Co-ownership of buildings (reform): new Bill No. 1117 amending Law No. 1.329

Government Bill No. 1117 amending Law No. 1.329 of 8 January 2007 on co-ownership of buildings, as amended, was received by the Parliament on 15 October 2025.

Objective of the reform

Bill No. 1117 amends Articles 9 and 21 of Law No. 1.329 concerning the administration of co-ownership, in order to improve its clarity and consistency, and, above all, to extend the obligation to open a separate bank account (dedicated to the co-ownership) in the name of the co-owners' association to all property managers ("syndic"), whether voluntary ("syndic bénévole") or professional ("syndic professionnel"). Currently, this obligation only applies to voluntary property managers.

It aims to better protect the interests of co-owners "by enhancing the transparency and clarity of accounting management, specifically during audits or when there is a change of property manager", in other words, the traceability of financial transactions. In the event of the property manager's default, co-owners' associations would be assured "that the funds remain strictly separate from those" of the property manager. (Explanatory memorandum to Bill No. 1117)

This would be the fourth reform of Law No. 1,329 after those carried out by:

• Law No. 1.531 of 29 July 2022 (amendment of Articles 1, 2, 3, 8, 11, 11-1, 12, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22; new Articles 1-1, 1-2, 3-1, 5-1, 7-1, 7-2, 25-2, 25-3, 25-4 in order to address practical difficulties encountered in the organisation and administration of co-ownership);
• Law No. 1.481 of 17 December 2019 on civil solidarity contracts (amendment of Articles 13 and 22 by adding the partner in a cohabitation contract and the cohabitant in a cohabitation agreement);
• Law No. 1.369 of 20 May 2010 (amendment of Article 28 to extend the period during which co-ownerships created prior to Law No. 1.329 were required to comply to 5 years);
• Law No. 1.391 of 2 July 2012 (amending Articles 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 11-1, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 25-1, 28 to resolve, in accordance with property rights, the difficulties in applying Law No. 1.329).

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This reform would bring Monegasque law closer to French law (Article 18 of French Law No. 65-557 of 10 July 1965 establishing the status of co-ownership of buildings), which has undergone several changes since 2014 with regard to the issue of separate bank accounts. French Law No. 2014-366 of 24 March 2014 on access to housing and urban renewal (ALUR Law) first introduced the requirement for separate bank accounts for co-ownerships with more than fifteen main lots, with those with fewer lots being exempt. Then, as of 31 December 2020, this exemption for small co-ownerships was abolished by Order No. 2019-1001 of 30 October 2019 reforming the law on co-ownership of buildings, pursuant to Article 215 of Law No. 2018-1021 of 23 November 2018 on housing, development and digital technology (ELAN Law).

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SUMMARY (before submission to the Parliamentary Committee)

→ Article 9 of Law No. 1.329 would now be dedicated solely to enshrining the essential principles (paragraph 1 retained; deletion of paragraphs 2 to 4, the adapted content of which would be moved to Article 21), namely:

• the administration of the co-ownership is the responsibility of a property manager, and
• the general meeting of co-owners has the recognised power to appoint a union council to assist and supervise the property manager.

→ Article 21 of Law No. 1.329, which deals with the obligations of the property manager, would be restructured (into six points):

• General duties of the property manager (I).
• Financial and accounting obligations of the property manager (II): drawing up the draft budget; keeping separate accounts; obligation of the property manager (whether voluntary or professional) to open a separate bank account in the name of the association at a bank of their choice in the Principality within three months of their appointment (failing this: the property manager's mandate shall be null and void, but the property manager's acts performed with third parties in good faith shall remain valid), a copy of the periodic statements of which must be made available to the syndicate council.
• Representation of the syndicate in all civil and legal proceedings by the trustee (III): for legal proceedings, after authorisation by the general meeting, except for protective measures, debt recovery actions, summary proceedings and to defend the general meeting against legal proceedings, except for protective measures, debt recovery actions, summary proceedings and to defend the association against legal proceedings brought against it).
• Management responsibility incumbent upon the property manager and delegation of authority for a specific purpose that may be authorised by the general meeting (IV).
• Obligations of the property manager with regard to archives and documents (V).
• Possibility for the professional property manager to offer co-owners secure online access to various documents relating to the management of the building (VI).

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