Connecticut General Statutes 47-77 – Assessment of common expenses. Liens and foreclosure
(a) All sums assessed by the association of unit owners, but unpaid, for the share of the common expenses chargeable to any unit shall constitute a lien on such unit prior to all other liens, except only (1) tax liens on the unit in favor of any assessing authority and special district, including any state and federal tax liens, and (2) all sums unpaid on mortgages of record. Such lien shall exist from the due date of the assessment as established by the association of unit owners, and shall be perfected by filing a notice of lien signed by an officer of the condominium on the land records of the municipality in which the property lies, and by leaving a true and attested copy thereof with the unit owner against whom such lien is claimed or at his usual place of abode, or, if such unit owner resides outside the municipality in which the property lies, by mailing such copy to him at the place where he resides. Such notice of lien shall contain the address of the property, volume and page of record of the declaration, the name of the record owner of the unit, the unit designation, the amount due and the date when due. Such lien shall be limited and discharged in accordance with sections 49-39 and 49-40a. Such lien may be foreclosed by suit by the association in like manner as a mortgage of real property, and shall include reimbursement for costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. Any officer or agent of the condominium, acting on behalf of the unit owners, shall have power, unless prohibited by the declaration, to bid in the unit at foreclosure sale, and to acquire and hold, lease, mortgage and convey the same in the name of the association of unit owners. Suit to recover a money judgment for unpaid assessments shall be maintainable without foreclosing or waiving the lien securing the same.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 47-77
- Association of unit owners: means all of the unit owners acting as a group in accordance with the condominium instruments. 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
- 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
- Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
- Officer: means any member of the board of directors or official of the unit owner's association. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- Property: means and includes the land, all buildings, all improvements and structures thereon, and all easements, rights and appurtenances belonging thereto, which have been or are intended to be submitted to the provisions of this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-68a
- 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
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- 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) Where a mortgagee or a purchaser at a foreclosure sale obtains title to a unit, such acquirer of title, his heirs, successors and assigns, shall not be liable for the entire unpaid share of the common expenses or assessments by the association of unit owners chargeable to such unit which became due prior to the acquisition of title to such unit by such acquirer, but such expenses or assessments, if not fully satisfied out of the proceeds of such sale, shall become common expenses collectible from all of the unit owners, including such acquirer, his heirs, successors and assigns.