The Surveillance Committee and the Homeowners Assembly are the legal path, not an informal dispute with the administrator.
Get the Reglamento and master deed reviewed by a bilingual attorney, and ask for the current indiviso, quarterly dues, reserve fund balance, and history of special assessments before you commit.
If you’re American, expect a system tied much more tightly to public, state-recorded law than a private developer contract. If you’re Canadian, the system will feel more familiar — supermajorities, elected oversight, provincial-style regulation — except that in Mexico a separate A.C., not the condominium itself, is the actual legal and tax entity, and the Administrator generally executes what the Assembly has already decided rather than governing independently.
Some things can never be decided by the Administrator, the A.C., or the Surveillance Committee alone: amending the master deed or bylaws, approving the budget or setting dues, levying special assessments, selling or encumbering common property, appointing or removing the administrator or committee, approving structural changes, and forcing the sale of a delinquent owner’s unit.
The Surveillance Committee — two or more owners appointed by the Assembly whose specific job is to audit the administrator, check decisions against what was actually approved, and flag problems. If leadership stonewalls, the Committee can summon an Extraordinary Assembly directly.
Yes, in persistent cases. With the Assembly’s authorization, the administrator can pursue legal action — up to and including forcing a sale — to recover unpaid dues, late charges, and legal costs. Unlike a U.S.-style lien, this runs through the Mexican courts rather than something the HOA enforces on its own.
After a short grace period — often just a couple of weeks — interest starts accruing monthly. Many bylaws also suspend a delinquent owner’s right to vote or be heard at the Assembly until the account is current.
Changing either one counts as amending the regime, which requires a high bar — often a near-unanimous quorum and a supermajority vote well above what routine decisions need. Your indiviso itself doesn’t move with market value; it only changes through that kind of formal amendment.
No. The indiviso is the standard, default method, but a developer can set up a regime with a different allocation formula instead. What makes an approach legal isn’t the formula itself — it’s whether it’s actually written into the registered master deed (Regimen) and Rules and Regulations, either from the start or through a proper amendment. If a community is billing dues or assigning ownership share under a formula that doesn’t appear in those registered documents, that practice is illegal, however long it’s been going on.
Against your indiviso — owners with a larger percentage share pay proportionally more. Some developers will establish the Regimen with a different approach including a flat fee per residence. What is of the utmost importance is that the calculation follows what is legally established in the Regimen.