Title 47 — Title 47: Land and Land Titles

Sec. 47-200. Short title: Common Interest Ownership Act. This chapter may be cited as the “Common Interest Ownership Act”. (P.A. 83-474, S. 1, 96.)

Sec. 47-201. Applicability of chapter. Applicability of this chapter is governed by sections 47-214 to 47-219, inclusive. (P.A. 83-474, S. 2, 96.)

Sec. 47-202. Definitions. In the declaration and bylaws, unless specifically provided otherwise or the context otherwise requires, and in this chapter: (1) “Affiliate of a declarant” means any person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a declarant. (A)…

Sec. 47-203. Variation by agreement and waiver of rights prohibited. Exceptions. Except as expressly provided in this chapter, its provisions may not be varied by agreement, and rights conferred by it may not be waived. Except in the case of nonresidential common interest communi…

Sec. 47-204. Separate titles and taxation. Recording of certificate by cooperative. Conveyance of interest in cooperative. (a) In a cooperative, a unit owner's interest in a unit and its allocated interests is a real property interest for all purposes, except that the real proper…

Sec. 47-205. Applicability of real property use laws to conversion of buildings to common interest ownership. No zoning, building code, subdivision or other real property use law, ordinance or regulation may prohibit the conversion of any building to the common interest ownership…

Sec. 47-206. Eminent domain. (a) If a unit is acquired by eminent domain or part of a unit is acquired by eminent domain leaving the unit owner with a remnant that may not practically or lawfully be used for any purpose permitted by the declaration, the award shall include compen…

Sec. 47-207. Supplemental general principles of law applicable. The principles of law and equity, including the law of corporations and unincorporated associations, the law of real property, and the law relative to capacity to contract, principal and agent, eminent domain, estopp…

Sec. 47-208. Construction against implicit repeal. This chapter being a general act intended as a unified coverage of its subject matter, no part of it shall be construed to be impliedly repealed by subsequent legislation if that construction can reasonably be avoided. (P.A. 83-4…

Sec. 47-209. Severability. If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or appli…

Sec. 47-210. Unconscionable contracts or contract clauses. Leases involving land or facilities in residential common interest communities that are presumed to be unconscionable. (a) The General Assembly expressly finds that many leases involving the use of land or recreational or…

Sec. 47-211. Obligation of good faith. Every contract or duty governed by this chapter imposes an obligation of good faith in its performance or enforcement. (P.A. 83-474, S. 12, 96.)

Sec. 47-212. Remedies to be liberally administered. (a) The remedies provided by this chapter shall be liberally administered to the end that the aggrieved party is put in as good a position as if the other party had fully performed, provided consequential, special or punitive da…

Sec. 47-213. Adjustment of dollar amount and resale certificate fee. (a) From time to time (1) the dollar amount specified in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 47-215, and (2) the one-hundred-eighty-five-dollar fee charged by an association for the preparation of a res…

Sec. 47-213a. Relationship of chapter to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. This chapter modifies, limits and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 USC 7001, et seq., but does not modify, limit or supersede Se…

Sec. 47-214. Applicability of chapter and amendments thereto to common interest communities. Except as provided in section 47-216, the provisions of this chapter apply to all common interest communities created within this state on or after January 1, 1984. The provisions of chap…

Sec. 47-215. Applicability to nonresidential, mixed use and small common interest communities, limited expense liability planned communities and common interest communities with a conversion building. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section with respect to a comm…

Sec. 47-216. Applicability to preexisting common interest communities. (a) Except as provided in section 47-217, sections 47-202, 47-204, 47-205, 47-206, 47-218, 47-221, 47-222, 47-223, subsections (b), (d), (i) and (j) of section 47-236, sections 47-237, 47-240 and 47-244, subse…

Sec. 47-217. Exception for certain preexisting common interest communities. (a) If a common interest community created within this state before January 1, 1984, (1) contains no more than twelve units and is not subject to any development rights, (2) contains only units restricted…

Sec. 47-218. Applicability to amendments to governing instruments. (a) The declaration, bylaws or surveys and plans of any common interest community created before January 1, 1984, may be amended to achieve any result permitted by this chapter regardless of what applicable law pr…

Sec. 47-219. Applicability to out-of-state common interest communities. This chapter does not apply to common interest communities or units located outside this state, but the public offering statement provisions of sections 47-263 to 47-269, inclusive, apply to all contracts for…

Sec. 47-219a. Arrangements re real property costs. Separate common interest community not created thereby. (a) An arrangement between the associations for two or more common interest communities to share the costs of real property taxes, insurance premiums, services, maintenance …

Sec. 47-219b. Exemption re covenant to share costs or other obligations. A covenant that requires the owners of twelve or fewer separately owned parcels of real property to share costs or other obligations associated with a party wall, driveway, well, septic system or other simil…

Sec. 47-220. Creation of common interest community. (a) A common interest community may be created pursuant to this chapter only by recording a declaration executed in the same manner as a deed and, in a cooperative, by conveying the real property subject to that declaration to t…

Sec. 47-221. Unit boundaries. Except as provided by the declaration: (1) If walls, floors or ceilings are designated as boundaries of a unit, all lath, furring, wallboard, plasterboard, plaster, paneling, tiles, wallpaper, paint, finished flooring and any other materials constitu…

Sec. 47-222. Construction and validity of declaration, bylaws and rules. Marketability of title. Recording of surveys or plans. (a) All provisions of the declaration and bylaws are severable. (b) The rule against perpetuities does not apply to defeat any provision of the declarat…

Sec. 47-223. Description of unit. A description of a unit which sets forth the name of the common interest community, the recording data for the original declaration, the town in which the common interest community is located and the identifying number of the unit, is a legally s…

Sec. 47-224. Contents of declaration. (a) The declaration shall contain: (1) The names of the common interest community and the association and a statement that the common interest community is either a condominium, cooperative or planned community; (2) The name of every town in …

Sec. 47-225. Leasehold common interest communities. (a) Any lease the expiration or termination of which may terminate the common interest community or reduce its size, or a memorandum thereof, shall be recorded. Every lessor of those leases in a condominium or planned community …

Sec. 47-226. Allocation of interests. (a) The declaration shall allocate to each unit: (1) In a condominium, a fraction or percentage of undivided interests in the common elements and in the common expenses of the association, and a portion of the votes in the association; (2) in…

Sec. 47-227. Limited common elements. (a) Except for the limited common elements described in subdivisions (2) and (4) of section 47-221 and except to the extent a right to allocate a limited common element is reserved pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the declaration s…

Sec. 47-228. Surveys and plans. (a) Surveys and plans are required for condominiums and planned communities, but are not required for cooperatives. Any surveys and plans are a part of the declaration. Separate surveys and plans are not required by this chapter if all the informat…

Sec. 47-229. Exercise of development rights. (a) To exercise any development right reserved under subdivision (8) of subsection (a) of section 47-224, the declarant shall prepare, execute and record an amendment to the declaration and in a condominium or planned community comply …

Sec. 47-230. Alterations of units. Subject to the provisions of the declaration and other provisions of law, a unit owner: (1) May make any improvements or alterations to his unit that do not impair the structural integrity or mechanical systems or lessen the support of any porti…

Sec. 47-230a. Display of object on entry door or entry door frame which is motivated by observance of religious practice or belief. Restrictions. (a) No person may prohibit or hinder the owner, lessee or sublessee of a condominium unit from attaching to an entry door or entry doo…

Sec. 47-231. Relocation of unit boundaries. (a) Subject to the provisions of the declaration and any provisions of law, the boundaries between adjoining units may be relocated by an amendment to the declaration on application to the association by the owners of those units. If th…

Sec. 47-232. Subdivision of units. (a) If the declaration expressly so permits, a unit may be subdivided into two or more units. Subject to the provisions of the declaration and any provisions of law, on application of a unit owner to subdivide a unit, the association shall prepa…

Sec. 47-233. Monuments as boundaries. The existing physical boundaries of a unit or the physical boundaries of a unit reconstructed in substantial accordance with the description contained in the original declaration are its legal boundaries, rather than the boundaries derived fr…

Sec. 47-234. Use for sales purposes. A declarant may maintain sales offices, management offices and models in units or on common elements in the common interest community only if the declaration so provides and specifies the rights of a declarant with regard to the number, size, …

Sec. 47-235. Easement and use rights. (a) Subject to the provisions of the declaration, a declarant has such an easement through the common elements as may be reasonably necessary for the purpose of discharging the declarant's obligations or exercising special declarant rights, w…

Sec. 47-236. Amendment of declaration or bylaws. (a) Except in cases of amendments that may be executed by a declarant under subsection (f) of section 47-228 or section 47-229, or by the association under section 47-206, subsection (d) of section 47-225, subsection (c) of section…

Sec. 47-237. Termination of common interest community. (a) Except in the case of a taking of all the units by eminent domain, foreclosure against an entire cooperative of a security interest that has priority over the declaration, or in the circumstances described in subsection (…

Sec. 47-238. Rights of secured lenders. (a) The declaration may require that all or a specified number or percentage of the lenders who hold security interests encumbering the units or who have extended credit to the association and whose consent rights have been granted by agree…

Sec. 47-239. Master associations. (a) If the declaration provides that any of the powers described in section 47-244 are to be exercised by, or may be delegated to, a profit or nonprofit corporation or unincorporated association that exercises those or other powers on behalf of o…

Sec. 47-239a. Termination and dissolution of master association. Establishment of nonstock corporation. In the case of a master association: (1) That is comprised of common interest communities consisting of not less than four hundred units but not more than six hundred units, (2…

Sec. 47-240. Merger or consolidation of common interest communities. (a) Any two or more common interest communities of the same form of ownership, by agreement of the unit owners as provided in subsection (b) of this section, may be merged or consolidated into a single common in…

Sec. 47-241. Addition of unspecified real property. In a planned community, if the right is originally reserved in the declaration, the declarant, in addition to any other development right, may amend the declaration at any time during as many years as are specified in the declar…

Sec. 47-241a. Master planned communities. (a) The declaration for a common interest community may state that it is a master planned community if the declarant has reserved the development right to create at least five hundred units that may be used for residential purposes, and a…

Sec. 47-242. Addition of land or units to limited equity cooperative. (a) For the purposes of this section, “limited equity cooperative” means a cooperative whose declaration contains any restrictions on (1) the amount for which a unit may be sold, or (2) the amount that may be r…

Sec. 47-243. Organization of unit owners' association. A unit owners' association shall be organized no later than the date the first unit in the common interest community is conveyed. The membership of the association at all times shall consist exclusively of all unit owners or,…