Renting out an apartment under propiedad horizontal in Serena del Mar: which contract applies and which clauses change

Not everything that is rented out is rented under the same contract, and the one for an apartment under propiedad horizontal does not look like the neighbouring unit's when the nature of the property differs. Before thinking about the tenant, the contract has to fit inside what the reglamento and the use rules admit.

Colombian lease law distinguishes by purpose: urban housing, commercial premises and short-stay lodging are not governed by the same rules, and what you sign conditions what may and may not be agreed. On top of that regime sits the private layer: the reglamento de propiedad horizontal (the condominium bylaws) can ban or condition an use the law does not ban, and a later asamblea may have tightened it without the recorded reglamento reflecting it yet. So the contract for an apartment under propiedad horizontal is built the other way round from how it is usually done: first verify what use the property admits, then which contract matches that use, and only then the clauses. Which regime applies to your case and how each clause is drafted is work for your Colombian attorney; what a buyer can verify before signing is what the reglamento says, what the last asamblea minutes say, what the land-use certificate says and, where the purpose is short-stay lodging, what the registro nacional de turismo says.

Buying under propiedad horizontal —Colombia's condominium regime— means joining a legal entity that already exists and whose rules are not negotiated at the closing table. You accept the reglamento whole, together with what earlier asambleas (owners' meetings) resolved and whatever future ones resolve by majority, with no veto. That changes what due diligence is about. On a house, a title review follows the chain of ownership of the lot; here it also has to read the internal life of a community you become a compulsory member of: who administers it, which body approves an extraordinary levy, what the recent asambleas decided, and whether the building is current on what it must repair. It changes who collects, too. Beyond the municipal impuesto predial, the unit generates a monthly dues payment made to the administración for as long as you own it, whether or not you use the apartment, and whatever a previous owner left unpaid follows the unit rather than the person, which makes the administración's certificate as important as the registry's. For a buyer living abroad, the practical consequence is appointing someone to receive notices and vote, because the asamblea does not wait.

Serena del Mar runs on rules of its own. The land is developed under a plan parcial, a master plan adopted by District decree, and that decree, not a general reading of the POT, the city land-use plan, is what sets uses, land transfers to the city and development obligations for a given lot. So the document to request here is the adopting decree with its drawings; the land-use certificate that serves in a settled neighborhood is not enough. The second difference is a layer of private government that exists nowhere else: the ciudadela, the master community, has its own statutes, an architectural committee and design rules governing façades, fences and renovations, and those rules follow the property on resale, binding a buyer who never negotiated them. The third is the counterparty: you usually deal with the developer or with a fiduciaria, a trust company, administering the stages, and the unit's registry record descends from a very large parent parcel subdivided in phases, so title is verified upward, to the matriz, the parent record, and to the deeds transferring land to the District. Infrastructure was built by the developer: what matters is whether it has been handed over to the utility or is still privately held.

What is specific to Serena del Mar

What to verify, step by step

1. Request the recorded reglamento de propiedad horizontal and the minutes of the last asamblea, and read what they say about renting, permitted use and short-stay guests.
2. Ask the Alcaldía for the land-use certificate covering the activity you plan to host, because the reglamento and the planning rules are two separate permissions.
3. Check what belongs to an apartment under propiedad horizontal itself and changes the contract's clauses: the unit's coeficiente de copropiedad —its ownership share— as recorded in the reglamento, since it drives both the monthly dues and the weight of the vote at the asamblea; which bienes comunes de uso exclusivo (common property assigned to one unit for its sole use) the deed attaches to the apartment —parking, storage, patio— and whether they match what is being shown and whether the reglamento de propiedad horizontal and the minutes of the last asamblea agree on interior remodelling, pets and renting.
4. Ask the administrador what the copropiedad requires of a tenant —occupant registration, access rules, use of common areas— and get it in writing rather than by word of mouth.
5. Where the purpose is short-stay lodging, check the registro nacional de turismo and ask in whose name it stands and what becomes of it when the owner changes.
6. Search the Rama Judicial for pending proceedings over the property or against the seller on tenancy matters before buying the asset with a contract inside it.

Mistakes that cost money

• Signing a residential lease for an use that is not residential, or the reverse, because that template was to hand. The contract's stated purpose conditions what can be agreed.
• Reading the recorded reglamento but not the minutes. The asamblea may have set later conditions on use, and the buyer meets them afterwards.
• Buying a property with a tenant in place without reading the contract in force. What the seller agreed does not vanish because the owner changes, so read with your attorney where it leaves you.

Frequently asked questions

Can the reglamento prohibit renting?

The reglamento governs the use of units and common property, and in practice it is where rental restrictions appear. Ask for the recorded version together with the minutes, and have your attorney read how far it reaches.

Do I need a registro nacional de turismo to rent out?

That depends on whether the activity is tourist lodging. The RNT and what it requires are matters for the tourism authority, and the copropiedad can still restrict the use with the register in order.

Who do I verify the contract against?

The administrador for the reglamento and the minutes, the Alcaldía for land use, and the Rama Judicial for litigation. Drafting the contract itself is work with a Colombian attorney.

Where to check it

• Rama Judicial — whether there is pending litigation over the property or its owners
• Registro Nacional de Turismo — whether a property may legally be used for tourist accommodation and who has registered it
• Alcaldía Mayor de Cartagena de Indias — property tax, betterment levies and District procedures
• Cartagena de Indias — the rules of the municipality Serena del Mar belongs to

Official bodies. Specific figures are requested there, not copied from a listing.

Updated 2026-11-06