Can the officers of a homeowners’ association bar the entrance into a subdivision of taxicabs and other ride-hailing vehicles to fetch a homeowner who has been declared a delinquent member for non-payment of monthly association dues?

Can the association officers also ban the delivery of food, packages, appliances and other goods to the house of a delinquent member?

Or can they limit the collection of garbage from a delinquent member to just once every two weeks instead of twice a week as practiced in many residential subdivisions?

No, said the Supreme Court (SC) in a decision that clarified certain provisions of Republic Act No. 9904, the Magna Carta of Homeowners and Homeowners’ Association.

The SC decision, written by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caquioa and made public last June 18, resolved the petition of the officers of a homeowners’ association in a subdivision in Negros Occidental.

The names of the parties and their subdivision in the case docketed as GR No. 278137 were redacted by the Manila Bulletin to protect their privacy.

Case records show that a homeowner failed to pay his monthly association dues from 2016 to 2021.

As a result, the officers of the homeowners’ association declared him a delinquent member and imposed several sanctions on garbage collections, entry of vehicles to fetch him and members of his family, and delivery of goods and several other restrictions.

The homeowner challenged the orders issued by the officers of the association before the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC).

The HSAC’s special adjudicator granted the homeowner’s petition with a ruling that the orders issued by the officers of the homeowners’ association were contrary to law for restricting the use and passage through the subdivision roads. The adjudicator also permanently disqualified the officers of the association from holding office.

The adjudicator’s rulings were affirmed by the HSAC as a full commission. The dismissed officers appealed before the Court of Appeals (CA) which denied the petition on purely technical grounds. The officers elevated the issue before the SC.

In resolving the issue, the SC ruled that the CA was correct in dismissing the petition of the officers of the homeowners’ association for various defects.

But the SC decided to rule on the merits of the petition as it pointed out that the sanctions imposed by the officers of the homeowners’ association violated the rights of the delinquent homeowner under RA 9904. It affirmed the rulings of the HSAC and the CA on the permanent disqualification of the petitioners as officers of the association to hold office.

The SC said that under Section 7(a) of RA 9904, association members or the homeowners have two separate “full rights” -- the right to avail of and enjoy basic community services and facilities, and the right to use common areas in the subdivision.

It said that Section 3 of the law defines basic community services and facilities as those that redound to the benefit of all homeowners like security, maintenance, repairs and cleaning of streets, and garbage collection and disposal.

Common areas in a subdivision, on the other hand, refer to the property owned or otherwise maintained, repaired or administered in whole or in part by the homeowners’ association including, but not limited to, roads, the SC said.

It also said that under Sections 9 and 10(1) of RA 9904, a homeowners' association has the right to impose sanctions on members that are declared delinquent in accordance with its bylaws.

But it said the right to impose sanctions is not absolute as Section 22(b) with Section 7(a) of the law provides a limitation to this right to impose sanctions.

“While a homeowners' association may deprive the delinquent association members of their right to avail of or enjoy basic community services and facilities, it may not deprive the members of their right to use common areas, such as the roads,” the SC pointed out.

The SC said that harmonizing the provisions of the law, the interpretation of Section 22(b), in relation to Section 7(a), presents a valid limitation to the right of homeowners' associations to impose sanctions upon delinquent, non-paying members under Sections 9 and 10(1).

“Interpreting Section 22(b) in relation to Section 7(a), a homeowners' association may sanction its delinquent, non-paying members by depriving such members' right to avail of or enjoy basic community services and facilities. However, such sanctions may not deprive the delinquent member's right to use common areas, such as the roads,” it stressed.

At the same time, the SC said that the other sanctions imposed by the homeowners’ association such as the banning of grass-cutting or maintenance within five meters around the delinquent member’s property and the reduction of the frequency of garbage collection to once every two weeks restrict the delinquent member's right to avail of and enjoy basic services and facilities.

The SC noted that the only penalty being imposed at the time the petition was filed was the refusal of security guards to lift the boom gates for the delinquent homeowner and it did not prevent entry.

But the SC said: “To be sure, this tongue in cheek reasoning is misleading because nothing in the records shows that the other sanctions are no longer being imposed. Further, regardless of whether they are now no longer imposed will not remove petitioners' liability for their accomplished acts.”

The SC said:

“A final note. Republic Act No. 9904 provides a framework for the rights and obligations of homeowners' associations and its delinquent, non-paying members.

“First, under Section 7(a), association members have two separate full rights: (1) the right to avail of and enjoy basic community services and facilities; and (2) the right to use common areas such as the roads.

“Second, under Sections 9 and 10(1), a homeowners' association has the right to impose sanctions upon members that are declared delinquent in accordance with its bylaws.

“Third, interpreting Section 22(b) in relation to Section 7 (a) reveals a limitation to the right to sanction of homeowners' associations: while they may deprive the delinquent association members of their right to avail of or enjoy basic community services and facilities, they may not deprive the latter of their right to use common areas, such as the roads.

“Fourth, interpreting Section 22(b) in relation to Section 7(a), delinquent, non-paying members retain the full right to use common areas such as the roads.

“While a homeowners' association is well within its right to sanction its members' delinquency due to nonpayment of dues, the exercise of such right must fall within the framework crafted under Republic Act No. 9904.

“Here, petitioners failed to do so. Accordingly, the Petition for Certiorari is dismissed. The Resolutions dated March 15, 2024 and September 3, 2024 of the Court of Appeals, Eighteenth Division, Cebu City in CA-G.R. SP No. 16524 are affirmed.”