ONE of the points in what is commonly referred to as the gated community Bill, tabled in Parliament last Tuesday, that captured many homeowners’ attention is the green light given to rent or sell property for unpaid maintenance fees.

But just how easy — or difficult — would it be to actually sell someone’s house to recoup overdue fees? Will property owners who insist they should not pay, as they never signed up to be in a gated community, be exempt from that and other penalties being proposed?

The Jamaica Observer’s Real Estate on the Rock turned to Real Estate Board (REB) member, president of the Realtors Association of Jamaica (RAJ) and attorney-at-law Gabrielle Gilpin-Hudson for insight into the Registration (Shared Community) Act, 2026. She was part of an REB special committee that worked on the legislation which has been years in the making — long before she became an REB member. Gilpin-Hudson is proud of the work done on the Bill, insisting that it will fix legislative gaps, remedy unfinished business left by developers, and finally provide the teeth needed to go after property owners who happily soak up the benefits of living in a shared community but refuse to shoulder their share of the cost.

Gilpin-Hudson also anticipates that, once passed, the Act will lighten the load of the country’s Supreme Court as disputes will be handled by the REB. Read on for highlights from the interview.

Jamaica Observer Limited (JOL): What recourse does a property owner have if the community corporation — a corporate body made up of all property owners — moves to sell his property to recoup unpaid contributions?

Gabrielle Gilpin-Hudson (GGH): There is a process through which you can appeal to the tribunal. When you have an appeal before the tribunal, based on unpaid contributions, they would not issue a certificate of power of sale until that appeal is heard and finalised. There’s an extensive process that has to be done before a certificate can be issued. This includes showing that: There is money that you ought to have been paying; you have not paid it; they have given you notice that you need to pay; that notice period has expired; you have not paid; and there’s no excuse. When it’s more complicated than that, then the circumstances can be heard, based on those specific circumstances, but in general, there’s a process to be followed.

The certificate of power of sale is not an arbitrary thing that you just get easily like that; you really have to be in default — and demonstratively be in default — for that to happen.

It is important to note that this Bill also addresses the issue of persons who own units in these communities that cannot be found, and where the units are becoming run-down over time — they’re uninhabited [and] they’re causing public health concerns. It creates a mechanism whereby the community can go in and rectify that. So, it also requires the communities to have up to date contact information for all of the owners and be able to reach them. It will require owners who are overseas to have somebody in Jamaica that can be contacted and can address any problems with the unit.

JOL: Why was this legislation needed? And do you think it goes far enough?

GGH: The Bill is extremely comprehensive. At first, persons were thinking that this Bill just applies to gated communities, but the reason it’s called the Shared Communities Bill is because not all communities have a gate.

To provide context: You have two ways of creating a development. You can do a strata development or you can do a subdivision. The reason we’re here is because the [existing] strata legislation applies to stratas but there is no particular legislation that governs the common areas and common living in subdivisions. There was a gap where it was left up to the developer of that community to put in place mechanisms, and systems, and processes for the enforcement of any kind of rules or agreements between the owners as it relates to maintenance of common facilities.

The Bill, as it is drafted, is intended to apply to shared communities that have shared amenities or services. For example, you all share a guardhouse and a gate, and there is a security guard there, and you’re all contributing to having that, because there’s a cost. It would apply if you have shared common property. In a lot of these subdivisions you may have a green area, a football field, a clubhouse and so on, that persons have to pay towards to maintain and upkeep. This legislation is aimed to provide a solution for those types of communities.

When there is no structure, some of the owners benefit from the shared facilities, the shared amenities, and are not paying — and there’s no teeth to cause them to pay. This is a major deal in that regard [because] a lot of those associations may not have been properly incorporated. We saw where there was a law case recently where the judge found that because the homeowners’ association wasn’t a legal entity, it was not capable of suing or being sued.

Boost in property value

JOL: What are some of the other implications of this Bill, if it passes?

GGH: Our court system is overwhelmed with cases in the Supreme Court. So for a lot of these matters — even if you had a homeowner’s agreement set up, or you have your homeowners’ association company — for you to enforce these rules, because they’re based in contracts, you may find that you’d be having to go to Supreme Court because of the quantum of monies involved. It takes a very long time to get a date in Supreme Court, and it is a very expensive process because you’re going to have to pay a litigator, and you’re going to have to be in court for a number of years. The cost just to exercise your rights and enforce your obligations can go up into the millions very easily in that situation.

In strata communities, the legislation allows for these complaints to be directly heard by the Commission of Strata Corporations. Under this legislation, these complaints can now be heard by the relevant authority, which is going to be the Real Estate Board.

And, as a side note, remember that the Real Estate Board and the Commission of Strata Corporations are eventually going to be merged into the Real Estate Authority of Jamaica — that’s something we’re working on legislatively as well.

So, there will be an entity that you can go to [the REB] to get recourse for these things faster and cheaper than if you go into the Supreme Court.

The benefit is also that the persons that are going to hear these complaints in those tribunals are going to be persons who are very au fait with this area of the law and knowledgeable. That will also assist with the timely disposition of any conflicts that arise under the legislation, so that’s another big win that’s coming out of this.

For the real estate sector, this will give persons more confidence — when they’re buying into some of these communities — that a mechanism exists that will preserve property value. When you have these mechanisms, communities can be kept up to a higher standard and maintained properly. Part of the problem that exists now is that in some of these subdivisions these roads are private roads owned by the persons in the subdivision and not Government, and so there’s no maintenance of the roads. These things cause areas to lose their value and lustre. It causes them to not necessarily be as aesthetically pleasing or as liveable, because they’re not being maintained.

I expect the legislation will also help to bolster our real estate market. It makes us take another step towards having that First World real estate market that is the goal of the RAJ, in terms of its advocacy, to really push us in that direction. The Real Estate Board is on that same page as well, trying to ensure that Jamaica has a world-class real estate industry.

The proposed legislation also assists with financial accountability. Once you have a community of a certain size you will now need to be making sure that you have certain things in place in terms of the accountability of the monies that are being collected. That is already built into the strata legislation but in some of these shared communities, persons are collecting money and they don’t have any training, licence, or any experience to do so; they’re not employing proper procurement practices. The legislation addresses all of these things and allows for owners to feel comfortable that whomever they are electing amongst themselves to become their committee to do the collection of maintenance funds, they will have to be doing so with a certain level of responsibility to make sure that everything is transparent and accounted for.

JOL: Will this legislation cover all shared communities? Are there any exceptions because of size, for example?

GGH: I know that’s a concern of some persons. There are some communities where this legislation may not appropriately apply to them, or they already have mechanisms in place that are working and functional, so what the Bill also does is allow certain communities to basically become exempted from the Act. But for the ones that we know that this legislation is needed for, it will apply even though the developer may have completed it and did not leave those proper structures in place. They will now have to adopt the structures necessary.

We also recognise, from the Real Estate Board standpoint, that this is going to require a public education campaign, and also require us to work with various communities to assist them with having access to the guidance and information that they need to be in compliance with the legislation.

Open the gate, let me out

JOL: There are some property owners whose houses existed before the establishment of a gated community, which now includes their homes. They argue that they never bought into a gated community and should not be mandated to pay monthly contributions. Are they exempt from the dues?

GGH: Nobody can opt out. Some of the issues that we have here are that it’s a cultural problem where sometimes we don’t necessarily understand how to live in a community and take care of something that belongs to all of us equally.

It’s also an advice problem. It’s very important now for your attorney to advise you of your rights and obligations when you buy into a community that has shared amenities or shared facilities and shared services, because you cannot benefit without contribution.

That’s really the biggest pain point that the legislation is seeking to address — and it will now have teeth.

Where it is that you’re not paying, your unit can be in jeopardy because it will form a lien against your unit. When you want to sell your unit, you need to clear it off before it can be sold. Those are some of the things that are going to really help with the accountability and ensuring that everybody is contributing, in proportion, to what they ought to be contributing.

If you’re benefiting, you need to be contributing.

We really need to stop this idea that we should be benefiting and not paying for these things, because these things cost money. This is how we build sustainable developments and projects that last for generations.

If nobody wants to pay to maintain things [then] things fall apart, things become ugly, things lose their property value, and nobody wants to buy it. Nobody wants to live there.

What the Bill says

Order of possession:

Section 32 of the Bill says if contributions have not been paid for 60 days or more and the community corporation — a corporate body made up of all property owners — has exhausted every effort to locate the owner and wants to rent the property to recoup fees due, it can apply to the court for an order of possession. All rent earned has to be paid directly to the community corporation.

Sale of property:

Section 35 outlines the steps to be taken if contributions remain unpaid and the community corporation wishes to sell the property in question. That includes, again, making every effort to locate the owner get him to pay up, placing an ad in the newspaper, and gazetting the notice. Once all these requirements are met the Real Estate Board will issue a certificate which clears the way for the community corporation to sell the property.

GILPIN-HUDSON… if you’re benefiting, you need to be contributing

When you have an appeal before the tribunal, based on unpaid contributions, they would not issue a certificate of power of sale until that appeal is heard and finalised.