based. The real problem is that detailed and accurate information has not been available to you. Until now . . .

This book grew out of the author’s frustration with this same problem. After doing several years of research, he gathered together all the information needed for you to properly administer a condo according to the Jalisco condo law, and organised it for you into a single 600+ page book. It’s also loaded with practical advice and tips — all based on first-hand experience. At first, you can use it as a learning guide, and then as a day-to-day reference.

YOU’LL LEARN :

• The differences between condominiums in Mexico and those north of the border (including condo associations)
• The two different types of condo owner meetings, their purpose, and how each must be run
• How to correctly carry out votes and elections (including proxies and Rules of Order)
• The correct way to charge condo fees, and how to collect overdue accounts
• The rights and duties of condo owners, the condominum Administrator, and the Board (Council)
• How to overcome owner dissatisfaction by using effective communications
• How to deal with difficult people and mediate condo owner disputes
• And much more . . .

As well as all this in-depth information, you also get many sample forms and other documents, as well as WORD and EXCEL templates — all useful in the day to day running of a condo. This is a 150+ page BONUS when you register the purchase of your book online.

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Jalisco Condo Law in English

 

State law has regulated condominiums in Jalisco since 1995, and is binding on both the condo administration and all owners. Would it surprise you to learn that many condos don’t follow the Jalisco condo laws?

This should concern you, because it exposes your condo to potential consequences down the road that could result in financial costs or decreased property values.

Unfortunately, many condominiums:

• don’t correctly collect condo fees
• don’t hold proper owners meetings
• don’t carry out proper votes at these meetings
• don’t have a correct administrative and management structure

Compliance with state condo laws doesn’t always happen in Mexican condominiums — especially those run by foreigners. The management of these condos is often unaware of the details of the condo legislation — in some cases, the Board is unaware of the very existence of the law.

If you’re an owner, or if you’re part of your condo’s administration, you need to know what the law says and what the proper procedures are.

If you’re considering buying a condominium, you need the knowledge to find out if the condo is being run properly before you buy into potential trouble.

A major part of the problem is that the condo legislation is written in Spanish, and there’s no high-quality translation designed for use by foreigner-run condominium administrations.

This 170+ page book contains the complete text of the Jalisco condo law translated into English. It’s presented in a unique side-by-side format, with both Spanish and English synchronised paragraph by paragraph. You can always refer to the original Spanish at any time.

As well as a high quality translation, there are in-line comments and notes to help clarify certain passages and issues.

It also contains translations of other legislation related to condo operation and management and
the day-to-day operation of a condominium, such as:

• co-ownership of property,
• the Public Registry of Property,
• Powers of Attorney,
• Sanctions,
• Civil Associations, and
• legal entities.

FEATURE: Road Map to the Jalisco Civil Code — a tree structured index of the entire Civil Code — every book, title, and chapter is listed.

The Road Map has three synchronised columns: the original Spanish titles, the translated English titles, and notes explaining various legal concepts, and showing the article number range for every chapter of the code.

There’s much more to the Civil Code than just the parts that are relevant to a condo. With this powerful tool, you can easily find the part of the code that pertains to any topic that affects you. As well, you can quickly find the section of the code that applies if you’ve only been given an article number. The Road Map is also extensively indexed.

The comprehensive index lets you quickly and easily find all the references in the law to any topic about condos and their administration.