CHAPTER 4. OWNERSHIP INTEREST IN CONDOMINIUMS
IC 32-25-4
Chapter 4. Ownership Interest in Condominiums
IC 32-25-4-1
Fee simple title; conveyance and encumbrance of condominiums
Sec. 1. (a) If property is submitted to the condominium, each
condominium unit owner is seized of:
(1) the fee simple title to;
(2) the exclusive ownership of; and
(3) the exclusive possession of;
the owner's condominium unit and undivided interest in the common
areas and facilities.
(b) A condominium unit may be:
(1) individually conveyed;
(2) individually encumbered; and
(3) the subject of:
(A) ownership;
(B) possession;
(C) sale; and
(D) all types of juridic acts inter vivos or causa mortis;
as if the condominium unit were sole and entirely independent
of the other condominium units in the building of which the
condominium unit forms a part.
(c) Individual titles and interests with respect to condominium
units are recordable.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.10.
IC 32-25-4-2
Multiple ownership of condominiums
Sec. 2. A condominium unit may be held and owned by two (2) or
more persons:
(1) as joint tenants;
(2) as tenants in common;
(3) as tenants by the entirety; or
(4) in any other real property tenancy relationship recognized
under the law of the state.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.10.
IC 32-25-4-3
Common areas and facilities; undivided interest; repairs
Sec. 3. (a) Each condominium unit owner is entitled to an
undivided interest in the common areas and facilities as designated
in the declaration. Except as provided in subsection (b), the
undivided interest must be expressed as a percentage interest based
on:
(1) the size of the unit in relation to the size of all units in the
condominium;
(2) the value of each condominium unit in relation to the value
of all condominium units in the condominium; or
(3) the assignment of an equal percentage undivided interest to
each condominium unit.
An undivided interest allocated to each condominium unit in
accordance with this subsection must be indicated in a schedule of
undivided interests in the declaration. However, if the declaration
does not specify the method of allocating the percentage undivided
interests, an equal percentage undivided interest applies to each
condominium unit. The total undivided interests allocated in
accordance with subdivision (1) or (2) must equal one hundred
percent (100%).
(b) With respect to an expandable condominium, the declaration
may allocate undivided interests in the common area on the basis of
value if:
(1) the declaration prohibits the creation of any condominium
units not substantially identical to the condominium units
depicted on the recorded plans of the declaration; or
(2) the declaration:
(A) prohibits the creation of any condominium units not
described in the initial declaration; and
(B) contains a statement on the value to be assigned to each
condominium unit created after the date of the declaration.
(c) Interests in the common areas may not be allocated to any
condominium units to be created within any additional land until the
plats and plans and supplemental declaration depicting the
condominium units to be created are recorded. Simultaneously with
the recording of the plats and plans for the condominium units to be
created, the declarant must execute and record an amendment to the
initial declaration reallocating undivided interests in the common
areas so that the future condominium units depicted on the plats and
plans will be allocated undivided interests in the common areas on
the same basis as the condominium units depicted in the prior
recorded plats and plans.
(d) Except as provided in section 3.5 of this chapter and in
IC 32-25-8-3, the undivided interest of the owner of the
condominium unit in the common areas and facilities, as expressed
in the declaration, is permanent and may not be altered without the
consent of the co-owners. A consent to alteration must be stated in
an amended declaration, and the amended declaration must be
recorded. The undivided interest may not be transferred,
encumbered, disposed of, or separated from the condominium unit to
which it appertains, and any purported transfer, encumbrance, or
other disposition is void. The undivided interest is considered to be
conveyed or encumbered with the condominium unit to which it
appertains even though the undivided interest is not expressly
mentioned or described in the conveyance or other instrument.
(e) The common areas and facilities shall remain undivided. A
condominium unit owner or any other person may bring an action for
partition or division of any part of the common areas and facilities if
the property has been removed from this chapter as provided in
IC 32-25-8-12 and IC 32-25-8-16. Any covenant to the contrary is
void.
(f) Each condominium unit owner:
(1) may use the common areas and facilities in accordance with
the purpose for which the common areas and facilities were
intended; and
(2) may not, in the owner's use of the common areas and
facilities, hinder or encroach upon the lawful rights of the other
co-owners.
(g) The:
(1) necessary work of:
(A) maintenance;
(B) repair; and
(C) replacement;
of the common areas and facilities; and
(2) making of any additions or improvements to the common
areas and facilities;
may be carried out only as provided in this chapter and in the bylaws.
(h) The association of condominium unit owners has the
irrevocable right, to be exercised by the manager or board of
directors, to have access to each condominium unit from time to time
during reasonable hours as is necessary for:
(1) the maintenance, repair, or replacement of any of the
common areas and facilities:
(A) in the condominium unit; or
(B) accessible from the condominium unit; or
(2) making emergency repairs in the condominium unit
necessary to prevent damage to:
(A) the common areas and facilities; or
(B) another condominium unit.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.10. Amended by P.L.1-2003, SEC.84;
P.L.181-2007, SEC.1.
IC 32-25-4-3.5
Conveyance or encumberance of common areas and facilities
Sec. 3.5. (a) This section applies only to a condominium located
on the shore of a lake located in a township with a population of
more than three thousand one hundred (3,100) but less than three
thousand eight hundred (3,800) located in a county having a
population of more than forty-five thousand (45,000) but less than
forty-five thousand nine hundred (45,900).
(b) Except as otherwise provided in a statement described in:
(1) IC 32-25-7-1(a)(10) and included in:
(A) the declaration; or
(B) an amendment to the declaration, if the amendment is
approved by at least ninety-five percent (95%) of co-owners;
or
(2) IC 32-25-8-2(12) and included in:
(A) the bylaws; or
(B) an amendment to the bylaws, if the amendment is
approved by the percentage of votes set forth in the bylaws
under IC 32-25-8-2(11);
part or all of the common areas and facilities of a condominium may
be conveyed or subjected to a security interest by the association of
co-owners if at least ninety-five percent (95%) of the co-owners,
including at least ninety-five percent (95%) of the co-owners of
condominium units not owned by the declarant, agree to the action.
However, if the common areas and facilities proposed to be
conveyed or encumbered under this section include any limited
common areas and facilities, all the owners of the limited common
areas and facilities to be conveyed or encumbered must agree to the
conveyance or encumbrance.
(c) An agreement to convey or encumber common areas and
facilities under this section must be evidenced by an agreement:
(1) executed in the same manner as a deed or any other
instrument recognized by the state for the conveyance or
transfer of interests in title; and
(2) signed by:
(A) at least ninety-five percent (95%) of the co-owners, as
required by this section; or
(B) another percentage of the co-owners specified in a
statement described in subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2).
An agreement under this subsection is effective upon being recorded.
(d) Proceeds from the conveyance or encumbrance of common
areas and facilities under this section shall be distributed to
co-owners as common profits under IC 32-25-8-6. However, if the
common areas and facilities conveyed or encumbered under this
section include limited common areas and facilities, proceeds from
the conveyance or encumbrance of the limited common areas and
facilities shall be distributed to the owners of the limited common
areas and facilities according to the percentage of the owners'
undivided interest in the limited common areas and facilities.
(e) A conveyance or encumbrance of common areas and facilities
not made in accordance with:
(1) this section; or
(2) a statement described in subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2);
is void.
As added by P.L.181-2007, SEC.2.
IC 32-25-4-4
Contributions for expenses
Sec. 4. (a) Except as provided in subsection (d) or (e), the
co-owners are bound to contribute pro rata, in the percentages
computed under section 3 of this chapter, toward:
(1) the expenses of administration and of maintenance and
repair of the general common areas and facilities and, in the
proper case, of the limited common areas and facilities of the
building; and
(2) any other expense lawfully agreed upon.
(b) A co-owner may not exempt the co-owner from contributing
toward the expenses referred to in subsection (a) by:
(1) waiver of the use or enjoyment of the common areas and
facilities; or
(2) abandonment of the condominium unit belonging to the
co-owner.
(c) All sums assessed by the association of co-owners shall be
established by using generally accepted accounting principles applied
on a consistent basis and shall include the establishment and
maintenance of a replacement reserve fund. The replacement reserve
fund may be used for capital expenditures and replacement and
repair of the common areas and facilities and may not be used for
usual and ordinary repair expenses of the common areas and
facilities. The fund shall be:
(1) maintained in a separate interest bearing account with a
bank or savings association authorized to conduct business in
the county in which the condominium is established; or
(2) invested in the same manner and in the same types of
investments in which the funds of a political subdivision may
be invested:
(A) under IC 5-13-9; or
(B) as otherwise provided by law.
Assessments collected for contributions to the fund are not subject
to adjusted gross income tax.
(d) If permitted by the declaration, the declarant or a developer (or
a successor in interest of either) that is a co-owner of unoccupied
condominium units offered for the first time for sale is excused from
contributing toward the expenses referred to in subsection (a) for
those units for a period that:
(1) is stated in the declaration;
(2) begins on the day that the declaration is recorded; and
(3) terminates no later than the first day of the twenty-fourth
calendar month following the month in which the closing of the
sale of the first condominium unit occurs.
However, if the expenses referred to in subsection (a) incurred by the
declarant, developer, or successor during the period referred to in
this subsection exceed the amount assessed against the other
co-owners, the declarant, developer, or successor shall pay the
amount by which the expenses incurred by the declarant, developer,
or successor exceed the expenses assessed against the other
co-owners.
(e) If the declaration does not contain the provisions referred to in
subsection (d), the declarant or a developer (or a successor in interest
of either) that is a co-owner of unoccupied condominium units
offered for the first time for sale is excused from contributing toward
the expenses referred to in subsection (a) for those units for a stated
period if the declarant, developer, or successor:
(1) has guaranteed to each purchaser in the purchase contract,
the declaration, or the prospectus, or by an agreement with a
majority of the other co-owners that the assessment for those
expenses will not increase over a stated amount during the
stated period; and
(2) has obligated itself to pay the amount by which those
expenses incurred during the stated period exceed the
assessments at the guaranteed level under subdivision (1)
receivable during the stated period from the other co-owners.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.10. Amended by P.L.192-2002(ss),
SEC.172.