CONDOMINIUM ACT-RIGHTS OF UNIT OWNERS

By: George Coppolo, Chief Attorney

You asked what actions unit owners can take under the Condominium Act to
contest decisions and actions taken by the association of unit owners' board of
directors. You also asked if the act authorizes a unit owner to repair significant
damage to his unit (but not the common elements) without the board's
approval. Your questions assume the unit owner is in a condominium that is
governed by the Condominium Act. Our office is not authorized to give legal
opinions and this report should not be considered one.
You also asked whether HB 5367 of this session deals directly with this issue
and if other bills have done so in prior sessions.
SUMMARY
The Condominium Act requires the unit owners association and its board to
comply with the act and with the condominium's declaration, bylaws, rules,
and regulations. The act requires that the bylaws specify the method of
selecting and removing board members and the board's powers, duties, and
terms of office. Unit owners can use the method specified in their bylaws for
removing board members who exceed their powers and duties. Unit owners can
also file a lawsuit if the board or individual board members violate the act, the
declaration, or the bylaws.
The court can award attorney's fees in such cases. If unit owners believe that
the method of removing board members is insufficient they have the right to
amend the bylaws to establish a better procedure. Of course their ability to do
this depends upon their getting sufficient support from other unit owners to
attain the necessary voting power to amend the bylaws. Unit owners also have
the right to inspect financial and other condominium records and to vote to
approve or disapprove budgets recommended by the board.
Regarding the maintenance of the units, the Condominium Act requires that
the bylaws establish restrictions on and requirements respecting the
maintenance of units that are not set forth in the declaration that are designed

to prevent unreasonable interference with the use of units by other unit

owners. But the act prohibits a unit owner from doing any work that could
jeopardize the soundness or safety of the property, reduce its value, or impair
any right or other interest constituting a common element without the
unanimous consent of all the other unit owners. Unit owners who are not
satisfied with the bylaws concerning the maintenance and repair of units can
attempt to amend the bylaws to establish a different system. But the bylaws
cannot eliminate the prohibition specified above. As noted above, a unit owner
also has the option of going to court to compel the board to follow the bylaws
and declaration.
House Bill 5367 is a proposed bill that would establish a state office to handle
condominium disputes. Similar bills have been introduced in the General
Assembly during the last couple of years. During the 2008 legislative session
the Judiciary Committee reported out sSB 706, File 546. It creates the
Connecticut Community Association Commission (CCAC) and places it in the
Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). It empowers the commission to (1)
authorize DCP to issue licenses to community association managers; (2)
administer the provisions of the law regarding granting, renewing, suspending,
or revoking community association manager licenses; and (3) receive
complaints of violations of the Condominium Act and Common Interest
Ownership Act (CIOA) by associations or their governing boards or officers. It
puts the commission in DCP. The Senate referred it to the General Law
Committee, where it died.
The Judiciary Committee reported out a similar bill in 2007 (sHB 7288, File
605). The House referred it to the Appropriations Committee where it died.
BACKGROUND
Three different sets of laws govern condominiums, depending on when they
were created. The Common Interest Ownership Act (CIOA) governs the creation,
alteration, management, termination, and sale of condominiums and other
common interest communities formed in Connecticut after December 31, 1983
(CGS 47-200 et seq.). The Condominium Act governs condominiums created
from 1977 through 1983 (PA 76-308; CGS 47-68a to 47-90c). The Unit
Ownership Act governs condominiums created before 1977 (PA 1963, No. 605,
July 10, 1963; CGS 47-67 to 47-115 Rev. to 1975).

The law allows condominiums created before January 1, 1984 to amend their
declaration, bylaws, or surveys and plans to achieve any result CIOA permits
regardless of what the applicable law provided before January 1, 1984 (CGS
47-218). Thus, a condo owner who wanted to know what law applied to his or
her unit would have to also examine the declaration.
But any such amendment must be adopted in conformity with any procedures
and requirements for amending the documents specified by those documents.
If these documents do not specify such procedures, they must be adopted in
conformity with CIOA. If an amendment gives anyone any rights, powers, or
privileges that CIOA permits, all related obligations, liabilities, and restrictions
contained in CIOA also apply to that person.
RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF THE CONDOMINIUM ACT
Following is a summary of the provisions of the Condominium Act that appear
to be relevant to the questions you presented concerning the authority of unit
owners over the association's board of directors, and the power of a unit owner
to make substantial changes to his or her unit after it has been significantly
damaged. Following are summaries of relevant portions of CIOA that
automatically apply with respect to condominiums otherwise governed by the
Condominium Act.
Duty to Comply with the Act
The Condominium Act requires that each unit owner, and the association of
unit owners, comply with it, the condominium instruments, and the rules and
regulations adopted pursuant to the act and the condominium instruments.
The law authorizes the unit owner and the association to sue for damages or
for injunctive relief, or for any other relief to which the party bringing such
action may be entitled, for violating the act. The act authorizes the association
of unit owners to file a suit against any unit owner or owners or, in any proper
case, by one or more aggrieved unit owners on their own behalf, or as a class
action. The law authorizes the court to award reasonable attorney's fees against
the losing party (CGS 47-75(a)).
Limitation on Repair Work
The act prohibits a unit owner from doing any work that may jeopardize the
soundness or safety of the property, reduce its value, or impair any easement,

right, or other interest constituting a common element without the unanimous

consent of all the other unit owners(CGS 47-75(b)).
Bylaws
The act requires condominiums to be governed by bylaws. A copy must be
annexed to the declaration and recorded as a part of it on the land records. It
specifies that no amendment to the bylaws can be effective until it is set forth
in an amendment to the declaration and recorded on the land records (CGS
47-80(a)).
The act gives each residential unit in the condominium, the right to a vote in
the unit owners' association in proportion to its interest in the common
elements. If a unit is owned by more than one person, the bylaws must specify
the method by which the vote attributable to such unit is to be cast and
counted (CGS 47-80(b)).
The act requires that the bylaws provide for the following:
1. the election from among the unit owners of a board of directors;
2. the number and term of office of such board members;
3. a provision that the terms of at least one-third of such board must expire
annually;
4. the board's powers and duties;
5. the directors' compensation, if any;
6. the method of removing board members;
7. the powers of the board in engaging the services of a manager or managing
agent;
8. the method of calling meetings of the unit owners, and the percentage, if
other than a majority, of unit owners that constitutes a quorum;
9. the qualifications, powers and duties of the officers of the association;
10. the manner of selecting and removing officers and their term and
compensation, if any;

11. maintenance, repair and replacement of the common elements and

payments for them, including the method of approving payment vouchers;
12. the manner of assessing against and collecting from the unit owners their
share of the common expenses;
13. designation and removal of personnel necessary for the maintenance,
repair, and replacement of the common elements;
14. the method of adopting and amending administrative rules and regulations
governing the details of the operation and use of the common elements;
15. restrictions on and requirements respecting the use and maintenance of
the units and the use of the common elements as are not set forth in the
declaration, designed to prevent unreasonable interference with the use of their
respective units and of the common elements by the several unit owners;
16. provisions governing the alienation, conveyance, sale, leasing, purchase,
ownership, and occupancy of units as are desirable;
17. provisions for the establishment of reserves to provide for maintenance,
improvements, replacements, working capital, bad debts, depreciation,
obsolescence, and similar purposes as are desirable, except that for a
conversion condominium, provisions for reserves for capital expenditures are
required;
18. the manner by which the bylaws may be modified or amended, consistent
with the Condominium Act's requirements; and
19. other provisions deemed necessary for the administration of the
condominium consistent with the Condominium Act (CGS 47-80(c)).
Unit Owners Association
The Condominium Act gives the unit owners' association, except to the extent
prohibited by the condominium instruments, and subject to any restrictions
and limitations specified in them, the power to:
1. employ, dismiss and replace agents and employees;
2. to exercise and discharge the association's powers and responsibilities;

3. make or cause to be made additional improvements on and as a part of the

common elements;
4. grant or withhold approval of any action by one or more unit owners or
others entitled to occupancy of any unit, which would change the exterior
appearance of any unit or of any other portion of the condominium, or elect or
provide for the appointment of an architectural control committee to grant or
withhold such approval;
5. acquire, hold, convey, and encumber title to real property, including, but not
limited to, condominium units and the common elements appurtenant to them,
recreation facilities, and personal property;
6. sue and be sued in any court, appear on behalf of all unit owners before any
state or municipal officer, agency, board, commission, or department, and
appeal from any judgments, orders, decisions, or decrees they render; and
7. grant easements through the common elements and accept easements
benefiting the condominium or any portion of it.
The act specifies that these listed powers do not prohibit the grant by the
condominium instruments of other powers and responsibilities to the unit
owners' association, or to divest an association incorporated as a stock or as a
non-stock corporation of any powers which it may exercise under the applicable
corporation laws((CGS 47-80a(a)).
Adoption or Ratification of a Proposed Budget
The act requires that at any meeting of the unit owners to consider the final
adoption or ratification of any proposed budget for the condominium, or on a
day before such meeting, the board of directors must provide a reasonable
opportunity for all unit owners to express their views concerning the proposed
budget before its adoption or ratification. At least one copy of the proposed
budget must be available for inspection at such meeting (CGS 47-80a (b)).
Repairs Regarding Damage to or Destruction of Any Building or Other
Improvement Serving the Condominium
The act requires that any damage to or destruction of any building or
improvement located on the condominium parcel or serving the condominium
must be promptly repaired and restored by the declarant or the association,

using insurance proceeds if any. It further requires that all costs for repair or
reconstruction in excess of available insurance proceeds, regardless of whether
such excess is the result of the application of a deductible under insurance
coverage, be a common expense ((CGS 47-84 (a)).
Under the act, if the condominium is damaged to the extent of two-thirds of its
replacement cost, and three-fourths of the unit owners and the holders of
mortgage liens affecting at least three-quarters of the units vote not to proceed
with repair or restoration, the property remaining is deemed to be owned in
common by the unit owners, and each unit owner owns that percentage of the
undivided interest in common as he previously owned in the common elements.
Under such circumstances,
any liens affecting any of the units are deemed to be transferred in accordance
with the existing priorities to the percentage of the undivided interest of the
unit owner in the property. The property is subject to an action for partition at
the suit of any unit owner, in which event the net proceeds of sale, together
with the net proceeds of the insurance on the property, if any, must be
considered as one fund and be divided among all the unit owners in
accordance with their interests, after first paying all liens out of each of the
respective interests (CGS 47-84(b)).
PROVISIONS OF CIOA THAT APPLY TO OLD CONDOMINIUMS
CIOA makes certain of it's provisions automatically apply to any large
residential condominium (over 12 units) created in Connecticut before January
1, 1984, but only with respect to events and circumstances occurring after
December 31, 1983. The following provisions that automatically apply appear
to be relevant to your request.
Powers of Unit Owners' Association (CGS 47-244)
Subject to the declaration's provisions, the association, even if unincorporated,
may:
1. adopt and amend bylaws, rules, and regulations;
2. adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves and
collect assessments for common expenses;

3. hire and discharge managing agents and other employees, agents, and
independent contractors;
4. institute, defend, or intervene in litigation or administrative proceedings in
its own name on behalf of itself or two or more unit owners on matters affecting
the common interest community;
5. make contracts and incur liabilities;
6. regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement, and modification of
common elements;
7. cause additional improvements to be made as a part of the common
elements;
8. acquire, hold, encumber, and convey in its own name any right, title, or
interest to real property or personal property (but, common elements in a
condominium may be conveyed or subjected to a security interest only
pursuant to CGS 47-254);
9. grant easements, leases, licenses, and concessions through or over the
common elements;
10. impose and receive any payments, fees, or charges for the use, rental, or
operation of the common elements, other than certain limited common
elements and for services provided to unit owners;
11. impose charges, interest, or both, for late payment of assessments and,
after notice and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines for violations
of the declaration and association bylaws, rules, and regulations;
12. impose reasonable charges to prepare and record amendments to the
declaration, resale certificates, or statements of unpaid assessments;
13. provide for the indemnification of its officers and executive board and
maintain directors' and officers' liability insurance;
14. assign its right to future income, including the right to receive common
expense assessments, but only to the extent the declaration expressly so
provides;

15. exercise any other powers conferred by the declaration or bylaws;

16. exercise all other powers that may be exercised by legal entities of the same
type as the association;
17. exercise any other powers necessary and proper to govern and operate the
association; and
18. require, by regulation, that disputes between the executive board and unit
owners, or between two or more unit owners regarding the common interest
community, must be submitted to nonbinding alternative dispute resolution in
the manner described in the regulation as a prerequisite to beginning a judicial
proceeding.
The declaration may not impose limitations on the power of the association to
deal with the declarant that are more restrictive than the limitations imposed
on the power of the association to deal with other persons.
Unless the declaration or CIOA grants greater authority, an association can
only adopt rules and regulations that affect the use or occupancy of residential
units to:
1. prevent any use that violates the declaration;
2. regulate any occupancy that violates the declaration or adversely affects the
use and enjoyment of other units or the common elements; or
3. restrict the leasing of residential units to the extent those rules are
reasonably designed to meet first mortgage underwriting requirements of
institutional lenders that regularly purchase or insure first mortgages on units
in common interest communities, but no restrictions are enforceable unless
notice is recorded on the land records and indexed in the grantor index in the
association's name.
The association may not otherwise regulate any use or occupancy of units.
If a tenant of a unit owner violates the declaration, bylaws, or association rules
and regulations, in addition to exercising any of its powers against the unit
owner, the association may:

1. impose charges, interest, or both, for late payment of assessments on the

tenant;
2. after giving notice to the tenant and the unit owner and an opportunity to be
heard, levy reasonable fines against the tenant, unit owner, or both, for the
violation; and
3. enforce any other rights against the tenant for a violation that the unit owner
as landlord could lawfully have exercised under the lease, including the right to
evict the tenant if the tenant or unit owner fails to cure the violation within ten
days after the association notifies the tenant and unit owner of that violation.
Association Records (CGS 47-260)
The association must keep financial records sufficiently detailed to enable it to
comply with the requirements the law imposes for the resale of units. All
financial and other records must be made reasonably available for examination
by any unit owner and his authorized agents.
Resale of Units (CGS 47-270)
A unit owner must furnish to a purchaser or his or her attorney before the
closing, a copy of the declaration other than any surveys and plans, the bylaws,
the rules or regulations of the association, and a certificate containing specified
information including such things as:
1. the amount of the periodic common expense assessment and any unpaid
common expense or special assessment currently due and payable from the
selling unit owner;
2. any other fees payable by the owner of the unit being sold;
3. any capital expenditures in excess of $1,000 approved by the executive board
for the current and next succeeding fiscal year;
4. the amount of any reserves for capital expenditures;
5. the association's current operating budget;
6. any unsatisfied judgments against the association and any pending suits in
which the association is a defendant;

7. the insurance coverage provided for the benefit of unit owners;

8. any restrictions in the declaration affecting the amount that may be received
by a unit owner on sale, condemnation, casualty loss to the unit or the
common interest community, or termination of the common interest
community;
9. a statement describing any pending sale or encumbrance of common
elements; and
10. a statement disclosing the effect on the unit to be conveyed of any
restrictions on the owner's right to use or occupy the unit or to lease the unit
to another person.
The association, within 10 business days after receiving a written request by a
unit owner and payment of a fee of not more than $75, must furnish a
certificate containing the information necessary to enable the unit owner to
comply with this section, and any other documents required by this section.
The association must, during January in each year, file in the office of the town
clerk where the condominium is located a certificate setting forth the name and
mailing address of the association officer or managing agent from whom a
resale certificate may be requested.
Cause of Action for Violation of CIOA Punitive Damages, Court Costs, and
Attorney's Fees (CGS 47-278)
If a declarant or any other person subject to CIOA fails to comply with any of its
provisions or any provision of the declaration or bylaws, any one adversely
affected can file a law suit. Punitive damages may be awarded for a willful
failure to comply with CIOA. The court may award court costs together with
reasonable attorney's fees.
Parties to a dispute arising under CIOA, the declaration, or the bylaws may
agree to resolve the dispute by any form of binding or nonbinding alternative
dispute resolution. But, a declarant may agree with the association to do so
only after the period of declarant control passes. An agreement to submit to
any form of binding alternative dispute resolution must be in a writing signed
by the parties.