Connecticut General Statutes 47-70a – Amendment of declaration or bylaws
(a) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the declaration shall be amended only by vote of two-thirds of the unit owners, and the bylaws shall be amended by vote of a majority of unit owners, at any meeting of the unit owners’ association duly called for either purpose, following written notice to all unit owners and their mortgagees appearing on the records of the association, except that if such amendment whether of the declaration or of the bylaws directly or indirectly changes the boundaries of any unit, the undivided interest in the common elements appertaining thereto, the liability for common elements appertaining thereto, the liability for common expenses or rights to common profits appertaining thereto, or the number of votes in the unit owners’ association appertaining thereto, such amendment shall require the affirmative vote of seventy-five per cent of the unit owners and shall, in addition, require the consent of the mortgagees of at least seventy-five per cent of the units subject to mortgage.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 47-70a
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Board of directors: means an entity consisting of natural persons elected by the unit owners to direct the operation of the condominium. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Common elements: means all portions of the condominium other than the units. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Common expenses: means and includes: (1) Expenses of administration, maintenance, repair or replacement of the common elements. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Common profits: means the balance of all income, rent, profits and revenues from the common elements remaining after the deduction of the common expenses. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Condominium: means real property and any incidents thereto and interests therein, lawfully submitted to this chapter by the recordation of condominium instruments pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Condominium instruments: means the declarations, bylaws, survey maps and plans recorded and filed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Declarant: means the person or persons who execute the declaration or on whose behalf the declaration is executed. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Expandable condominium: means a condominium to which additional land may be added in accordance with the provisions of the declaration and of this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- majority of unit owners: means the owners of more than fifty per cent of the voting power in a condominium unit owners' association. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
- Purchaser: means any person or persons who acquire, or enter into a nonbinding reservation agreement, bond for deed or contract for the purchase of, a condominium unit, including any person or persons who acquire or enter into a contract for the right to occupy a nonresidential condominium unit as a lessee in exchange for an initial payment to the seller of greater than twice the periodical payments and periodical payments thereafter. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
- Unit: means a part of the property including one or more rooms or designated spaces located on one or more floors or a part or parts thereof in a building, intended for any type of independent use, and with a direct exit to a public street or highway or to common elements leading to such street or highway. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Unit owner: means the person or persons owning a condominium unit or leasing a unit in a leasehold condominium, as hereinafter provided, and an undivided interest in the common elements specified and established in the declaration and the heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns of such person or persons, and a mortgagee or lienholder holding both legal and equitable title. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
(b) The declarant may require a unit owner or purchaser to execute and to deliver to the declarant a power of attorney or other document assigning to the declarant the right of a unit owner to vote on the amendment of condominium instruments pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, provided such power of attorney or other document shall be exercised or implemented only to amend the condominium instruments for the purpose of adding additional land in an expandable condominium pursuant to § 47-71a, and to reallocate the undivided interests in the common elements resulting from such expansion pursuant to subsection (c) of § 47-74, and the power of attorney or other document shall be expressly so limited.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or the condominium instruments, the designation of the agent for the service of process named in the declaration may be changed from time to time by recording in the land records wherein the declaration is recorded the instrument for designation of an agent for service of process, which if the association is incorporated, shall be a copy of the instrument transmitted to the Secretary of the State or if not incorporated, an instrument including the same information as such an instrument for designation of agent. In addition, the instrument for designation shall refer to the volume and first page of the original condominium instruments.
(d) (1) The board of directors may, by a vote of a majority of the members of said board and without further need for a vote by unit owners, amend the declaration to remove from such declaration any provision that purports to restrict ownership or occupancy of units within the condominium on the basis of race.
(2) If a unit owner submits a written request to the board of directors for an amendment to the declaration to remove a provision that purports to restrict ownership or occupancy of units within the condominium on the basis of race, the board shall, not later than ninety days after receipt of such a request, hold a meeting to determine whether such a provision exists in the declaration and should be removed pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection.