§ 47-254 — Conveyance or encumbrance of common elements.

(a) In a condominium or planned community, portions of the common elements may be conveyed or subjected to a security interest by the association if persons entitled to cast at least eighty per cent of the votes in the association, including eighty per cent of the votes allocated to units not owned by a declarant, or any larger percentage the declaration specifies, agree to that action; but all owners of units to which any limited common element is allocated must agree in order to convey that limited common element or subject it to a security interest. The declaration may specify a smaller percentage only if all of the units are restricted exclusively to nonresidential uses. In a condominium, the common elements may be conveyed or subjected to a security interest as provided in this subsection free of the lien on the undivided interests in the common elements held by all mortgagees of the units, if eighty per cent of the mortgagees consent in a record to the sale or encumbrance. Proceeds of the sale are an asset of the association, but the proceeds of the sale of, or attributed to, limited common elements must be distributed equitably among the owners of units to which the limited common elements were allocated. (b) Part of a cooperative may be conveyed and all or part of a cooperative may be subjected to a security interest by the association if persons entitled to cast at least eighty per cent of the votes in the association, including eighty per cent of the votes allocated to units not owned by a declarant, or any larger percentage the declaration specifies, agree to that action; but, if fewer than all of the units or limited common elements are to be conveyed or subjected to a security interest, then all unit owners of those units, or the units to which those limited common elements are allocated, must agree in order to convey those units or limited common elements or subject them to a security interest. The declaration may specify a smaller percentage only if all of the units are restricted exclusively to nonresidential uses. Proceeds of the sale are an asset of the association. Any purported conveyance or other voluntary transfer of an entire cooperative, unless made pursuant to section 47-237 is void. (c) An agreement to convey common elements in a condominium or planned community, or to subject them to a security interest, or in a cooperative, an agreement to convey any part of a cooperative or subject it to a security interest, shall be evidenced by the execution of an agreement or ratifications thereof, in the same manner as a deed, by the requisite number of unit owners. The agreement shall specify a date after which the agreement will be void unless recorded before that date. The agreement and all ratifications thereof shall be recorded in every town in which a portion of the common interest community is situated, and is effective only on recordation. (d) The association, on behalf of the unit owners, may contract to convey an interest in a common interest community pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section, but the contract is not enforceable against the association until approved pursuant to subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section. Thereafter, the association has all powers necessary and appropriate to effect the conveyance or encumbrance, including the power to execute deeds or other instruments. (e) Unless made pursuant to this section, any purported conveyance, encumbrance, judicial sale or other voluntary transfer of common elements or of any other part of a cooperative is void. (f) A conveyance or encumbrance of common elements or of a cooperative pursuant to this section does not deprive any unit of its rights of access and support. (g) Unless the declaration otherwise provides and unless, in a condominium, eighty per cent of the mortgagees have consented in a record to the sale as provided in subsection (a) of this section, a conveyance or encumbrance of common elements pursuant to this section does not affect the priority or validity of preexisting encumbrances. (h) In a cooperative, the association may acquire, hold, encumber or convey a proprietary lease without complying with this section.

Legislative History

(P.A. 83-474, S. 55, 96; P.A. 84-546, S. 101, 173; P.A. 95-187, S. 21; P.A. 09-225, S. 28.) History: P.A. 84-546 made technical change in Subsec. (a); P.A. 95-187 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision requiring that proceeds of sale of, or attributed to, limited common elements be distributed equitably among owners of units to which limited common elements were allocated; P.A. 09-225 substituted “in a record” for “in writing” re consent in Subsecs. (a) and (g), effective July 1, 2010.