Property owners in condominium regimes throughout Baja California, including those in developments such as La Ventana del Mar in San Felipe, benefit from a structured legal framework governing ownership rights. This post examines the ownership of common areas, with particular reference to internal roads like Privada de Zeus in Condominio 7, illustrating principles that apply uniformly across similar regimes under state law.
The Legal Framework: Baja California Condominium Property Law
The Ley sobre el Régimen de Propiedad en Condominio de Inmuebles para el Estado de Baja California establishes the foundation for condominium ownership. This statute defines the regime as one in which individual owners hold exclusive rights to their private units while sharing co-ownership of common elements.
Key provisions include:
- Each owner possesses exclusive ownership over their unit and a proportional undivided interest (pro indiviso) in common areas.
- Common areas encompass elements essential for shared use, explicitly including "calles interiores" (interior streets or roads), along with land, gardens, paths, and infrastructure not assigned privately.
- The undivided share is proportional to the value or surface area of the private unit relative to the total property, as specified in the constitutive deed.
- Common areas are indivisible without unanimous consent, ensuring collective benefit and responsibility.
This law applies statewide, meaning that in any condominium regime in Baja California—including multiple regimes within master-planned communities like La Ventana del Mar—internal roads and similar infrastructure qualify as common property co-owned by all unit holders in proportion to their indiviso percentages.
Condominio 7 as an Illustrative Example
Condominio 7, established by public deed number 111,364 on February 22, 2007, before Notary Public Luis Alfonso Vidales Moreno in Mexicali, Baja California, is situated on Lote 1 of Manzana 3 within Fraccionamiento La Ventana del Mar. The total surface area of this lote is 41,571.692 square meters and comprises 17 individual condominium units (unidades privativas), each with precisely defined private surface areas, boundaries (colindancias), and corresponding undivided percentages (porcentajes de indiviso).
The constitutive deed provides detailed descriptions for each unit, demonstrating that Privada de Zeus functions exclusively as a shared internal access road and is not incorporated into any private unit's surface area. Below are selected examples illustrating this consistent pattern:
Unidad Condominal 1 Private surface area: 2,629.970 m² Indiviso percentage: 7.6876% Selected boundaries:
- Noreste: 26.842 m with Privada de Zeus
- Additional segments with Unidad 2 and áreas de reserva This unit borders Privada de Zeus along one side but does not include any portion of the road in its private area.
Unidad Condominal 2 Private surface area: 1,988.266 m² Indiviso percentage: 5.8119% Selected boundaries:
- Noroeste: curved segments totaling approximately 38.576 m with Privada de Zeus
- Other sides with Unidades 1 and 3, and área de reserva The road forms part of the northwestern boundary yet remains external to the private calculation.
Unidad Condominal 3 Private surface area: 1,780.449 m² Indiviso percentage: 5.2044% Selected boundaries:
- Noroeste: 47.315 m with Privada de Zeus
- Adjacent to Unidades 2 and 4, and área de reserva
- Unidad Condominal 4 Private surface area: 1,780.449 m² (symmetric to Unidad 3) Similar boundary configuration with Privada de Zeus on one side.
Additional units that directly border Privada de Zeus include Unidades 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, and 16, each described in the deed with analogous references to the road as a colindancia without inclusion in their respective private surface areas. The master plans (plantas de conjunto) attached to the deed clearly label "PRIV. DE ZEUS" as a distinct element separate from the numbered private units and positioned alongside other common areas such as áreas verdes and áreas de reserva.
The overall boundaries of Lote 1 include a 12-meter western segment colindante with Privada de Zeus, marking the point of entry, while the road extends internally throughout the condominium as shared infrastructure. Each owner's indiviso percentage—calculated proportionally based on their unit's private area—grants an undivided interest in all common elements, including Privada de Zeus. This entitlement provides rights of use and access while imposing corresponding obligations for maintenance contributions.
This detailed structure in Condominio 7 aligns precisely with the provisions of Baja California condominium law regarding the treatment of interior roads and other shared infrastructure as common property co-owned by all unit holders.
Application to Other Condominium Regimes in La Ventana del Mar
La Ventana del Mar comprises multiple condominium regimes within a larger gated community featuring golf course access and seaside amenities. Each regime operates independently under its own constitutive deed but adheres to the uniform provisions of Baja California law.
Consequently, internal roads, pathways, and similar shared infrastructure in other regimes qualify as common areas co-owned proportionally by their respective unit owners. This consistent application promotes equitable use and collective responsibility across the development.
Management of Common Areas Under Baja California Law
Pursuant to the Ley sobre el Régimen de Propiedad en Condominio de Inmuebles para el Estado de Baja California, the administration of common areas, including internal roads, is vested in an administrator appointed by the assembly of condominium owners (asamblea de condóminos). Voting rights in this assembly are held by owners in good standing, with votes weighted according to their proportional undivided shares (indiviso). This structure ensures that control over maintenance, access, and usage decisions resides with the collective ownership body, rather than with prior representatives of the developer.
In regimes such as Condominio 7, the original constitutive deed designates the developer (San Felipe Beach Club, S.A. de C.V., represented by José de Jesús Olmos González) with initial administrative responsibilities during the development phase. However, upon creation and sales of properties of the regime and in accordance with state law, authority transitions to the administrator elected by the owners' assembly. Consequently, any former administrator associated with the developer, including José de Jesús Olmos, no longer holds control over common areas once a new administrator has been duly appointed through the voting process by qualified owners. This mechanism safeguards the owners' co-ownership rights and promotes democratic governance of shared elements.
Implications for Owners
Co-ownership of common areas, including internal roads, grants rights of access and use while requiring participation in upkeep through proportional contributions. Assemblies of owners appoint administrators to manage these elements in accordance with the law.
Owners are encouraged to review their constitutive deeds, inscribed in the public registry, for specific indiviso details.
This framework under Baja California law ensures clarity and protection of ownership interests in condominium regimes.