Query: Is a Community of Owners considered a "business" or "consumer" for the purpose of also claiming interest on debts incurred by it?
Response: In no case can it be considered that community of owners are businesses, as they are not subject to any economic activity. Rather, it is an entity destined for the organization of a plurality of owners who share elements in common, under the regime of horizontal property. Therefore, the interests established in Law 15/2010, of July 5, amending Law 3/2004, of December 29, establishing measures against late payment in commercial transactions, are not applicable to them.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 3 of the Law on Consumer and User Defense (Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of November 16, approving the consolidated text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users), entities without legal personality that act without profit in an area outside commercial or business activity are also considered consumers. This legal framework applies when communities contract goods and are their final recipients.
However, if the intention is to claim interest for the time elapsed, in this case, Article 1100 of the Civil Code may be applicable in relation to Article 1.108 of the same Civil Code.
Article 1100
Those obliged to deliver or do something incur in default from the moment the creditor demands judicially or extrajudicially compliance with their obligation.
1.º However, the creditor's warning will not be necessary for default to exist:
2.º When the obligation or the law expressly declare it so.
When from its nature and circumstances it results that the designation of the time when the thing should be delivered or the service performed was a decisive reason for establishing the obligation.
In reciprocal obligations, none of the obliged incur in default if the other does not comply or does not properly comply with what corresponds to him. From the moment one of the obliged fulfills his obligation, default begins for the other.
Article 1108
If the obligation consists of the payment of a sum of money and the debtor incurs in default, the compensation for damages and losses, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, will consist of the payment of the agreed interest, and in the absence of an agreement, in the legal interest.
