07 LC 36
0582
Senate
Bill 267
By:
Senators Hamrick of the 30th, Pearson of the 51st and Rogers of the 21st
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, the "Georgia Condominium Act," so as to define certain terms; to
provide that a declarant shall pay certain expenses; to provide for exceptions;
to provide for an exception for a certain obligation to provide a certificate of
occupancy; to provide for the effect on land use and zoning ordinances or laws
of an expandable condominium; to provide for the creation of a subcondominium;
to provide for a subassociation; to provide for insurance; to provide for the
effect of certain liens; to provide for eminent domain; to provide for the
description of certain units; to provide for assessments; to provide for related
matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
3 of Chapter 3 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the
"Georgia Condominium Act," is amended in Code Section 44-3-71, relating to
definitions, by adding new paragraphs to read as follows:
"(19.1)
'Master association' means an association of a master condominium.
(19.2)
'Master condominium' means a condominium in which the condominium instruments
permit one or more of the units to constitute a
subcondominium."
"(26.1)
'Subassociation' means an association of a subcondominium.
(26.2)
'Subcondominium' means the property consisting of a unit of an existing
condominium lawfully submitted under this article by the recordation of separate
condominium instruments pursuant to this article."
"(27.1)
'Subunit' means a unit that constitutes a portion of a
subcondominium."
SECTION
2.
Said
article is further amended in Code Section 44-3-80, relating to allocation and
liability for common expenses and how assessments are made, by revising
subsection (d) as follows:
"(d)(1)
No unit
owner other than the association shall be exempted from any liability for any
assessment under this Code section or under any condominium instrument for any
reason whatsoever, including, without limitation, abandonment, nonuse, or waiver
of the use or enjoyment of his unit or any part of the common
elements.
The declarant
shall pay for all common expenses until the association makes the first common
expense assessment. Thereafter, no unit owner other than the association shall
be exempted from any liability for any assessment under this Code section or
under any condominium instrument for any reason whatsoever, including, without
limitation, abandonment, nonuse, or waiver of the use or enjoyment of his or her
unit or any part of the common elements.
(2)
Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this subsection, if authorized by the
declaration, a declarant who is offering units for sale may elect to be excused
from payment of assessments assessed pursuant to subsection (c) of this Code
section against those unsold units for a stated period of time after the
declaration is recorded, not to exceed the first two full fiscal years of the
association after the declaration is recorded; provided, however, that as to
assessments assessed pursuant to subsection (c) of this Code section, the
declarant must pay common expenses incurred during such period which exceed the
amounts assessed against other unit owners in the same condominium. No capital
contributions, start-up funds, initiation fees, or contributions to capital
reserve accounts which are receivable from unit purchasers or unit owners and
payable to the association at closing may be used for payment of common expenses
during any period in which the declarant is excused from payment of assessments
assessed pursuant to subsection (c) of this Code section.
(3)
If the association has maintained all insurance coverage required by Code
Section 44-3-107 during the period that the declarant is excused from payment of
assessments as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, common expenses
incurred during the stated period resulting from a casualty occurring during the
stated period which are not covered by proceeds from insurance maintained by the
association may be assessed against all unit owners owning units on the date of
such casualty, and their respective successors and assigns, including the
declarant with respect to units owned by the declarant. In the event of such an
assessment, all units shall be assessed in accordance with the allocation of the
liability for common expenses set forth in the declaration as provided in
subsection (c) of this Code
section."
SECTION
3.
Said
article is further amended by revising paragraph (5) of subsection (e) of Code
Section 44-3-111, relating to sales of residential condominium units for
residential occupancy, information required to be furnished by seller,
buyer´s right to void contract, limitations period, attorney´s fees,
and penalty for willful violation, as follows:
"(5)
If, but only if, any applicable statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation
requires, permits, or provides for the issuance of a certificate of occupancy by
any officer, department, or agency of any governmental entity, the contract
shall contain an express obligation on the part of the seller to furnish to the
buyer at or prior to closing a true, correct, and complete copy of a duly issued
certificate of occupancy covering the unit which is the subject matter of the
covered contract
unless the
purchase price of the unit is at least $150,000.00 and the contract shall
contain within the text the following statement in boldface type or capital
letters no smaller than the largest type in the text:
'THIS
CONTRACT APPLIES TO A CONDOMINIUM UNIT FOR WHICH THE SELLER IS NOT OBLIGATED TO
OBTAIN A CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY BEFORE CONVEYANCE OF THE UNIT TO THE
BUYER.'; and"
SECTION
4.
Said
article is further amended in Code Section 44-3-114, relating to the effect of
such article upon land use, zoning, building, and subdivision laws and the
effect of a certain Code section, by adding a new subsection to read as
follows:
"(c)
No subdivision law, ordinance, or regulation shall apply to the additional
property of an expandable condominium for so long as the additional property may
be added to the expandable condominium in accordance with the provisions of this
article and the declaration. If the additional property is not deemed separate
from the submitted property under any zoning, land use, subdivision, building,
or life safety law, code, regulation, or ordinance at the time of the
establishment of the condominium, the additional property shall not be deemed
separate from the submitted property under any zoning, land use, subdivision,
building, or life safety law, code, regulation, or ordinance so long as the
additional property may be added by the declarant to the expandable condominium
in accordance with the provisions of this article and the
declaration."
SECTION
5.
Said
article is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as
follows:
"44-3-117.
(a)
Except as otherwise set forth in this Code section, the creation of a
subcondominium shall not limit the application of this article in its entirety
to such subcondominium.
(b)
To the extent permitted in the condominium instruments, a condominium unit may
be submitted by the owner thereof to a subcondominium and such owner shall
thereafter be deemed the declarant, as such term is defined in paragraph (13) of
Code Section 44-3-71, of such subcondominium.
(c)
Upon the creation of a subcondominium:
(1)
No tax or governmental assessment shall be levied against the unit as a whole
but instead shall only be levied on the subunits;
(2)
The subassociation shall represent and be responsible for acting on behalf of
the subunit owners in discharging the rights and obligations of the unit owner
as a member of the master association, including, without limitation, voting the
interests of the unit in the master association and paying assessments owing on
the unit to the master association;
(3)
The insurance required in paragraph (1) of Code Section 44-3-107 may be obtained
by either the subassociation or the master association for the condominium in
which the subcondominium is a unit;
(4)
No lien for labor or services performed or materials furnished in the
improvement of the unit shall be filed against the subcondominium as a whole but
shall only be filed against the subunits, and such lien may be discharged by the
owner of any subunit in the same manner provided in subsection (d) of Code
Section 44-3-95;
(5)
No eminent domain action shall be brought against the unit as a whole but only
against the subunit owners thereof; and
(6)
No description of a subunit shall be deemed to be vague, uncertain or otherwise
insufficient if the description complies with Code Section 44-3-73.
(d)
The description of a unit in a master condominium in the manner provided in Code
Section 44-3-73 shall be deemed sufficient for describing submitted property or
additional property to a subcondominium required by paragraph (3) of subsection
(a), paragraph (4) of subsection (b), and paragraph (1) of subsection (e) of
Code Section 44-3-77 and by Code Section 44-3-89, and no metes and bounds
description of such unit shall be required.
(e)
All sums lawfully assessed by a master association against the subassociation,
whether for the share of the common expenses pertaining to the subcondominium,
for fines, or otherwise, and all reasonable charges made to the subassociation,
either on behalf of itself or the subunit owners, for materials furnished or
services rendered by the master association at the subassociation´s
request, either on behalf of itself or the subunit owners, shall, from the time
same become due and payable, be the obligation of the subassociation and
constitute a lien in favor of the master association upon all of the subunits
prior and superior to all other liens, including any liens of the subassociation
whatsoever except:
(1)
Liens for ad valorem taxes on the subunit;
(2)
The lien of any first priority mortgage covering the subunit and the lien of any
mortgage recorded prior to the recording of the declaration;
(3)
The lessor´s lien provided for in Code Section 44-3-86; and
(4)
The lien of any secondary purchase money mortgage covering the subunit, provided
that neither the grantee nor any successor grantee on the mortgage is the seller
of the subunit.
The
recording of the declaration for the subcondominium pursuant to this article
shall constitute record notice of the existence of the lien, and no further
recordation of any claim of lien for assessments shall be required.
(f)
In the event any lien becomes effective against a subunit as provided in
subsection (e) of this Code section, any subunit owner may remove that lien from
his or her subunit by the payment of the amount attributable to his or her
subunit. The amount shall be computed by reference to the liability for common
expenses pertaining to that condominium unit pursuant to subsection (c) of Code
Section 44-3-80. Subsequent to the payment, discharge, or other satisfaction of
such amount, the subunit owner of that subunit shall be entitled to have that
lien released as to his or her subunit in accordance with applicable provisions
of law, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Code Sections 44-3-80
and 44-3-109, the master association shall not assess or have a valid lien
against that subunit for any portion of the common expenses incurred by the
master association in connection with that lien.
(g)
Not less than 30 days after notice is sent by certified mail or statutory
overnight delivery, return receipt requested, to the subunit owner both at the
address of the subunit and at any other address or addresses which the subunit
owner may have designated to the master association in writing, the lien of the
master association may be foreclosed by the master association by an action,
judgment, and foreclosure in the same manner as other liens for the improvement
of real property, subject to superior liens or encumbrances, but any such court
order for judicial foreclosure shall not affect the rights of holders of
superior liens or encumbrances to exercise any rights or powers afforded to them
under their security instruments. The notice provided for in this subsection
shall specify the amount of the assessments then due and payable together with
authorized late charges and the rate of interest accruing thereon. Unless
prohibited by the master condominium instruments, the master association shall
have the power to bid on the subunit at any foreclosure sale and to acquire,
hold, lease, encumber, and convey the same. The lien for assessments shall
lapse and be of no further effect, as to assessments or installments thereof,
together with late charges and interest applicable thereto, four years after the
assessment or installment first became due and payable.
(h)
Any subunit owner, mortgagee of a subunit, person having executed a contract for
the purchase of a subunit, or lender considering the loan of funds to be secured
by a subunit shall be entitled upon request to a statement from the master
association or its management agent setting forth the amount of assessments past
due and unpaid together with late charges and interest applicable thereto
against that subunit. Such request shall be in writing, shall be delivered to
the registered office of the master association, and shall state an address to
which the statement is to be directed. Failure on the part of the master
association to mail or otherwise furnish such statement regarding amounts due
and payable with respect to the subunit involved to such address as may be
specified in the written request therefor within five business days from the
receipt of such request shall cause the lien for assessments created by
subsection (e) of this Code section to be extinguished and of no further force
or effect as to the title or interest acquired by the purchaser or lender, if
any, as the case may be, and their respective successors and assigns, in the
transaction contemplated in connection with such request. The information
specified in such statement shall be binding upon the master association and
upon every subunit owner. Payment of a fee not exceeding $10.00 may be required
as a prerequisite to the issuance of such a statement if the master condominium
instruments so provide.
(i)
In addition to the documents required to be furnished to the prospective buyer
under subsection (b) of Code Section 44-3-111, if the covered contract applies
to a condominium unit which is part of a subcondominium, the following shall be
provided to the prospective buyer:
(1)
A copy of the declaration for the master condominium, and a copy of each
amendment thereto; and
(2)
A copy of the articles of incorporation and bylaws of the master association,
and of each amendment to either."
SECTION
6.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.