§ 47-244 — Powers and duties of unit owners' association.

Connecticut § 47-244

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 47: Land and Land Titles
• Ch. 828: Common Interest Ownership Act

Text

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, and subject to the provisions of the declaration, the association, even if unincorporated: (1) Shall adopt and may amend bylaws, and may adopt and amend rules; (2) Shall adopt and may amend budgets, may adopt and amend special assessments, may collect assessments for common expenses from unit owners and may invest funds of the association; (3) May hire and discharge managing agents and other employees, agents and independent contractors; (4) May institute, defend or intervene in litigation or in arbitration, mediation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or two or more unit owners on matters affecting the common interest community, subject to section 47-261f ; (5) May make contracts and incur liabilities; (6) May regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement and modification of common elements; (7) May cause additional improvements to be made as a part of the common elements; (8) May acquire, hold, encumber and convey in its own name any right, title or interest to real property or personal property, but (A) common elements in a condominium or planned community may be conveyed or subjected to a security interest only pursuant to section 47-254 , and (B) part of a cooperative may be conveyed, or all or part of a cooperative may be subjected to a security interest, only pursuant to section 47-254 ; (9) May grant easements, leases, licenses and concessions through or over the common elements; (10) May impose and receive any payments, fees or charges for the use, rental or operation of the common elements, other than limited common elements described in subdivisions (2) and (4) of section 47-221 , and for services provided to unit owners; (11) May impose charges or 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, bylaws, rules and regulations of the association; (12) May impose reasonable charges for the preparation and recordation of amendments to the declaration, resale certificates required by section 47-270 or statements of unpaid assessments; (13) May provide for the indemnification of its officers and executive board and maintain directors' and officers' liability insurance; (14) Subject to subsection (d) of section 47-261e , may assign its right to future income, including the right to receive common expense assessments; (15) May exercise any other powers conferred by the declaration or bylaws; (16) May exercise all other powers that may be exercised in this state by legal entities of the same type as the association; (17) May exercise any other powers necessary and proper for the governance and operation of the association; (18) May 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 commencement of a judicial proceeding; and (19) May suspend any right or privilege of a unit owner who fails to pay an assessment, but may not: (A) Deny a unit owner or other occupant access to the owner's unit or its limited common elements; (B) Suspend a unit owner's right to vote or participate in meetings of the association; (C) Prevent a unit owner from seeking election as a director or officer of the association; or (D) Withhold services provided to a unit or a unit owner by the association if the effect of withholding the service would be to endanger the health, safety or property of any person. (b) The declaration may not limit the power of the association, beyond the limit authorized in subdivision (18) of subsection (a) of this section, to: (1) Deal with the declarant if the limit is more restrictive than the limit imposed on the power of the association to deal with other persons; or (2) Institute litigation or an arbitration, mediation or administrative proceeding against any person, except that the association shall comply with section 47-261f , if applicable, before instituting any proceeding described in subsection (a) of section 47-261f , in connection with construction defects. (c) The executive board promptly shall provide notice to the unit owners of any legal proceeding in which the association is a party other than proceedings involving enforcement of rules, recovery of unpaid assessments or other sums due the association, or defense of the association's lien on a unit in a foreclosure action commenced by a third party. (d) If a tenant of a unit owner violates the declaration, bylaws or rules and regulations of the association, in addition to exercising any of its powers against the unit owner, the association may: (1) Exercise directly against the tenant the powers described in subdivision (11) of subsection (a) of this section; (2) After giving notice to the tenant and the unit owner and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines against the tenant or unit owner, or both, for the violation; and (3) Enforce any other rights against the tenant for the violation which the unit owner as landlord could lawfully have exercised under the lease, including any such right to bring a summary process action under chapter 832. (e) The rights referred to in subdivision (3) of subsection (d) of this section may only be exercised 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. (f) Unless a lease otherwise provides, this section does not: (1) Affect rights that the unit owner has to enforce the lease or that the association has under other law; or (2) Permit the association to enforce a lease to which it is not a party except to the extent that there is a violation of the declaration, bylaws or rules. (g) The executive board may determine whether to take enforcement action by exercising the association's power to impose sanctions or commencing an action for a violation of the declaration, bylaws and rules, which may include a determination of whether to compromise any claim for unpaid assessments or other claim made by or against it. The executive board does not have a duty to take enforcement action if it determines that, under the facts and circumstances presented: (1) The association's legal position does not justify taking any or further enforcement action; (2) The covenant, restriction or rule being enforced is, or is likely to be construed as, inconsistent with law; (3) Although a violation may exist or may have occurred, it is not so material as to be objectionable to a reasonable person or to justify expending the association's resources; or (4) It is not in the association's best interests to take enforcement action. (h) The executive board's decision under subsection (g) of this section not to take enforcement action under one set of circumstances does not prevent the executive board from taking enforcement action under another set of circumstances, except that the executive board may not be arbitrary or capricious in taking enforcement action.

Legislative History

(P.A. 83-474, S. 45, 96; P.A. 95-187, S. 16; P.A. 09-225, S. 20, 21; P.A. 10-186, S. 6, 7.) History: P.A. 95-187 added Subsec. (a)(18) authorizing an association to require that disputes be submitted to nonbinding alternative dispute resolution, added Subsec. (c) authorizing an association to regulate the use or occupancy of residential units and specifying the purposes for which such regulations may be adopted, added Subsec. (d) re actions an association may take against a tenant who violates the declaration, bylaws or rules and regulations of the association, added Subsec. (e) limiting the exercise of the rights under Subsec. (d)(3) to where the tenant or unit owner has failed to cure the violation in a timely manner and added Subsec. (f) specifying rights of a unit owner or association that are not affected by this section and enforcement actions by an association that are not authorized by this section; P.A. 09-225 amended Subsec. (a) to reorganize provisions, delete “regulations” in Subdiv. (1), authorize adopting and amending special assessments and investing funds of association and delete reference to “revenues, expenditures and reserves” re budgets in Subdiv. (2), reference arbitration and mediation in Subdiv. (4) and make provisions thereat subject to Sec. 47-261f, make Subdiv. (14) subject to Sec. 47-261e(d) and delete limitation therein to extent declaration expressly provides, and add Subdiv. (19) re power to suspend any right or privilege of owner who fails to pay assessment, subject to enumerated limitations, effective July 8, 2009, and applicable to common interest communities created before, on or after January 1, 1984, and rewrote and reorganized Subsec. (b), inserted Subdiv. designator (1) and new provisions as Subdiv. (2) therein re instituting litigation or arbitration, mediation or administrative proceeding, deleted former Subsec. (c) re rules and regulations that affect use or occupancy of residential units, inserted new Subsec. (c) re notice to unit owners of legal proceedings, substituted “referred to in” for “granted under” in Subsec. (e), deleted reference to regulations in Subsec. (f)(2), and added Subsecs. (g) and (h) re executive board's determination to take enforcement action, effective July 1, 2010; P.A. 10-186 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a)(10), (g) and (h), effective July 1, 2010. Cited. 208 C. 318. Cited. 24 CA 554; 38 CA 420; 41 CA 249. Unit owners and mortgagees were not necessary parties to action brought by association pursuant to section. 58 CA 217. Subsec. (a): Condominium association board of directors authorized to adopt a restriction limiting length of a leash to clarify provision of declaration that household pets brought to common areas of the property be restrained properly and controlled by owners at all times. 279 C. 728. Subdiv. (4): Condominium association has standing to bring appeal from the tax assessment of the common elements of the condominium. 44 CA 107. Assessment of fines on unit owner by Connecticut corporation comprised of unit owners was invalid because unit owner was not afforded a hearing prior to the imposition of fines. 156 CA 117. Subdiv. (4): Does not provide that all suits against interests of unit owners are to be brought against association, without individual notice to unit owners. 45 CS 261.