Sec. 47-244. Powers of unit owners' association. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 47-244. Powers of unit owners' association. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, and subject to the provisions of the declaration, the association, even if unincorporated, may:

      (1) Adopt and amend bylaws and rules and regulations;

      (2) Adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures and reserves and collect assessments for common expenses from unit owners;

      (3) Hire and discharge managing agents and other employees, agents and independent contractors;

      (4) Institute, defend or intervene in litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or two or more unit owners on matters affecting the common interest community;

      (5) Make contracts and incur liabilities;

      (6) Regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement and modification of common elements;

      (7) Cause additional improvements to be made as a part of the common elements;

      (8) Acquire, hold, encumber and convey in its own name any right, title or interest to real property or personal property, but (A) common elements in a condominium or planned community may be conveyed or subjected to a security interest only pursuant to section 47-254 and (B) part of a cooperative may be conveyed, or all or part of a cooperative may be subjected to a security interest, only pursuant to section 47-254;

      (9) Grant easements, leases, licenses and concessions through or over the common elements;

      (10) Impose and receive any payments, fees or charges for the use, rental or operation of the common elements, other than limited common elements described in subsections (2) and (4) of section 47-221, and for services provided to unit owners;

      (11) Impose charges or interest or both for late payment of assessments and, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, rules and regulations of the association;

      (12) Impose reasonable charges for the preparation and recordation of amendments to the declaration, resale certificates required by section 47-270 or statements of unpaid assessments;

      (13) Provide for the indemnification of its officers and executive board and maintain directors' and officers' liability insurance;

      (14) Assign its right to future income, including the right to receive common expense assessments, but only to the extent the declaration expressly so provides;

      (15) Exercise any other powers conferred by the declaration or bylaws;

      (16) Exercise all other powers that may be exercised in this state by legal entities of the same type as the association;

      (17) Exercise any other powers necessary and proper for the governance and operation of the association; and

      (18) Require, by regulation, that disputes between the executive board and unit owners or between two or more unit owners regarding the common interest community must be submitted to nonbinding alternative dispute resolution in the manner described in the regulation as a prerequisite to commencement of a judicial proceeding.

      (b) The declaration may not impose limitations on the power of the association to deal with the declarant which are more restrictive than the limitations imposed on the power of the association to deal with other persons.

      (c) (1) Unless otherwise permitted by the declaration or this chapter, an association may adopt rules and regulations that affect the use or occupancy of units that may be used for residential purposes only to:

      (A) Prevent any use of a unit which violates the declaration;

      (B) Regulate any occupancy of a unit which violates the declaration or adversely affects the use and enjoyment of other units or the common elements by other unit owners; or

      (C) Restrict the leasing of residential units to the extent those rules are reasonably designed to meet first mortgage underwriting requirements of institutional lenders who regularly purchase or insure first mortgages on units in common interest communities, provided no such restrictions shall be enforceable unless notice thereof is recorded on the land records of each town in which any part of the common interest community is located. Such notice shall be indexed in the grantor index of such land records in the name of the association.

      (2) Except as provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection, the association may not regulate any use or occupancy of units.

      (d) If a tenant of a unit owner violates the declaration, bylaws or rules and regulations of the association, in addition to exercising any of its powers against the unit owner, the association may:

      (1) Exercise directly against the tenant the powers described in subdivision (11) of subsection (a) of this section;

      (2) After giving notice to the tenant and the unit owner and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines against the tenant or unit owner, or both, for the violation; and

      (3) Enforce any other rights against the tenant for the violation which the unit owner as landlord could lawfully have exercised under the lease, including any such right to bring a summary process action under chapter 832.

      (e) The rights granted under subdivision (3) of subsection (d) of this section may only be exercised if the tenant or unit owner fails to cure the violation within ten days after the association notifies the tenant and unit owner of that violation.

      (f) Unless a lease otherwise provides, this section does not:

      (1) Affect rights that the unit owner has to enforce the lease or that the association has under other law; or

      (2) Permit the association to enforce a lease to which it is not a party except to the extent that there is a violation of the declaration, bylaws or rules and regulations.

      (P.A. 83-474, S. 45, 96; P.A. 95-187, S. 16.)

      History: P.A. 95-187 added Subsec. (a)(18) authorizing an association to require that disputes be submitted to nonbinding alternative dispute resolution, added Subsec. (c) authorizing an association to regulate the use or occupancy of residential units and specifying the purposes for which such regulations may be adopted, added Subsec. (d) re actions an association may take against a tenant who violates the declaration, bylaws or rules and regulations of the association, added Subsec. (e) limiting the exercise of the rights under Subsec. (d)(3) to where the tenant or unit owner has failed to cure the violation in a timely manner and added Subsec. (f) specifying rights of a unit owner or association that are not affected by this section and enforcement actions by an association that are not authorized by this section.

      Cited. 208 C. 318.

      Cited. 24 CA 554. Cited. 38 CA 420. Unit owners and mortgagees were not necessary parties to action brought by association pursuant to section. 58 CA 217.

      Subsec. (a):

      Condominium association board of directors authorized to adopt a restriction limiting length of a leash to clarify provision of declaration that household pets brought to common areas of the property be restrained properly and controlled by owners at all times. 279 C. 728.

      Subdiv. (4) cited. 41 CA 249. Subdiv. (4): Condominium Association has standing to bring appeal from the tax assessment of the common elements of the condominium. Cited. 44 CA 107.

      Subdiv. (4): Does not provide that all suits against interests of unit owners are to be brought against association, without individual notice to unit owners. 45 CS 261.