Definition : Divided co-ownership - Horizontal co-ownership

La webradio du 21 septembre 2022 a porté sur la question de l'assurance des copropriétés horizontales. Pour plusieurs, l'assurance d'une maison en rangée ou jumelée (en copropriété divise) est similaire à celle que l'on souscrit pour une maison individuelle. C'est ainsi que certains syndicats de copropriété horizontale n'assurent que les parties communes de la copropriété.  Or, peu sont au fait que cette façon de faire est généralement non conforme aux dispositions législatives établies par le Code civil du Québec. Lors de cette webradio, des experts reconnus dans le domaine ont su démystifier les règles applicables en la matière et prodiguer de justes conseils.  Les invités étaient Vincent Gaudreau, courtier en assurance de dommages, l'avocat émérite Yves Joli-Coeur, du cabinet Therrien Couture Joli-Coeur, ainsi que Valéry Couture (gestionnaire de copropriété de Condo stratégis).

Whether semi-detached or row, the townhouse is a good compromise between the typical co-ownership apartment and the single-family home. This type of project is established in "horizontal co-ownership". Each of the fractions is composed of a private portion (usually a house) and a share of common portions (the land). Each co-owner is the owner of his private portion "from nadir to zenith", while the common portions are usually limited to traffic lanes, parking lots and certain strips of land. From a legal point of view, horizontal co-ownership has no special status. Horizontal co-ownerships are governed by the same rules set out in the Civil Code of Quebec that apply vertically (e.g. residential towers).

By purchasing a condo (apartment) in a residential tower, you automatically become an owner in a vertical co-ownership. You can also be in a divided co-ownership, if you purchase a house (semi-detached or townhouse), built on the same lot than other individual homes.  It is then called a horizontal co-ownership. If this is the case, you may not be the sole owner of the land surrounding your home.  You will therefore share with others the ownership of the private streets leading to the homes and common areas, and the common equipment such as the swimming pool and collective parking.

The characteristic of divided co-ownership is to divide the building into various lots that will be the exclusive property of the co-owners (private portions), and for others that will be the property of all the co-owners (common portions). These lots are identified by an individual number, which was assigned during the cadastral operation. Each of the private lots of the co-ownership thus constituted becomes a unique property. The distinction between the common and private portions is essential, particularly from the point of view of maintenance, which is the responsibility of the syndicate of co-owners for the common portions and of the co-owners for the private portions.