The status or nature of a Homeowners Associations (HOA) Constitution in Zimbabwe

A Homeowners Association (HOA) Constitution is an important legal document which provides for the administration, control, management, use and enjoyment of sections or units of a sectional title and the common property.

In Zimbabwe, section 27 of the Deeds Registries Act [Chapter 20:05] governs the transfer by owners of undivided shares in land in urban areas i.e., apartments or flats, complexes or gated communities. Such ownership and such transfer may be coupled with exclusive rights of occupation. The section / unit regulates the rights of such owners. By notarial deeds the owners, or each one of them, may be assigned the exclusive right of ownership in conjunction with the undivided share or shares.

The notarial deeds, to be registered against the title deed, have to specify, among other things, the number of undivided shares which are coupled with the exclusive right of occupation. The Constition of a HOA in Zimbabwe has to specify which buildings, or portions of them, on the land, identified by means of distinct numbers, are coupled with the exclusive right of occupation and reciprocal rights and obligations of the members and the HOA. The constitution also provides for the administration and maintenance of the land, the buildings, and the liability for rates and expenses relating thereto, and the manner in which the constitution may be amended. see Hewat & Another v Brim Investments (Pvt) Ltd & Others 2016 (2) ZLR 228 (H).

Put differently the status or nature of a HOA Constitution in Zimbabwe is the domestic statute of a HOA. In this sense, it could be properly construed as containing the reciprocal rights and obligations of the owners and members of the HOA. see Wiljay Investments (Pty) Ltd v Body Corporate, Bryanston Crescent & Another 1984 (2) SA 722 (T).