Parking spaces designated as private portions are common in divided co-ownership; this specific legal status is granted to them by the declaration of co-ownership, which identifies them as fractions in the section dedicated to the description of the fractions. Similar to an apartment held in co-ownership (condominium), all parking spaces have a unique lot number, a relative value, and a share that are specific to them. As a result, the owners of the parking spaces can, during a meeting of co-owners, exercise the number of votes associated with them; these votes can be added, where applicable, to those they already have for their apartment.
Boundaries
Filed in the Quebec land register, the cadastral plan indicates the measurements, the area and the relative position of each of the parking spaces; if they are located in the basement of the immovable, they will usually be delimited by the concrete slab of the floor and ceiling which are generally referred to as common portions. The boundaries of the private portions are determined during the cadastral operation; in principle, a land surveyor will take into account the volume of air above the concrete slab to create the lower limit of the private parking lot in the making.
Once the cadastral operation has been completed and the declaration of co-ownership has been published, it must be established that only a small portion of the wheels of the parked vehicle is in contact with the common portion; the space above which is marked by the lot line separating the private portion from the common portion belongs to the owner.
Terms and conditions of sale associated with the parking spaces
Considered as accessories to the residential private portion, certain declarations of co-ownership specify the owners’ rights with respect to their parking spaces.
For example, a co-owner will not be entitled to:
The validity of these clauses may be the object of a debate but they are seem to have been accepted because, although they may be perceived as restrictions on the free disposal of property, these restrictions are justified by the destination of the immovable. That being said, if the declaration of co-ownership is silent with respect to the conditions of sale, a rare occurrence indeed, the owner may dispose of it as he desires.
Common expenses
Owning a private portion parking space unit entails participating in common expenses and so, in proportion to the relative value of the concerned fraction. In principle, the inherent expenses regarding the maintenance costs of a private portion are assumed by its owner but the cost of the work to maintain and repair the slab and its surface such as the waterproofing membrane that protects a multi floor concrete slab is generally split between all the co-owners of the immovable; to calculate what each one has to pay, it's important to refer to the relative value of their fraction. Other types of work are also paid for by all co-owners including the major repair of the slab in the event its steel reinforcement rods have deteriorated.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW! Whether they're private or common, the conditions of enjoyment of a parking space are defined in the by-laws of the immovable. A clause could mention, for example, that a parking space can only be used to park one vehicle; co-owners must use this space by strictly respecting the established rules.
WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND: The declaration of co-ownership is usually very clear when it comes to the use of a parking space which can only be used to park a car or a motorcycle in good working condition; motor homes, trailers, and bicycles, just to name a few, are usually prohibited.
WARNING! A co-owner is generally prohibited from using his parking space to maintain or repair a vehicle or store items such as gas cylinders, cardboard, wood or any other flammable material; violations of this rule may be subject to a fine and so, under a penal clause that may be included in the declaration of co-ownership. If the storage of prohibited objects was to cause damages, the syndicate would require the offending co-owner to pay the costs of the resulting repair work.
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