The legal personality of multi-ownership condominium: doctrine and decisions of the courts

• Grant number: 16/07662-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2016
• End date: December 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Law - Private Law
• Principal Investigator: Alessandro Hirata
• Grantee: Gustavo Furlan Bueno
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Direito de Ribeirão Preto (FDRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/23038-1 - The legal personality of multi-ownership condominium: German perspective, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

In Brazilian large cities, there is a predominance of apartment condominiums (or multi-ownership condominiums), given the high cost to acquire land and the increasing insecurity of living in homes connected directly to the street. Counting such condominiums with services increasingly larger and more complex, especially those formed by several towers and which constitute true vertical neighborhoods, Law cannot remain oblivious to this reality and to possible conflicts arising out of it. Still a very controversial topic, the legal nature of the multi-ownership condominium has been studied for a long time in Brazil and has different opinions. Mostly, it is considered the multi-ownership condominium as a depersonalized entity, although this configuration is insufficient to solve all the current problems, such as when a Condominium seeks to acquire a property near the building for the construction of a parking garage, for example, being almost impossible to take all joint owners, sometimes tens or hundreds, to the real estate registry to acquire ownership of the property jointly. Still, it would be impossible for a Condominium to be a victim of moral damage, assuming that has objective honor extended to legal entities by peaceful interpretation of the Superior Court of Justice. This research interest is to make an overview of the current doctrinal understanding as to the legal status of the condominium buildings, without losing sight of the evolution of the case law in recent years, the legal constructions historically developed and consolidated, as well as the more recent bills that sought to personalize the condominium buildings.