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Legal reference

Arrears: what happens when owners do not pay in Croatia

Short answer

A debtor who is late with a money obligation owes default interest on top of the principal. As a last resort, a majority of co-owners can ask a court to exclude a co-owner who does not meet the duties arising from the community, in particular one who does not pay the sums due, so that the co-owner's share is sold at public auction.

What the law says

Original wording of the law (Croatian). The summary and the notes around it are ours.

Dužnik koji zakasni s ispunjenjem novčane obveze duguje, pored glavnice, i zatezne kamate.
Provision: Zakon o obveznim odnosima, članak 29., stavak 1., i Zakon o vlasništvu i drugim stvarnim pravima, članak 98., stavak 3. · Official text

Last verified:

Also relevant

ako suvlasnik ne udovoljava dužnostima koje proizlaze iz zajednice, osobito ako ne plati dužne iznose ni do završetka rasprave koja prethodi presudi prvostupanjskoga suda
Provision: Zakon o vlasništvu i drugim stvarnim pravima, članak 98., stavak 3. · Official text

What this means in practice

For building charges the interest is the default rate under the law on obligations, reset every half-year, and no fixed figure is given here. The court route is a last resort: it needs a majority decision and a judgment, at least three months' grace after the judgment becomes final, and the debtor can still pay until the end of the first-instance hearing. The sources checked found no provision making arrears pass to the buyer of a flat.

General information, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer in Croatia before relying on it, and read your building's own documents: they can change how a rule applies.

Where Unitify fits

Unitify records the debt per unit, records payments and sends reminders. Interest, voting limits, liens and enforcement come from the law above and your own rules and are applied by people; Unitify records the debt and the payments.

How this works in Unitify

Questions and answers

What are the consequences of unpaid contributions in Croatia?
A debtor who is late with a money obligation owes default interest on top of the principal. As a last resort, a majority of co-owners can ask a court to exclude a co-owner who does not meet the duties arising from the community, in particular one who does not pay the sums due, so that the co-owner's share is sold at public auction.
Where does this come from, and when was it checked?
The quotation is from Zakon o obveznim odnosima, članak 29., stavak 1., i Zakon o vlasništvu i drugim stvarnim pravima, članak 98., stavak 3., at the official source linked on this page. It was last checked against that source on September 14, 2026.
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