Can I sell my parking spot without selling the apartment?

If the documento de condominio assigns it to your apartment, no: article 5, literal i, of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal prohibits alienating or encumbering it separately. In 2022 the TSJ's Sala de Casación Civil let stand a decision that declared void the separate sale of a spot that the title, following the documento de condominio, had assigned to an apartment.

Can a surplus spot be sold to someone who does not live in the building?

The law allows the sale of unassigned spots, preferably to the owners. Selling or encumbering them in favor of someone who is not an owner requires the favorable vote of 75% of the owners.

Can the junta or the assembly change my spot?

The junta oversees the use of the common elements and the assembly decides on their administration. Amending the documento de condominio requires unanimity (art. 29), and our reading is that taking away a spot assigned in that document is amending it.

Can I rent out my spot?

The law has no specific rule on renting out the assigned spot, but it requires that it always be used as parking, and its article 31 orders notaries not to authenticate leases of common elements of article 5 in buildings intended to be sold under propiedad horizontal. Check the reglamento de condominio and, if in doubt, consult a lawyer.

How do I know which spot belongs to an apartment?

Check the title, which must cite the documento de condominio (art. 33), and ask the Registro for a copy of the documento de condominio. Its specifications are deemed reproduced in each sale (art. 26).

How long do I have to challenge a decision about the parking spots?

Thirty days from the assembly or from the notice of the decision, or from when you learned of it if no meeting was called or it was not communicated to you (art. 25). The challenge does not suspend the decision unless the judge orders it.

Parking spot in a condominium

What the law says about parking spots

Apartment buildings are governed by the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (condominium law; Gaceta Oficial No. 3.241 Extraordinario, August 18, 1983). Parking spots are in article 5, which lists the common elements.

Its literal i includes "los puestos de estacionamiento que sean declarados como tales en el documento de condominio" (the parking spots declared as such in the documento de condominio, or condominium deed) and sets three rules:

Assigned spot. The documento de condominio "debe asignar, por lo menos un puesto de estacionamiento a cada uno de los apartamentos o locales" (must assign at least one parking spot to each of the apartments or commercial units). That spot cannot be alienated or encumbered (sold, mortgaged) except together with its apartment.

Surplus spot. Unassigned spots can be alienated or encumbered, preferably in favor of the owners of the building. In favor of someone who is not an owner, only with the favorable vote of 75% of the owners.

Use. "En todo caso" (in all cases) they must always be used as parking spots.

The same literal allows the Ejecutivo Nacional (national executive) to authorize, by special regulation, a different assignment in certain areas of a city.

Article 26 requires the documento de condominio to set the value and percentage of each apartment, commercial unit "y otras partes del edificio susceptibles de enajenación separada" (and other parts of the building that can be sold separately).

Type of spot	Where it is recorded	Can it be sold separately?
Assigned to an apartment	Documento de condominio	No, only with the apartment (art. 5, lit. i)
Surplus	Documento de condominio	Yes, preferably to owners; to third parties, with 75% (art. 5, lit. i)
With its own value and percentage	Documento de condominio (art. 26)	It may be a part "susceptible de enajenación separada" (that can be sold separately); review the documento with a lawyer
Common, income-producing	Documento de condominio (art. 5, lit. l)	It is common; its income pays common expenses

Accessory of the apartment or common element?

The law places parking spots among the common elements, but ties the assigned spot to its apartment. In legal doctrine (a secondary source), María Candelaria Domínguez Guillén and Carlos Pérez Fernández write that assigned spots are owned by the owners of the apartments, but are inseparable from them, and they distinguish them from common elements for exclusive use, which still belong to the community.

Also:

Article 6. Each owner's rights in the common elements are inseparable from their apartment and are included in its sale, encumbrance or inheritance.

Article 12. If the use of a common asset was assigned exclusively to one apartment, its owner pays for maintenance and minor repairs, and for major repairs caused by not making the minor ones in time.

What the TSJ (the Supreme Court) said. In the ruling of the Sala de Casación Civil (civil cassation chamber) of November 14, 2022 (case file AA20-C-2022-000048, Villa Magna building, Caracas), the documento de condominio said that parking spots and storage lockers would be assigned in each sale as "parte integrante e inseparable" (an integral and inseparable part) of the unit, and the title of the penthouse assigned them to it. Its owners sold separately, in an authenticated document, one of those spots and two storage lockers to the company that had sold them the apartment. The superior court declared that sale ineffective and void as contrary to the law. The Sala dismissed the appeal and concluded, in its own reasoning, that the superior court did not misinterpret literals i and j of article 5 because ownership "comporta una unidad única e indivisible" (constitutes a single, indivisible unit).

An open point. Article 31 orders registrars, judges and notaries not to record or authenticate the alienation, encumbrance, lease or comodato (loan for use) of the common elements of article 5 in a building intended to be sold under propiedad horizontal (condominium ownership), and declares any transaction to the contrary null and void by operation of law. The law does not explain how this fits with the sale of surplus spots that literal i allows or with the income-producing common parking of literal l, and we did not find a ruling that resolves it. Before buying or selling a standalone spot, consult a lawyer.

How to know which spot your apartment has

The title. It must contain the registration details of the documento de condominio, the designation of the apartment (area, number or letter, boundaries) and its percentage (art. 33). Check whether it names the spot. See how to read a property document.

The documento de condominio. It is recorded at the Registro (public registry) before the first apartment is sold, with the approved plans, on which "demarcadas claramente las áreas comunes" (the common areas clearly marked) must appear (art. 26). Its specifications are deemed reproduced in the sale or encumbrance of any apartment, commercial unit or parking spot (art. 26), so they govern even if your title does not repeat them. Ask the Registro for a copy and look for:

Which spot is assigned to each apartment.

The surplus, visitor and income-producing spots.

Whether any spot has its own value and percentage.

The parking plans.

If you are buying, ask that the opción de compra-venta (purchase option) and the sale identify the spot the same way as the documento de condominio.

Renting out a spot

The law has no specific rule on renting out the assigned spot. It does require that it always be used as parking (art. 5, lit. i), so it cannot be rented out as storage.

Check the reglamento de condominio (condominium bylaws): it is mandatory, it regulates the use of common and private elements, and the assembly can amend it (art. 26). See whether it limits access for people who do not live in the building.

The Ley del Régimen Especial de Arrendamiento de Inmuebles Destinados a Vivienda (housing lease law; Gaceta Oficial No. 7.065 Extraordinario, August 7, 2026) only regulates housing leases (arts. 1 and 2). A spot rented on its own is not housing: article 2 does not name it among its exclusions, it simply falls outside the law. Our reading is that it is governed by the Código Civil (Civil Code), which defines a lease as letting another enjoy a thing "por cierto tiempo y mediante un precio determinado" (for a certain time and for a set price) (art. 1.579).

If the spot is rented together with the apartment and the contract is governed by the 2026 law, the contract must include the list of "cosas o usos conexos y adicionales" (related and additional things or uses) (art. 8, num. 5).

If the spot is a common element, keep in mind article 31 on leases.

What the assembly can decide

The owners decide on the administration and upkeep of the common elements (art. 22). The junta de condominio (condominium board) oversees their use and adopts the necessary rules (art. 18, lit. d). More in how a condominium works.

Decision	Majority	Article
Administration of common elements, if the documento does not say otherwise	Majority of the owners representing at least two thirds of the value	22 and 23
Selling or encumbering surplus spots in favor of a non-owner	75% of the owners	5, lit. i
Improvements to common elements	75% of the owners	9
Dividing common elements	If the law authorizes it, or two thirds of the members of the assembly, with permits	8
Building basements or excavations	Unanimity, with permission from the authorities	10
Amending the documento de condominio	Unanimity	29

Since the assignment is recorded in the documento de condominio, our reading is that a majority cannot take away from an apartment the spot that document assigns to it: that would be amending the document, and that requires unanimity (art. 29).

If there is a dispute

Write to the administrador (building manager) and the junta. The administrador is responsible for enforcing the documento and the reglamento (art. 20).

Challenge in time. Any owner can challenge before a judge majority decisions that violate the law or the documento de condominio, or are an abuse of rights, within the 30 days following the assembly or the notice of the decision (or from when they learned of it, if no meeting was called or a decision taken outside an assembly was not communicated). The challenge does not suspend the decision unless the judge so decides, and it follows the procedimiento breve (summary procedure) (art. 25).

Changes by the seller. If the seller altered the building against the documento de condominio, anyone with an interest can report it to the Ingeniería Municipal (municipal engineering office) or the other body named in article 47, so that it orders the building restored.

If you buy, condominium debts follow the apartment (art. 13); if the spot has its own percentage, also ask for its solvencia (certificate of no debts). See condominium debts when buying. To sue, you will need a lawyer.

Parking spot in a condominium: who owns it?