Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 825 - Condominium Act
Section 47-88b. - Conversion condominiums: Requirements for conversion.

(a) Public offering statement requirements. Any declarant of a conversion condominium shall include in his public offering statement, in addition to the requirements of section 47-71b the following:

(1) A specific statement of the amount of any initial or special condominium fee due from the purchaser on or before settlement of the purchase contract and the basis of such fee.
(2) Information on the actual expenditures made on all repairs, maintenance, operation or upkeep of the subject building or buildings within the last three years, set forth tabularly with the proposed budget of the condominiums and cumulatively broken down on a per unit basis in proportion to the percentage of the undivided interest in the common expenses allocated to each unit by the condominium instruments. If such building or buildings have not been occupied for a period of three years then the information shall be set forth for the maximum period such building or buildings have been occupied.
(3) A description of the provisions made in the budget for adequate reserves for capital expenditures and an explanation of the basis for such reserves as required by section 47-88e.
(4) A statement of the declarant, certified by a professional engineer registered or exempted under chapter 391, as to the present conditions of all structural and major mechanical components in the condominium which statement shall include the approximate dates of construction, installation and major repairs, and the expected useful life of each item, together with the estimated cost, in current dollars, of replacing each of the same.
(b) Notice to tenants. In the case of a conversion condominium, the landlord or developer shall give at least one hundred eighty days notice to each of the tenants of the building or buildings which are to be submitted to the provisions of this chapter. Such notice shall be hand-delivered or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, and shall inform tenants of: (1) The owner's intent to create a conversion condominium; (2) the exclusive right of each tenant to contract for the purchase of his unit during the first ninety days; (3) the right of each tenant to remain in his unit for one hundred eighty days or until the expiration of his lease; (4) the possibility of relocation assistance and the address and phone number for information concerning such assistance; (5) the availability of state financial assistance to assist a tenant in the purchase of his unit; and (6) whether the declarant is offering or arranging any special financing. Such notice shall be accompanied by a copy of the public offering statement containing the information required by section 47-71b and subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Purchase of unit by tenant. Termination of tenancy. For a period of ninety days after the thirty-day period established under subsection (j) of this section, each of the said tenants shall have the exclusive right to contract for the purchase of the unit he occupies. Any tenants who do not exercise said option shall be entitled to remain in the premises under their existing leases, subject to all the terms and conditions contained therein, except that upon the filing of the declaration said lease shall be considered assigned to the declarant. After receiving such notice a tenant may abandon his unit and terminate his tenancy without incurring any liability for such early termination of his rental agreement provided he gives one month's advance notice to the landlord. At the option of the tenant, any lease which expires within such one hundred eighty-day period shall be extended to the end of such period and no increase in rent may take effect during such period.
(d) Failure to conform to provisions of this section. Except pursuant to a purchase agreement for a unit, any provision in a contract, lease or other undertaking which allows a landlord or developer at his option to cancel and terminate such contract, lease or other undertaking upon the conversion of the property to the condominium form of ownership without conforming to the notice and option requirements of this section is hereby declared to be unenforceable and contrary to public policy.
(e) Evidence of proper notice. Any declarant of a conversion condominium shall, in addition to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, include with the condominium instruments a copy of the notice set forth in subsection (b) of this section and a certified statement that such notice, fully complying with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, was, prior to the time of the recording of the declaration of condominium, mailed or delivered to each of the tenants in the building or buildings to be converted.
(f) Filing with Department of Housing. Any declarant of a conversion condominium shall, in addition to the filing required by section 47-71, file with the Department of Housing within one hundred twenty days of the giving of the notice required by subsection (b) of this section: (1) A copy of the declaration and the public offering statement submitted to each tenant and (2) a sworn statement that each tenant who is entitled to receive notice under subsection (b) of this section and has not exercised his option to buy has received the notice required by subsection (b) of this section and has received relocation assistance which has included information on the availability of alternate housing, financing programs and federal, state and municipal housing assistance and the availability of moving and relocation expenses under section 47-88d, or that reasonable efforts have been made to provide such relocation assistance to such tenant. If at the time of such filing all of the tenants have not received notice under subsection (b) of this section, the declarant shall file subsequent sworn statements with the department within one hundred twenty days of the date notice was given to a tenant. The department shall charge a fee of two dollars per unit converted for such filing. The Commissioner of Housing shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 within ninety days of May 7, 1980, to determine the type of information to be included in such relocation assistance.
(g) Eviction prohibited. No eviction proceedings shall be brought against any of the occupants resident in any building or group of buildings converted to condominium ownership pursuant to this section within the term of any existing lease or within the one-hundred-eighty-day period provided for under subsection (b) of this section, whichever is later, for failure to purchase or any other reasons applicable to termination of tenancy other than nonpayment of rent or similar justifiable reasons ordinary to landlord rights where a lease exists assuring quiet enjoyment.
(h) Notice of proposed rent increase. A declarant of a conversion condominium or a unit owner shall give at least sixty days notice of any proposed rent increase to any lessee whose eviction is prohibited under subsection (b) of section 47a-23c. Any such lessee may abandon his unit and terminate his tenancy without incurring any liability for an early termination of his rental agreement provided he gives thirty days notice to the declarant or unit owner.
(i) Proof of age, blindness or physical disability. After the conversion of a dwelling unit in a building to condominium ownership, the declarant or unit owner, for the purpose of determining if a lessee's eviction is prohibited under subsection (b) of section 47a-23c, may ask any lessee to provide proof of the age, blindness or physical disability of such lessee or any person residing with him, or of the familial relationship existing between such lessee and any person residing with him. The lessee shall provide such proof, including, in the case of alleged physical disability, a statement of a physician, a physician assistant or an advanced practice registered nurse or, in the case of alleged blindness, a statement of a physician, an advanced practice registered nurse or an optometrist, within thirty days.
(j) Tenants' organization's exclusive right to purchase. During the first thirty days of the one hundred eighty-day period under subsection (b) of this section, an organization, if any, representing tenants of a building or buildings being submitted to the provisions of this chapter shall have the exclusive right to contract for the purchase of such building or buildings.
(P.A. 76-308, S. 29, 36; P.A. 79-622; P.A. 80-370, S. 4, 9; P.A. 81-319, S. 2, 6; 81-472, S. 105, 106, 159; P.A. 82-356, S. 2, 14; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 07-217, S. 174, 175; P.A. 13-234, S. 2; P.A. 16-39, S. 69; P.A. 21-196, S. 75.)
History: P.A. 79-622 required 180 days' notice rather than 60 days' notice and extended period during which tenant has exclusive right to contract for purchase of his unit from 30 to 90 days in Subsec. (b); P.A. 80-370 specified that statement in Subsec. (a)(4) must be “certified by a professional engineer registered or exempted under chapter 391”, required that notice be accompanied by copy of public offering statement and added provisions re early termination or extension of lease in Subsec. (b), deleted former Subsec. (d) which had allowed landlords to issue leases containing provisions for early termination when conversion to condominiums previously announced, relettering former Subsec. (e) as (d), and added new Subsec. (e) re filing requirements; P.A. 81-319 amended Subsec. (e) to replace the requirement that the declarant file within 120 days of the “filing required by section 47-71” with the requirement that filing be within 120 days of the “giving of the notice required by Subsec. (b) of this section”; P.A. 81-472 made technical changes; P.A. 82-356 amended Subsec. (a)(3) by requiring a description of the provisions in the budget for adequate reserves for capital expenditures, amended Subsec. (b) by increasing the information required in the notice, redesignated part of Subsec. (b) as a new Subsec. (c) and redesignated the remaining Subsecs. accordingly, amended Subsec. (f) by clarifying the information to be filed with the department of housing, and added Subsecs. (h), (i) and (j) concerning notice of proposed rent increases, proof of a lessee's age, blindness or physical disability and the right of a tenant's organization to purchase the building, respectively; P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; P.A. 07-217 made technical changes in Subsec. (e) and (g), effective July 12, 2007; pursuant to P.A. 13-234, references to Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and Department of Economic and Community Development were changed editorially by the Revisors to references to Commissioner of Housing and Department of Housing, respectively, in Subsec. (f), effective June 19, 2013; P.A. 16-39 amended Subsec. (i) by replacing “including a statement of a physician in the case of alleged blindness or physical disability” with “including, in the case of alleged physical disability, a statement of a physician or an advanced practice registered nurse or, in the case of alleged blindness, a statement of a physician, an advanced practice registered nurse or an optometrist”; P.A. 21-196 amended Subsec. (i) by adding “, a physician assistant”.

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