Internal regulations of a building in Peru: what the owners association can and can't impose

The short version

Living in a building or condominium in Peru means being subject to a set of internal regulations (reglamento interno) — and those regulations can reach further than most people think: they don’t just govern the common areas, they can also impose real limits on what you do inside your own unit. The law that makes this possible is Ley N.° 27157 and its regulation (Supreme Decree N.° 035-2006-VIVIENDA), which creates the regime of exclusive and common property under which nearly every building and condominium in the country operates.

But that power has limits. This article explains what a building’s internal regulations can regulate, what they can’t do, and the test — set twice by the Constitutional Court — that decides whether a new rule applies to you.

What the internal regulations can regulate, under the law

Article 153 of Ley 27157’s regulation sets out the mandatory content every internal regulations document must include. Among other points, it must contain:

• The designated use of each section (literal a): housing, commercial, industrial, office, parking, or another use, according to how your unit is registered.
• Owners’ rights and obligations (literal b).
• Limitations on the use of common property and of privately-owned sections (literal c) — the central provision for this article. It’s the legal basis that allows, for example, banning pets, restricting Airbnb-style short-term rentals, or limiting the commercial use of a residential unit.
• Special regulations on construction work, uses, or advertising (literal d).
• Ownership percentages in common property and common-expense shares (literales f and g).
• The owners association’s own regime, its sessions, quorum, and voting rules (literales h and i).
• “Any other lawful agreement or pact its signatories wish to include” (literal j) — the broadest clause, and also the one that marks the limit: it has to be lawful.

“Limitations and provisions agreed upon regarding the uses and purposes of common property, and regarding the use of privately-owned sections.” — Article 153, literal c)

This is the point that surprises most owners: the internal regulations aren’t limited to the common areas. They can reach directly into how you use your own unit.

The central limit: it can’t retroactively take away a right you already exercised

The word “lawful” in literal j) isn’t decorative. The Constitutional Court has resolved, in two cases with seemingly different outcomes, what the real test is for whether a restriction in the internal regulations applies to you:

• If you were already exercising a use before the owners association approved the rule banning it, file 01413-2017-PA/TC — elevated to binding doctrine in its grounds 19 and 20 — protects your situation: a new rule cannot retroactively take away something you were already doing.
• If the rule already existed when you acquired or rented your unit, ruling 348/2023 (file 00949-2022-PA/TC) confirms it can apply to you, especially when there’s no fundamental-rights claim involved.

This test was developed in a case about pets — you can read the full detail in our guide on whether a building can ban pets — but the underlying doctrine (timing decides) applies to any restriction in the internal regulations, not just pets: short-term rentals, commercial use, remodeling, and any other rule the owners association approves or changes after you were already exercising that use.

What the owners association CANNOT do

• It can’t impose a rule that isn’t lawful. Literal j) of Article 153 expressly requires any additional pact to be lawful; a rule that violates a mandatory law or a fundamental right isn’t valid just because it’s written into the internal regulations.
• It can’t apply a new rule to you retroactively if you were already exercising the use that rule now bans, under the doctrine from file 01413-2017-PA/TC.
• It doesn’t have a general sanctioning power. Ley 27157’s regulation doesn’t give the owners association the authority to impose and collect fines the way an administrative body would. The enforcement mechanisms the law does provide are specific and are described below.
• It can’t enter your unit to inspect without prior notice. The administrator only has the power to make periodic verification visits, and Article 152, literal e) expressly conditions that on prior notice.

How the internal regulations are actually enforced

Unlike what many owners assume, Ley 27157 and its regulation don’t create a general sanctioning power for the owners association. The real enforcement mechanisms are these:

1. Suspension of voting rights for unpaid common expenses. If you fall three ordinary installments or one extraordinary installment behind, you lose your right to vote in the owners association — though you can still attend with voice but no vote — until you catch up (Article 143, covered in detail in our guide on owners associations and common expenses).
2. An executive collection lawsuit after three consecutive months of unpaid dues. Article 157 lets the association’s president sue directly through the executive process, without needing prior conciliation, once an owner accumulates three consecutive months of unpaid ordinary or extraordinary dues.
3. Mandatory out-of-court conciliation for any other dispute. Article 156 requires exhausting out-of-court conciliation before starting any administrative, judicial, or arbitration process related to the internal regulations — except, precisely, the collection lawsuit described above.
4. Verification visits by the administrator, with prior notice. Article 152, literal e) lets the administrator confirm that the internal regulations aren’t being violated or that common services aren’t being affected, always with advance notice.

None of these mechanisms includes evicting you from the building or taking your property for breaking a coexistence rule — that isn’t provided for in the law.

How the internal regulations are approved, formalized, and updated

The internal regulations are constituted when formally granted, and the owners association is fully formed at that same moment. To make this process easier, Article 155 lets owners choose to directly adopt the “Model Internal Regulations” approved by the Vice-Ministry of Housing and Construction, instead of drafting their own from scratch.

Updating or adapting an existing internal regulations document, under the regulation’s Twelfth Transitional Provision, can be done through a public deed (escritura pública) or a private document with a notarized signature, always granted by the owners association.

For the internal regulations to have full effect against third parties — including a future buyer of a unit — it must be registered with the Public Registry of Real Property, on the registry entry for the matrix property or the one corresponding to the common property.

Common scenarios: where the line falls

• Short-term rentals (Airbnb and similar). There’s no national law that specifically bans this, but many buildings’ internal regulations do restrict it, relying on Article 153, literal c)‘s power. Check your building’s regulations before listing your unit: in practice, it’s the most concrete restriction you’re likely to face. More detail in our guide on short-term rentals and Airbnb in Peru.
• Pets. The internal regulations can ban them, but the Constitutional Court’s retroactivity test decides whether it applies to you. Full guide: can a building or landlord ban pets?.
• Commercial use of a residential unit. Article 153, literal a) requires the internal regulations to state the designated use of each section (housing, commercial, office, etc.). Using your unit for a purpose different from its registered use can directly conflict with this provision.
• Remodeling or alterations to your unit. If the work affects structural elements, the façade, or common property, it may also require a municipal building license — a separate topic covered in building without a license.
• Noise and coexistence rules. The internal regulations often set schedules and coexistence rules beyond the general noise regulations. More detail in noise and neighbor disturbances.

A new law that is not in force yet: Decreto Legislativo 1568

Decreto Legislativo 1568 (2023) creates a new horizontal-property regime, but it is not in force yet: as of 30 September 2026 its regulation has not been published. That is why this page applies Ley 27157 and its regulation. We explain what would change in «Possible changes ahead» below.