Sec. 47-88b. Conversion condominiums: Requirements for conversion.
Sec. 47-88b. Conversion condominiums: Requirements for conversion.
(a) Public offering statement requirements. Any declarant of a conversion condominium shall include in his public offering statement, in addition to the requirements
of section 47-71b the following:
(1) A specific statement of the amount of any initial or special condominium fee
due from the purchaser on or before settlement of the purchase contract and the basis
of such fee.
(2) Information on the actual expenditures made on all repairs, maintenance, operation or upkeep of the subject building or buildings within the last three years, set forth
tabularly with the proposed budget of the condominiums and cumulatively broken down
on a per unit basis in proportion to the percentage of the undivided interest in the common
expenses allocated to each unit by the condominium instruments. If such building or
buildings have not been occupied for a period of three years then the information shall
be set forth for the maximum period such building or buildings have been occupied.
(3) A description of the provisions made in the budget for adequate reserves for
capital expenditures and an explanation of the basis for such reserves as required by
section 47-88e.
(4) A statement of the declarant, certified by a professional engineer registered or
exempted under chapter 391, as to the present conditions of all structural and major
mechanical components in the condominium which statement shall include the approximate dates of construction, installation and major repairs, and the expected useful life
of each item, together with the estimated cost, in current dollars, of replacing each of
the same.
(b) Notice to tenants. In the case of a conversion condominium, the landlord or
developer shall give at least one hundred eighty days notice to each of the tenants of
the building or buildings which are to be submitted to the provisions of this chapter.
Such notice shall be hand-delivered or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested,
and shall inform tenants of: (1) The owner's intent to create a conversion condominium;
(2) the exclusive right of each tenant to contract for the purchase of his unit during the
first ninety days; (3) the right of each tenant to remain in his unit for one hundred eighty
days or until the expiration of his lease; (4) the possibility of relocation assistance and
the address and phone number for information concerning such assistance; (5) the availability of state financial assistance to assist a tenant in the purchase of his unit; and (6)
whether the declarant is offering or arranging any special financing. Such notice shall
be accompanied by a copy of the public offering statement containing the information
required by section 47-71b and subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Purchase of unit by tenant. Termination of tenancy. For a period of ninety
days after the thirty-day period established under subsection (j) of this section, each of
the said tenants shall have the exclusive right to contract for the purchase of the unit he
occupies. Any tenants who do not exercise said option shall be entitled to remain in the
premises under their existing leases, subject to all the terms and conditions contained
therein, except that upon the filing of the declaration said lease shall be considered
assigned to the declarant. After receiving such notice a tenant may abandon his unit and
terminate his tenancy without incurring any liability for such early termination of his
rental agreement provided he gives one month's advance notice to the landlord. At the
option of the tenant, any lease which expires within such one hundred eighty-day period
shall be extended to the end of such period and no increase in rent may take effect during
such period.
(d) Failure to conform to provisions of this section. Except pursuant to a purchase
agreement for a unit, any provision in a contract, lease or other undertaking which allows
a landlord or developer at his option to cancel and terminate such contract, lease or other
undertaking upon the conversion of the property to the condominium form of ownership
without conforming to the notice and option requirements of this section is hereby declared to be unenforceable and contrary to public policy.
(e) Evidence of proper notice. Any declarant of a conversion condominium shall,
in addition to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, include with the condominium instruments a copy of the notice set forth in subsection (b) of this section and
a certified statement that such notice, fully complying with the provisions of subsection
(b) of this section, was, prior to the time of the recording of the declaration of condominium, mailed or delivered to each of the tenants in the building or buildings to be converted.
(f) Filing with Department of Economic and Community Development. Any
declarant of a conversion condominium shall, in addition to the filing required by section
47-71, file with the Department of Economic and Community Development within one
hundred twenty days of the giving of the notice required by subsection (b) of this section:
(1) A copy of the declaration and the public offering statement submitted to each tenant
and (2) a sworn statement that each tenant who is entitled to receive notice under subsection (b) of this section and has not exercised his option to buy has received the notice
required by subsection (b) of this section and has received relocation assistance which
has included information on the availability of alternate housing, financing programs
and federal, state and municipal housing assistance and the availability of moving and
relocation expenses under section 47-88d, or that reasonable efforts have been made to
provide such relocation assistance to such tenant. If at the time of such filing all of the
tenants have not received notice under subsection (b) of this section, the declarant shall
file subsequent sworn statements with the department within one hundred twenty days
of the date notice was given to a tenant. The department shall charge a fee of two dollars
per unit converted for such filing. The Commissioner of Economic and Community
Development shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 within ninety days
of May 7, 1980, to determine the type of information to be included in such relocation
assistance.
(g) Eviction prohibited. No eviction proceedings shall be brought against any of
the occupants resident in any building or group of buildings converted to condominium
ownership pursuant to this section within the term of any existing lease or within the
one-hundred-eighty-day period provided for under subsection (b) of this section, whichever is later, for failure to purchase or any other reasons applicable to termination of
tenancy other than nonpayment of rent or similar justifiable reasons ordinary to landlord
rights where a lease exists assuring quiet enjoyment.
(h) Notice of proposed rent increase. A declarant of a conversion condominium
or a unit owner shall give at least sixty days notice of any proposed rent increase to any
lessee whose eviction is prohibited under subsection (b) of section 47a-23c. Any such
lessee may abandon his unit and terminate his tenancy without incurring any liability
for an early termination of his rental agreement provided he gives thirty days notice to
the declarant or unit owner.
(i) Proof of age, blindness or physical disability. After the conversion of a dwelling unit in a building to condominium ownership, the declarant or unit owner, for the
purpose of determining if a lessee's eviction is prohibited under subsection (b) of section
47a-23c, may ask any lessee to provide proof of the age, blindness or physical disability
of such lessee or any person residing with him, or of the familial relationship existing
between such lessee and any person residing with him. The lessee shall provide such
proof, including a statement of a physician in the case of alleged blindness or physical
disability, within thirty days.
(j) Tenants' organization's exclusive right to purchase. During the first thirty
days of the one hundred eighty-day period under subsection (b) of this section, an organization, if any, representing tenants of a building or buildings being submitted to the
provisions of this chapter shall have the exclusive right to contract for the purchase of
such building or buildings.
(P.A. 76-308, S. 29, 36; P.A. 79-622; P.A. 80-370, S. 4, 9; P.A. 81-319, S. 2, 6; 81-472, S. 105, 106, 159; P.A. 82-356,
S. 2, 14; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 07-217, S. 174, 175.)
History: P.A. 79-622 required 180 days' notice rather than 60 days' notice and extended period during which tenant
has exclusive right to contract for purchase of his unit from 30 to 90 days in Subsec. (b); P.A. 80-370 specified that statement
in Subsec. (a)(4) must be "certified by a professional engineer registered or exempted under chapter 391", required that
notice be accompanied by copy of public offering statement and added provisions re early termination or extension of
lease in Subsec. (b), deleted former Subsec. (d) which had allowed landlords to issue leases containing provisions for early
termination when conversion to condominiums previously announced, relettering former Subsec. (e) as (d), and added
new Subsec. (e) re filing requirements; P.A. 81-319 amended Subsec. (e) to replace the requirement that the declarant file
within 120 days of the "filing required by section 47-71" with the requirement that filing be within 120 days of the "giving
of the notice required by Subsec. (b) of this section"; P.A. 81-472 made technical changes; P.A. 82-356 amended Subsec.
(a)(3) by requiring a description of the provisions in the budget for adequate reserves for capital expenditures, amended
Subsec. (b) by increasing the information required in the notice, redesignated part of Subsec. (b) as a new Subsec. (c) and
redesignated the remaining Subsecs. accordingly, amended Subsec. (f) by clarifying the information to be filed with the
department of housing, and added Subsecs. (h), (i) and (j) concerning notice of proposed rent increases, proof of a lessee's
age, blindness or physical disability and the right of a tenant's organization to purchase the building, respectively; P.A.
95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of
Economic and Community Development; P.A. 07-217 made technical changes in Subsec. (e) and (g), effective July 12,
2007.
See Sec. 47-90c re effective date and applicability of chapter.
Cited. 186 C. 329. Cited. 210 C. 6. Cited. 212 C. 147.
Subsec. (b):
Month to move the tenancy included in notice requirement; actual knowledge of conversion does not cure defective
notice procedure; delivery to apartment door does not comply with notice requirement. 37 CS 654.
Subsec. (e):
Cited. 37 CS 654.
Subsec. (f):
Cited. 37 CS 654.
Subsec. (g):
Cited. 12 CA 353.