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Legal reference

Arrears: what happens when owners do not pay in Portugal

Short answer

The minutes of the meeting that fixed the contributions are an enforceable title (título executivo) against the owner who does not pay on time, provided they state each owner's annual amount and its due date. The title also covers default interest at the legal rate and the penalties approved by the assembly or set in the building's regulation.

What the law says

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

A ata da reunião da assembleia de condóminos que reúna os requisitos indicados no n.º 1 constitui título executivo contra o proprietário que deixar de pagar, no prazo estabelecido, a sua quota-parte.
Provision: Decreto-Lei n.º 268/94, art. 6.º, n.º 2 · Official text

Last verified:

Also relevant

A ata da reunião da assembleia de condóminos que tiver deliberado o montante das contribuições a pagar ao condomínio menciona o montante anual a pagar por cada condómino e a data de vencimento das respetivas obrigações.
Provision: Decreto-Lei n.º 268/94, art. 6.º, n.º 1 · Official text
Consideram-se abrangidos pelo título executivo os juros de mora, à taxa legal, da obrigação dele constante, bem como as sanções pecuniárias, desde que aprovadas em assembleia de condóminos ou previstas no regulamento do condomínio.
Provision: Decreto-Lei n.º 268/94, art. 6.º, n.º 3 · Official text

What this means in practice

Only minutes that meet those two requirements work as a title; not every set of minutes does. The administrator must start legal action to collect the sums, within 90 days of the first default unless the assembly decides otherwise and when the debt is at least one IAS, an amount that changes every year and is not quoted here. Penalties set by the assembly are capped at a quarter of the unit's annual taxable income.

General information, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer in Portugal 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 Portugal?
The minutes of the meeting that fixed the contributions are an enforceable title (título executivo) against the owner who does not pay on time, provided they state each owner's annual amount and its due date. The title also covers default interest at the legal rate and the penalties approved by the assembly or set in the building's regulation.
Where does this come from, and when was it checked?
The quotation is from Decreto-Lei n.º 268/94, art. 6.º, n.º 2, at the official source linked on this page. It was last checked against that source on October 8, 2026.
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