Bill Text: CT SB01205 | 2011 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning Foreclosure Actions Against Unit Owners In Condominiums Or Common Interest Communities For Overdue Assessments.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-21 - Public Hearing 03/25 [SB01205 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2011-SB01205-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 1205
January Session, 2011		LCO No. 4730
		*04730_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)

AN ACT CONCERNING FORECLOSURE ACTIONS AGAINST UNIT OWNERS IN CONDOMINIUMS OR COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITIES FOR OVERDUE ASSESSMENTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 47-77 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011, and applicable to actions commenced on or after said date):

(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, except that no lien may be foreclosed unless the unit owner, at the time the foreclosure action is commenced, owes a sum that is at least three months past due or constitutes an amount of two thousand dollars or more. 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.

(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.

Sec. 2. Subsection (m) of section 47-258 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011, and applicable to actions commenced on or after said date):

(m) An association may not commence an action to foreclose a lien on a unit under this section unless: (1) The unit owner, at the time the action is commenced, owes a sum equal to at least [two] (A) three months of common expense assessments based on the periodic budget last adopted by the association pursuant to subsection (a) of section 47-257, or (B) two thousand dollars; (2) the association has made a demand for payment in a record; and (3) the executive board has either voted to commence a foreclosure action specifically against that unit or has adopted a standard policy that provides for foreclosure against that unit.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2011, and applicable to actions commenced on or after said date	47-77
Sec. 2	October 1, 2011, and applicable to actions commenced on or after said date	47-258(m)

Statement of Purpose:

To prohibit a condominium or common interest community association from foreclosing on a unit unless the overdue assessments and fees are at least three months past due or total at least two thousand dollars.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]