1. Who is responsible for a lost vehicle in an apartment building?

According to Article 151 of the Housing Law 2023, the cost of vehicle parking is not included in the management service fees of apartment buildings. Therefore, the individuals or organizations responsible for parking and collecting parking fees are not the building management but are typically contracted by the management to an independent external unit. When residents or customers arrive at the apartment building, park their vehicles, and receive parking tickets, a contract for the custody of property is established between the parking unit of the apartment and the residents/customers. Article 554 of the 2015 Civil Code (amended in 2017) defines the contract for custody of property as follows:

“A contract for the custody of property is an agreement between the parties, according to which the custodian receives the property from the depositor for safekeeping and returns the same property to the depositor when the contract period ends. The depositor must pay a fee to the custodian, unless the custody is provided free of charge.”

At the same time, the obligations of the custodian are stated in Clause 1, Article 557 of this code as follows:

“1. To safeguard the property according to the agreement and return the property to the depositor in the same condition as when it was received.”

Thus, if a vehicle parked in the apartment building is lost, the existence of a custody contract allows the vehicle owner to request compensation for damages if the custodian loses the vehicle, except in cases of force majeure (as defined in Clause 2, Article 556 of this code). If a vehicle is lost in an apartment building, the entity responsible for compensation is the individual or organization hired by the management to safeguard the vehicles of those visiting the apartment (if there is a parking ticket between the vehicle owner and the parking attendant). Conversely, if there is no parking ticket or if the vehicle is not parked in the apartment building's parking area, the person whose vehicle is lost will not be entitled to compensation for damages.

2. Liability for compensation for lost vehicles in the apartment parking area

According to Article 360 of the 2015 Civil Code (amended in 2017), which regulates liability for damages due to violations of obligations, it is stated: “In cases where damages are caused by a violation of obligations, the liable party must compensate for all damages, unless otherwise agreed or provided by law.”

Furthermore, according to Article 419 of this code, which regulates damages compensable due to contract violations, it states:

“1. Damages compensable due to the violation of obligations under a contract are determined according to the provisions of Clause 2 of this Article, Article 13, and Article 360 of this code.

2. The entitled party may request compensation for damages to the benefits that they would have gained from the contract. The entitled party may also request the liable party to cover costs incurred due to non-fulfillment of contractual obligations, which do not overlap with the compensation for damages to benefits arising from the contract.

3. At the request of the entitled party, the court may compel the liable party to compensate for non-material damages to the entitled party. The amount of compensation is determined by the court based on the specifics of the case.”

This article is for reference only and is not intended to be used as advice. If you need advice, please contact us via email: info@barrso.com