ABA Family Legal Guide

Home Ownership

Shared Ownership: Condos and Condominiums

Legal Rights and Restrictions

Why are there so many documents?

By law, each common-interest community must file a set of master regulations, plus subsidiary documents called articles, plus a set of bylaws. For planned communities, the master regulations are called the covenants, conditions, and restrictions, or the declaration of covenants or master deed. The same document for a condominium is called a declaration of condominium, declaration, or a master deed.

A condominium declaration describes the land, building, and other improvements; the location of each unit; percentage of ownership; the common elements; and the intended use of each unit. Basically, the declaration depicts the physical arrangement, including a floor plan with tax-lot numbers for the various units. But under the laws of many states, it need not contain much in the way of operational detail.

Generally declarations may only be amended by a supermajority vote of the unit owners, often two-thirds or three-quarters. Some amendments, such as changing unit boundaries or assessment ratios, may require even more of a vote, sometimes unanimity. Most amendment provisions require the consent of a certain number of the mortgage lenders as well.

The articles of incorporation, called articles of association in nonincorporated associations, involve the legal establishment of the association, including the name, address, and purpose of the association; the aggregate number of shares permitted; whether cumulative voting or other special voting or assessment rights are provided; and, in general, the power of the board to make, alter, and repeal reasonable bylaws.