Lawyer Monthly Magazine - September 2021 Edition

lthough the concept of shared real property interests can be traced back to medieval Germany, and perhaps even to ancient Rome, statutory authority for sharing real property ownership did not exist in the United States until the 1800s, and it was not until the early 1960s that the first condominium statutes were passed. In California, the California Condominium Act was adopted in 1963 and later was renamed the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act. Although there are other types of common interest developments (such as stock cooperatives, planned developments and community apartments), condominiums differ from the others in that the separate interest portion of a condominium can be in a building, a portion of a building, in the underlying land, or the airspace above, or any separately described three- dimensional parcel containing either air, earth, water, a building, or any combination of the foregoing. It is essential that the title to a portion of the property be held by the holders of separate interests as tenants-in-common. Unlike other common interest developments, the creation of a condominium requires both a recorded parcel map or subdivision map and a recorded a Condominium Development in California: The Legal Essentials The creation of a condominium involves unique regulatory requirements. What must be taken into account during the planning phase, and what ordinances must be followed? John Hanna, a greatly experienced land use lawyer, delves into these concerns below. EXPERT INSIGHT 57 SEP 2021 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM condominium plan. These two documents may be combined into a single document, or the condominium plan can be a standalone document, separate from the recorded subdivision or parcel map. In planning for the development of any multi-family residential project, it is important to determine whether the project is intended to be forever a rental project, a for-sale condominium project from the beginning, or, as has become the “norm” recently in many jurisdictions, it is to be created as a condominium project with the intent of renting the units for the foreseeable future, but retaining the option to be able to sell them at any time in the future. When first planning the development of a condominium project, it is important to review the local city or county ordinances to see if the conversion of a rental project into a for-sale project is regulated. Many cities have adopted condominium conversion ordinances which make it extremely difficult for a rental apartment project that was not initially approved as a condominium to be converted into a for-sale condominium project. Every state has some sort of statutory provisions governing the creation and the offering for sale of condominiums. So does every city or county. In some cases, zoning ordinances may preclude the creation of condominiums within certain designated zones. Federal agencies such as FannieMae, FreddieMac and FHA have regulations which impose standards that must be met by any condominium project in which the unit owners are seeking governmental assisted loans. In those jurisdictions where the creation and the sale of condominiums is heavily regulated, a team e ort is required to successfully develop a project.