Sec. 47-236. Amendment of declaration. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 47-236. Amendment of declaration. (a) Except in cases of amendments that may be executed by a declarant under subsection (f) of section 47-228 or section 47-229, or by the association under section 47-206, subsection (d) of section 47-225, subsection (c) of section 47-227, subsection (a) of section 47-231 or section 47-232, or by certain unit owners under subsection (b) of section 47-227, subsection (a) of section 47-231, subsection (b) of section 47-232, subsection (b) of section 47-237 or section 47-242, and except as limited by subsections (d) and (f) of this section, the declaration, including any surveys and plans, may be amended only by vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which at least sixty-seven per cent of the votes in the association are allocated, or any larger majority the declaration specifies. The declaration may specify a smaller number only if all of the units are restricted exclusively to nonresidential use.

      (b) No action to challenge the validity of an amendment adopted by the association pursuant to this section may be brought more than one year after the amendment is recorded.

      (c) Every amendment to the declaration shall be recorded in every town in which any portion of the common interest community is located and is effective only on recordation. An amendment, except an amendment pursuant to subsection (a) of section 47-231, shall be indexed in the grantee's index in the name of the common interest community and the association and in the grantor's index in the name of the parties executing the amendment.

      (d) Except to the extent expressly permitted or required by other provisions of this chapter, no amendment may create or increase special declarant rights, increase the number of units or change the boundaries of any unit or the allocated interests of a unit, in the absence of unanimous consent of the unit owners.

      (e) Amendments to the declaration required by this chapter to be recorded by the association shall be prepared, executed, recorded and certified on behalf of the association by any officer of the association designated for that purpose or, in the absence of designation, by the president of the association.

      (f) By vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which at least eighty per cent of the votes in the association are allocated, or any larger percentage specified in the declaration, an amendment to the declaration may prohibit or materially restrict the permitted uses or occupancy of a unit or the number or other qualifications of persons who may occupy units. The amendment must provide reasonable protection for a use or occupancy permitted at the time the amendment was adopted.

      (g) The time limits specified in the declaration pursuant to subdivision (8) of subsection (a) of section 47-224, within which reserved development rights must be exercised may be extended, the number of units may be increased and new development rights or other special declarant rights may be created by amendment to the declaration if persons entitled to cast at least eighty per cent of the votes in the association, including eighty per cent of the votes allocated to units not owned by the declarant, agree to that action. The amendment must identify the association or other persons who hold any new rights that are created. Written notice of the proposed amendment to the declaration must be delivered to all persons holding development rights or security interests in those rights. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the amendment to the declaration is effective thirty days after the amendment is recorded and notice is delivered unless any of the persons entitled to notice under this subsection records a written objection within the thirty-day period, in which case the amendment is void, or unless all of the persons entitled to notice under this subsection consent in writing at the time the amendment is recorded, in which case the amendment is effective when recorded.

      (h) Provisions in the declaration creating special declarant rights may not be amended without the consent of the declarant.

      (i) If any provision of this chapter or of the declaration of any common interest community subject to this chapter requires the consent of a person holding a security interest in a unit as a condition to the effectiveness of any amendment to the declaration, that consent shall be deemed granted if no written refusal to consent is received by the association within forty-five days after the association delivers notice of the proposed amendment to the holder of the interest or mails the notice to the holder of the interest by certified mail, return receipt requested. The association may rely on the last-recorded security interest of record in delivering or mailing notice to the holder of that interest.

      (j) If the declaration of a common interest community, whether created before or after January 1, 1984, contains a provision requiring that amendments relating to the use of units, the relocation of boundaries between units and common elements or the extension or creation of development rights may be adopted only by the vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which more than eighty per cent of the votes in the association are allocated, such a proposed amendment shall be deemed approved if:

      (1) (A) Unit owners of units to which more than eighty per cent of the votes in the association are allocated vote for or agree to the proposed amendment;

      (B) No unit owner votes against the proposed amendment; and

      (C) Notice of the proposed amendment is delivered to the unit owners holding the votes in the association that have not voted or agreed to the proposed amendment and no written objection of the proposed amendment is received by the association within thirty days after the association delivers notice; or

      (2) Unit owners of units to which more than eighty per cent of the votes in the association are allocated vote for or agree to the proposed amendment but at least one unit owner objects to the proposed amendment and, pursuant to an action brought by the association in the Superior Court against all objecting unit owners, the court finds that the objecting unit owner or owners do not have a unique minority interest, different in kind from the interests of the other unit owners, that the voting requirement of the declaration was intended to protect.

      (P.A. 83-474, S. 37, 96; P.A. 95-187, S. 12, 29; P.A. 04-132, S. 4.)

      History: P.A. 95-187 amended Subsec. (a) to replace "except as limited by subsection (d) of this section" with "except as limited by subsections (d) and (f) of this section", amended Subsec. (d) to delete prohibition on an amendment changing the uses to which any unit is restricted without the unanimous consent of the unit owners, added a new Subsec. (f) to authorize an amendment that prohibits or materially restricts the permitted uses or occupancy of a unit, specify the percentage vote required for the adoption of such amendment and require the amendment to provide reasonable protection for a use or occupancy permitted at the time the amendment was adopted, added a new Subsec. (g) authorizing an amendment that extends the time limits within which reserved development rights must be exercised, increases the number of units or creates new development rights or other special declarant rights and specifying procedure for adoption thereof, redesignated former Subsec. (f) as Subsec. (h), added Subsec. (i) re when a person holding a security interest in a unit is deemed to have granted his consent to the adoption of a proposed amendment and added Subsec. (j) re when an amendment relating to the use of units, the relocation of boundaries between units and common elements or the extension or creation of development rights that requires at least an 80% vote is deemed approved, effective June 28, 1995; P.A. 04-132 amended Subsec. (j) by replacing references to 80% "or more" of the votes and "at least" 80% of the votes with references to "more than" 80% of the votes.

      Subsec. (d):

      Cited. 22 CA 497.