Condominium Primer.doc.doc

CONDOMINIUM PRIMER Eugene L. Grant Davis Wright Tremaine LLP 1300 SW 5th Avenue, Suite 2300 Portland OR 97201 503 778 5427 genegrant@ vertical subdivisions of land into lots progressed to the horizontal and vertical subdivision of buildings into units under “horizontal property regimes acts,” that now have come to be generally referred to as condominium acts. Townhouse and party wall projects are distinguished from a condominium by (1) coming under a separate statute; (2) horizontal boundaries; and (3) ownership of common areas (typically the land and building structure by all owners as tenants in common, rather than by the managing community association or other entity such as in a housing cooperative. The Condominium Act’s provisions may be divided into three broad categories: formation, operation, and regulation of sales. FORMATION Terminology and classification of the property into units and common elements. Each type is governed by substantially different rules regarding ownership, use, operation, and responsibility for maintenance, repair, and replacement. The unit consists of the cubic air space and improvements inside of the horizontal and vertical boundaries described in a condominium declaration. It is a separate parcel of real property capable of being platted, conveyed, and encumbered as with any traditional parcel of real property. Units are shown on a recorded plat like a subdivision plat only in 3D. Traditional unit boundaries are the interior space in an apartment. Shoe box units have boundaries that encompass the entire building, and are used to create the virtual equivalent of traditional subdivision when legal lots cannot be created for each house. Property not designated as units on the plat is by default common elements, which are owned as undivided tenancy in common and which may not be conveyed, encumbered, or subjected to lien or attachment except under special circumstances. General common elements are property that all