448.4-112. Conversion buildings--low or moderate income elderly tenants and disabled tenants, rights of.
Conversion buildings--low or moderate income elderly tenants anddisabled tenants, rights of.
448.4-112. 1. A declarant of a condominium containingconversion buildings, and any person in the business of sellingreal estate for his own account who intends to offer units insuch a condominium, shall give each of the residential tenantsand any residential subtenant in possession of a portion of aconversion building notice of the conversion no later than onehundred twenty days before the declarant will require the tenantsand any subtenant in possession to vacate, and the declarantshall further provide those persons with the original salecertificate not less than sixty days before the termination ofsuch one hundred twenty-day period nor less than sixty daysbefore the declarant will require those persons to vacate,whichever is the later date. The notice shall set forthgenerally the rights of tenants and subtenants under this sectionand shall be hand-delivered to each unit or mailed by prepaidUnited States mail to the tenant and subtenant at the address ofeach unit or any other mailing address provided by a tenant. Notenant or subtenant may be required by the declarant to vacateupon less than the later of one hundred twenty days' notice orupon notice less than sixty days after receipt of the originalsale certificate, except by reason of nonpayment of rent, waste,or conduct which disturbs other tenants' peaceful enjoyment ofthe premises, and the terms of the tenancy may not be alteredduring that period. Failure of a declarant to give notice asrequired by this section is a defense to an action forpossession.
2. The notice required by subsection 1 of this section shallbe accompanied by any form requesting age, income, and any otherinformation of residential tenants which the local governmententity may provide to declarant for the purpose of gathering dataon the low or moderate income tenant affected by condominiumconversions.
3. (1) Subject to the provisions of subdivisions (2) and(3) of this subsection 3, any low or moderate income elderlytenant of a conversion building on the date the notice ofconversion was submitted pursuant to subsection 1 of this sectionshall have the right to occupy his unit as provided in thissection for a three-year period with an option to renew for nomore than four successive periods. Any disabled tenant of aconversion building on the date said notice of conversion wasgiven shall have the right to occupy his unit as provided in thissection for a one-year period with the option to renew for nomore than two successive periods. To exercise the right tooccupy, the tenant shall notify the declarant in writing withinthirty days of receipt of the notice of conversion. If a tenantdies after exercising a right under this section, the survivingspouse, if qualified as a low or moderate income elderly ordisabled tenant at the time of the decedent spouse's death, shallsucceed to that right under the same terms and with theobligations of the decedent tenant. All rights and obligationsunder this subdivision shall terminate upon the tenant'sabandonment of the unit or by his death or the death of hissuccessor, if any. All rights of such tenant may be waived in awritten agreement with the declarant or successor unit owner, ifthe notice of conversion discloses fully and completely therights and obligations provided elderly and disabled tenant underthis subsection, including the applicability only to conversionbuildings of six or more units, the limitation of number of unitseligible in the building to be converted, the rent for which thetenant will be obligated, and the qualification requirements forMissouri housing development commission financing.
(2) Any unit of a conversion building which is used forresidential purposes and which is occupied by one or more low ormoderate income elderly or disabled tenants at the time thenotice of conversion is submitted pursuant to subsection 1 ofthis section, shall be retained by the declarant or successorunit owner as a rental unit for occupancy by such tenants undersubdivision (1) of this subsection 3. Rent to be charged tenantsunder this subsection shall not exceed an amount equal to thecarrying costs, replacement reserve, real property taxes, returnon equity not to exceed ten percent per annum, and the portion ofcommon expenses and insurance allocable to the unit. Thissubsection shall only apply to condominiums consisting of six ormore units used for residential purposes at any time during thetwelve months immediately preceding submission of the notice ofconversion. In such condominium, no more than ten percent of thetotal number of units, but not less than one unit in anycondominium consisting of six to ten units, with fractionsrounded to the nearest whole, shall be required to be retained asrental units under this subsection.
(3) Any declarant retaining such rental unit pursuant tosubdivision (2) of this subsection 3 shall be eligible to applyfor financial assistance, including but not limited to, apermanent loan, for the acquisition, plans, rehabilitation, orother expenses related to the development of such unit, from theMissouri housing development commission; provided, that thedeclarant shall have no obligation and such low or moderateincome elderly or disabled tenant shall have no rights under thissubsection 3 if financial assistance, in an amount sufficient tolimit the tenant's rental obligations to thirty percent of thetenant's annual gross income, under this subdivision (3) isunavailable. For the purposes of this subsection 3, the Missourihousing development commission may allocate ten percent of itsunobligated fund balances to provide financial assistance to anydeclarant whose application contains qualifying tenants and whootherwise meets the review criteria of the Missouri housingdevelopment commission, subject to the provisions of chapter 215,RSMo. For the purposes of this subdivision (3), "fund balances"shall mean those funds in the operating account of the Missourihousing development commission or available for transfer to theoperating fund as certified by the certified public accountantsof the Missouri housing development commission. In the event ofan excess of qualifying tenants over the number of units forwhich financial assistance is available, the Missouri housingdevelopment commission shall consider the factors of age, income,length of occupancy in the unit and disability in determiningpreference for receipt of the financial assistance under thissubdivision (3).
4. For sixty days after delivery or mailing of the originalsale certificate, the declarant shall offer to convey each unitor proposed unit occupied for residential use to the tenant wholeases that unit; provided, that in the case of a low or moderateincome tenant who is seeking to purchase the unit through agovernment assistance program, such period may be extended bymutual agreement of the tenant and declarant. If a tenant failsto purchase the unit during that sixty-day period, the declarantmay not offer to dispose of an interest in that unit during thefollowing one hundred eighty days at a price or on terms morefavorable to the offeree than the price or terms offered to thetenant unless declarant first notifies and offers the tenant thesame terms, after which the tenant has ten days to accept orreject such offer. This subsection does not apply to any unit ina conversion building if that unit will be restricted exclusivelyto nonresidential use or the boundaries of the converted unit donot substantially conform to the dimensions of the residentialunit before conversion.
5. If a declarant, in violation of subsection 4 of thissection, conveys a unit to a purchaser for value who has noknowledge of the violation, recordation of the deed conveying theunit extinguishes any right a tenant may have under subsection 4of this section to purchase that unit if the deed states that theseller has complied with subsection 4 of this section, but doesnot affect the right of a tenant to recover damages from thedeclarant for a violation of subsection 4 of this section.
6. If a notice of conversion specifies a date by which aunit or proposed unit shall be vacated, and otherwise complieswith the provisions of sections 441.050 and 441.060, RSMo, thenotice also constitutes a notice to vacate specified by thosesections.
7. Nothing in this section permits termination of a lease bya declarant in violation of its terms.
8. The declarant shall submit written notice of conversionto the department in charge of building codes or the equivalentin any incorporated city, town, or village in which any portionof any building to be converted into a condominium is located.Such notice shall be filed at the time the declarant gives noticeof conversion to tenant under this section.
(L. 1983 H.B. 177)