Condominium
A condominium is an ownership regime in which a building is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual owners.
These individual units are surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned and managed by the owners of the units. The term can be applied to the building or complex itself, and is sometimes applied to individual units. The term "condominium" is mostly used in the US and Canada, but similar arrangements are used in [|many other countries] under different names.
Condominiums are also sometimes referred to as horizontal property regimes or horizontal divisions. There are also rowhouse style condominiums, in which the units open directly to the outside and are not stacked. Alternatively, detached condominiums look like single-family homes, but the yards, building exteriors, and streets, as well as any recreational facilities, are jointly owned and maintained by a community association. Many shopping malls are commercial condominiums in which the individual retail and office spaces are owned by the businesses that occupy them, while the common areas of the mall are collectively owned by all the business entities that own the individual spaces.
In certain regions the term "apartments" is used to refer to owned or rented units. In other countries, apartments refers specifically to units that are leased by tenants, whereas condominium refers to units that are owned outright, and where the owners of the individual units also collectively own the common areas of the property. These may include the exterior of the building, roof, corridors/hallways, walkways, and laundry rooms, as well as common utilities and amenities, such as the HVAC system and elevators.
In other property regimes, such as those in Hong Kong and Finland, the entire buildings are owned in common with exclusive rights to occupy units assigned to the individual owners. The common areas, amenities, and utilities are managed collectively by the owners through their association, such as a homeowner association or its equivalent.
History
Scholars have traced the earliest known use of the condominium form of tenure to a document from first-century Babylon. The word condominium originated in Latin.Etymology
Condominium is an invented Latin word formed by adding the prefix con- 'together' to the word dominium 'dominion, ownership'. Its meaning is, therefore, 'joint dominion' or 'co-ownership'.Condominia originally referred to territories over which two or more sovereign powers shared joint sovereignty. This technique was frequently used to settle border disputes when multiple claimants could not agree on how to partition the disputed territory. For example, from 1818 to 1846, Oregon Country was a condominium over which both the United States and Great Britain shared joint sovereignty until the Oregon Treaty resolved the issue by splitting the territory along the 49th parallel and each country gaining sole sovereignty of one side.
Overview
The distinction between a complex of residences, such as an apartment building, and a condominium is legal, rather than architectural. There is no way to differentiate a condominium from any other residential building simply by looking at it or visiting it. What defines a condominium is the form of ownership. Identical buildings might be marketed either as condominiums or apartments. Moreover, a developer may sell some units and retain and rent others, and the owners of condominium units often rent them to tenants as what amount to apartments, meaning the distinction is not ironclad. Indeed, it is possible to convert an apartment building into condominiums or vice versa.Where a condominium is in essence an apartment building, as a practical matter, builders tend to build condominiums to higher quality standards than apartment complexes because of the differences between the rental and sale markets. They are typically slightly larger than apartments and are often constructed in a townhouse style in regions where single-family detached homes are common.
Technically, a condominium is a collection of individual units and common areas along with the land upon which they sit. Individual home ownership within a condominium is construed as ownership of only the air space confining the boundaries of the home. The boundaries of that space are specified by a legal document known in the United States as a Declaration, filed on record with the local governing authority. These boundaries may extend to the interior side of the walls surrounding a condo, allowing the homeowner to make some interior modifications without impacting the common area. Anything outside this boundary is held in an undivided ownership interest by a corporation established at the time of the condominium's creation. The corporation holds this property in trust on behalf of the homeowners as a group—it may not have ownership itself.
Some condominium complexes consist of single-family dwellings. There are also "detached condominiums" where homeowners do not maintain the exteriors of the dwellings or yards, and "site condominiums", where the owner has more control and possibly ownership over the exterior appearance. These structures are preferred by some planned neighborhoods and gated communities.
Founding documents and bylaws
The description of the condominium units and the common areas and any restrictions on their use are established in a founding document, which may variously be called a "Master Deed", "Enabling Declaration", "Declaration of Conditions", "Conditions, Covenants, and Restrictions ", "Deed of Mutual Covenant" or simply a "Condominium Document". Among other things, this document can provide for the creation of a governing body or corporation, for example, a Homeowner's Association in the United States.Rules for the association may be in the master deed, or could be a separate set of bylaws governing the internal affairs of the condominium. Matters addressed in the condominium bylaws may include the responsibilities of the owners' association, voting procedures to be used at association meetings, the qualifications, powers, and duties of the board of directors, and the powers and duties of the officers. The Bylaws may also cover the obligations of the owners with regard to assessments, maintenance, and use of the units and common areas, although those obligations are often found in the condominium's founding documents. Finally, they may set limits on the conduct of unit owners and residents. These are more readily amendable than the declaration or association bylaws, typically requiring only a vote of the governing body. Typical rules include mandatory maintenance fees, pet restrictions, and color/design choices visible from the exterior of the units. Generally, these sets of rules and regulations are made available to residents and or as a matter of public record, via a condominium or homeowners association website, or through public files, depending on the state and its applicable laws. Condominiums are usually owned in fee simple title, but can be owned in ways that other real estate can be owned, such as title held in trust. In some jurisdictions, such as Ontario, Canada, or Hawaii US, there are "leasehold condominiums" where the development is built on leased land.
As condominium unit owners may wish to rent their home to tenants, similar to renting out single-owner real estate, but leasing rights may be subject to conditions or restrictions set forth in the declaration or otherwise as permitted by local law.