Missouri Condominium Property Act

Sections 448.005 to 448.210 shall be known and may be cited as the "Condominium Property Act".

(L. 1983 H.B. 177)

As used in sections 448.005 to 448.210, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms mean:

(1) "Common elements", all portions of the property except the units;

(2) "Declaration", the instrument and amendments thereto by which the property is submitted to the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210, as hereinafter provided, and the declaration as from time to time amended;

(3) "Developer", the person, firm, or corporation who establishes a condominium through the recording of a declaration, bylaws, and plat. In the event the developer transfers the property prior to completion of the construction program, the developer shall include any transferee who acquires the property for purposes of completing the construction as shown on the plat or amended plats;

(4) "Majority" or "majority of the unit owners", the owners of more than fifty percent in the aggregate in interest of the undivided ownership of the common elements. Any specified percentage of the unit owners means such percentage in the aggregate in interest of the undivided ownership;

(5) "Parcel", the lot or lots, tract or tracts of land, including additional tracts added by subsequent amendment described in the declaration or amendments thereto, submitted to the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210;

(6) "Person", a natural individual, corporation, partnership, trustee or other legal entity capable of holding title to real property;

(7) "Plat", a plat or plats of survey or surveys together with amendments thereto of the parcel or parcels and of all units which are proposed for inclusion in the property or properties submitted to the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210, which plat or plats may consist of a three-dimensional horizontal and vertical delineation of all such units;

(8) "Property", all the land, property or properties and space comprising the parcel or parcels, all improvements and structures erected, constructed or contained therein or thereon, including the building and all easements, rights and appurtenances belonging thereto, and all fixtures and equipment intended for the mutual use, benefit or enjoyment of the unit owners, submitted to the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210;

(9) "Record", to record in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county wherein the property is located;

(10) "Unit", a part of the property including one or more rooms, occupying one or more floors or a part or parts thereof, designed and intended for any type of independent use, and having lawful access to a public way;

(11) "Unit owner", the person or persons whose estates or interests, individually or collectively, aggregate fee simple absolute ownership of a unit.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 2, A.L. 1969 H.B. 767, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

Whenever the owners in fee simple of a parcel intend to submit such property to the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210, they shall do so by recording a declaration, duly executed and acknowledged, expressly stating such intent and setting forth the particulars enumerated in section 448.030.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 3, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

1. The declaration shall set forth the following particulars:

(1) The legal description of the parcel or parcels;

(2) The legal description of each unit, which may consist of the identifying number or symbol of the unit as shown on the plat;

(3) The percentage of ownership interest in the common elements allocated to each unit. The percentages shall be computed by taking as a basis the value of each unit in relation to the value of the property as a whole, and having once been determined and set forth as herein provided, such percentages shall remain constant unless thereafter changed by agreement of all unit owners; except that, if there is a change in the number of units or in the size or dimensions of any units, the developer shall determine the changes required in the percentages of ownership by virtue of the changes in the number of units or in the size or dimensions of any units, and shall file of record in the office of the recorder of deeds in which the declaration was filed an instrument setting forth the changes in percentages of ownership;

(4) Such other lawful provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210 as the owners or developers may deem desirable in order to promote and preserve the cooperative aspect of ownership of the property and to facilitate the proper administration thereof.

2. The developer with the consent of all unit owners may file an amendment or amendments to the declaration to include an additional parcel or parcels or to delete any parcel or portion thereof and to change the number of units and to amend the percentage of ownership interests in the common elements allocated to each unit, but no amendment shall be made to include a parcel or parcels which are not contiguous to the parcel or parcels described in either the original declaration or amendments thereto. Parcels shall be considered to be contiguous although separated by roads or easements.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 4, A.L. 1969 H.B. 767, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

Simultaneously with the recording of the declaration there shall be recorded a plat as defined in section 448.010, which plat shall be made by a registered Missouri land surveyor and shall set forth all angular and linear data along the exterior boundaries of the parcel; the linear measurements and location, with reference to the exterior boundaries, of the building or buildings located or to be located on the parcel; and the elevations or proposed elevations at, above, or below official datum of the finished or unfinished interior surfaces of the floors and ceilings and the linear measurements of the actual or proposed finished or unfinished interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, and lateral extensions thereof, of every unit or proposed unit in the building or buildings, and the locations or proposed locations of such wall surfaces with respect to the exterior boundaries of the parcel projected vertically upward. Every such unit shall be identified on the plat by a distinguishing number or other symbol. If the plat is recorded as a separate document, a statement shall appear thereon identifying it with the declaration provided for in section 448.030, which statement shall be signed and acknowledged by the same persons executing the declaration. An amendment or amendments to a plat may be recorded by the developer to include an additional parcel or parcels and additional units or to delete any parcel or parcels and reduce the number of units or to reflect accurately any changes in the locations, elevations, measurements or dimensions of any prior recorded plat, provided all the unit owners have consented thereto.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 5, A.L. 1969 H.B. 767)

1. Upon compliance with sections 448.020, 448.030 and 448.040, and upon recording of the declaration and plat, the property shall become subject to the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210, and all units shall thereupon be capable of ownership in fee simple or any lesser estate, and may thereafter be conveyed, leased, mortgaged or otherwise dealt with in the same manner as other real property, but subject, however, to the limitations imposed by sections 448.005 to 448.210.

2. Each unit owner shall be entitled to the percentage of ownership in the common elements appertaining to such unit as computed and set forth in the declaration pursuant to subdivision (3) of section 448.030, and ownership of such unit and of the owner's corresponding percentage of ownership in the common elements shall not be separated, nor shall any unit, by deed, plat, court decree or otherwise, be subdivided or in any other manner separated into tracts or parcels smaller than the whole unit as shown on the plat.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 6, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

Every deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument may legally describe a unit by its identifying number or symbol as shown on the plat and as set forth in the declaration, and every such description shall be deemed good and sufficient for all purposes, and shall be deemed to convey, transfer, encumber or otherwise affect the owner's corresponding percentage of ownership in the common elements even though the same is not expressly mentioned or described therein.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 7)

As long as the property is subject to the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210 the common elements shall, except as provided in section 448.140, remain undivided, and no unit owner shall bring any action for partition or division of the common elements. Any covenant or agreement to the contrary shall be null and void. Nothing contained herein, however, shall prevent partition of a unit as between co-owners thereof, if such right of partition shall otherwise be available, but such partition shall not be in kind.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 8, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

1. Every unit owner shall pay his proportionate share of the expenses of administration, maintenance and repair of the common elements and of any other expense lawfully agreed upon. Such proportionate share shall be in the same ratio as his percentage of ownership in the common elements as set forth in the declaration. Payment thereof shall be in the amounts and at the times as determined by the unit owners or the board of managers, as hereinafter provided.

2. If any unit owner fails or refuses to make any payment of the common expenses when due, the amount thereof shall constitute a lien on the interest of such unit owner in the property, and upon the recording of notice thereof by the manager or board of managers shall be a lien upon such unit owner's interest in the property prior to all other liens and encumbrances, recorded or unrecorded; except only taxes, special assessments and special taxes theretofore or thereafter levied by any political subdivision or municipal corporation of this state and other state or federal taxes which by law are a lien on the interest of such unit owner prior to preexisting recorded encumbrances thereon, and encumbrances on the interest of such unit owner recorded prior to the date such notice is recorded which by law would be a lien thereon prior to subsequently recorded encumbrances, but only if such prior recorded encumbrance contains a statement of a mailing address in the state of Missouri where notice may be mailed to the encumbrancer thereunder. Any encumbrancer whose lien is junior to the lien of the common expenses herein provided may from time to time request in writing a written statement from the manager or board of managers setting forth the unpaid common expenses with respect to the unit covered by his encumbrance and unless the request is complied with within twenty days, all unpaid common expenses which became due prior to the date of the making of such request shall be subordinate to the lien of such encumbrance. Any encumbrancer holding a lien on a unit may pay any unpaid common expenses payable with respect to such unit and upon such payment such encumbrancer shall have a lien on such unit for the amounts paid at the same rank as the lien of his encumbrance.

3. The lien to secure payment of common expenses shall be in favor of the members of the board of managers and their successors in office and shall be for the benefit of all other unit owners, and may be foreclosed by an action brought in the name of the board of managers in like manner as a mortgage of real property, as provided in sections 443.190 to 443.310. Unless otherwise provided in the declaration, the members of the board of managers and their successors in office, acting on behalf of the other unit owners, shall have the power to bid in the interest so foreclosed at foreclosure sale, and to acquire and hold, lease, mortgage and convey the same.

4. In the event any person acquires or is entitled to the issuance of a sheriff's or other official deed in foreclosure of the lien for common expenses above provided, the deed conveying the interest of any unit owner and the interest so acquired shall be subject to all of the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210 and to the terms, provisions, covenants, conditions and limitations contained in the declaration, the plat, the bylaws or any deed affecting such interest then in force.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 9, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

1. In the event any lien exists against two or more units and the indebtedness secured by such lien is due and payable, the unit owner of any unit so affected may remove the unit and the undivided interest in the common elements appertaining thereto from the lien by payment of the proportional amount of the indebtedness which is attributable to such unit. In the event the lien exists against the property, the amount of such proportional payment shall be computed on the basis of the percentages set forth in the declaration. Upon payment as herein provided, the lienor shall execute and deliver to the unit owner a release of such unit and the undivided interest in the common elements appertaining thereto from the lien. Any such proportional payment and release shall not prevent the lienor from proceeding to enforce his rights against any unit or interest with respect to which the lien has not been so paid or released.

2. No labor performed or materials furnished with the consent of or at the request of a unit owner or his agent or his contractor or subcontractor shall be the basis for the filing of a lien against the interest of any other unit owner, or against any part thereof, unless such other owner has expressly consented to or requested the same. Express consent shall be deemed to have been given by the owner of any unit in the case of emergency repairs thereto. Labor performed or materials furnished for the common elements, if duly authorized by the board of managers, shall be deemed to be performed with the express consent of each unit owner and shall be the basis for the filing of a lien against the property, and shall be subject to the provisions of subsection 1.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 9A)

Real property taxes, special assessments, and any other special taxes or charges of the state of Missouri or of any political subdivision thereof, or other lawful taxing or assessing body, which are authorized by law to be assessed against and levied upon real property shall be assessed against and levied upon each unit and the owner's corresponding percentage of ownership in the common elements as a tract, and not upon the property as a whole.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 10)

In the event any person acquires or is entitled to the issuance of a tax deed conveying the interest of any unit owner, the interest so acquired shall be subject to all the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210 and to the terms, provisions, covenants, conditions and limitations contained in the declaration, the plat, the bylaws or any deed affecting such interest then in force.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 11, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

The manager or the board of managers shall obtain insurance for the property against loss or damage by fire and such other hazards as are covered under standard extended coverage provisions for the full insurable replacement cost of the common elements and the units. The insurance coverage shall be written in the name of, and the proceeds thereof shall be payable to, the manager or the board of managers, as trustee for each of the unit owners in the percentages established in the declaration or amended declaration, if any. The policy of insurance may contain a loss payable clause containing the words, "To the holder or holders of mortgages or deeds of trust of record, if any, as their interests may appear" without specifically naming the holder or holders in the clause, in which event the proceeds shall thereupon be payable jointly to the manager or the board of managers and the holder or holders of mortgages or deeds of trust of record, as trustees for each of the unit owners in the percentages established in the declaration or any amended declaration. The trustees shall have full power to adjust all insurance losses by suit or otherwise and payment accepted by the trustees hereunder shall constitute a discharge to the insurer. Premiums for the insurance shall be common expenses.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 12, A.L. 1969 H.B. 767)

In case of fire or any other disaster the insurance proceeds, if sufficient to reconstruct the building, shall be applied to such reconstruction. "Reconstruction of the building", as used in this and section 448.140, means restoring the building to substantially the same condition in which it existed prior to the fire or other disaster, with each unit and the common elements having the same vertical and horizontal boundaries as before.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 13)

In case of fire or other disaster, if the insurance proceeds are insufficient to reconstruct the building and the unit owners and all other parties in interest do not voluntarily make provision for reconstruction of the building within one hundred and eighty days from the date of damage or destruction, the board of managers may record a notice setting forth such facts and upon the recording of such notice:

(1) The property shall be deemed to be owned in common by the unit owners;

(2) The undivided interest in the property owned in common which shall appertain to each unit owner shall be the percentage of undivided interest previously owned by such owner in the common elements;

(3) Any liens affecting any of the units shall be deemed to be transferred in accordance with the existing priorities to the undivided interest of the unit owner in the property as provided herein; and

(4) The property shall be subject to an action for partition at the suit of any unit owner, in which event the net proceeds of sale, together with the net proceeds of the insurance on the property, if any, shall be considered as one fund and shall be divided among all the unit owners in a percentage equal to the percentage of undivided interest owned by each owner in the property, after first paying out of the respective shares of the unit owners, to the extent sufficient for the purpose, all liens on the undivided interest in the property owned by each unit owner.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 14)

Unless a greater percentage is provided for in the declaration or bylaws, and notwithstanding the provisions of sections 448.130 and 448.140, a majority of the unit owners where the property contains two units, or not less than sixty-six and two-thirds percent where the property contains three units, and not less than seventy-five percent where the property contains four or more units may, by affirmative vote at a meeting of unit owners duly called for such purpose, elect to sell the property. Such action shall be binding upon all unit owners, and it shall thereupon become the duty of every unit owner to execute and deliver such instruments and to perform all acts as in manner and form may be necessary to effect the sale. Any unit owner who did not vote in favor of such action and who has filed written objection thereto with the manager or board of managers within twenty days after the date of the meeting at which such sale was approved shall be entitled to receive from the proceeds of such sale an amount equivalent to the value of his interest, less the amount of any unpaid assessments or charges due and owing from such unit owner. The "value of such interest", for the purposes of sections 448.005 to 448.210, shall be that percentage of the total value of the property determined by fair appraisal which represents the ownership percentage of the common elements allocated to the unit owned by such objecting owner.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 15, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

All of the unit owners may remove the property from the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210 by an instrument to that effect, duly recorded if the holders of all liens affecting any of the units consent thereto or agree, in either case by instruments duly recorded, that their liens be transferred to the undivided interest of the unit owner. Upon such removal the property shall be deemed to be owned in common by all the owners. The undivided interest in the property owned in common which shall appertain to each owner shall be the percentage of undivided interest previously owned by such owner in the common elements.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 16, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

The administration of every property shall be governed by bylaws, which may either be embodied in the declaration or in a separate instrument, a true copy of which shall be appended to and recorded with the declaration. No modification or amendment of the declaration or bylaws shall be valid unless the same is set forth in an amendment thereof and such amendment is duly recorded.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 17)

The bylaws shall provide for at least the following:

(1) The election from among the unit owners of a board of managers, the number of persons constituting such board, and that the terms of at least one-third of the members of the board shall expire annually; the powers and duties of the board; the compensation, if any, of the members of the board; the method of removal from office of members of the board; and whether or not the board may engage the services of a manager or managing agent;

(2) Method of calling meetings of the unit owners; what percentage of the unit owners, if other than a majority, shall constitute a quorum;

(3) Election of a president from among the board of managers, who shall preside over the meetings of the board of managers and of the unit owners;

(4) Election of a secretary, who shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the board of managers and of the unit owners and who shall, in general, perform all the duties incident to the office of secretary;

(5) Election of a treasurer, who shall keep the financial records and books of account;

(6) Maintenance, repair and replacement of the common elements and payments therefor, including the method of approving payment vouchers;

(7) Method of estimating the amount of the annual budget, and the manner of assessing and collecting from the unit owners their respective shares of such estimated expenses, and of any other expenses lawfully agreed upon;

(8) That upon ten days' notice to the manager or board of managers and payment of a reasonable fee, any unit owner shall be furnished a statement of his account setting forth the amount of any unpaid assessments or other charges due and owing from such owner;

(9) Designation and removal of personnel necessary for the maintenance, repair and replacement of the common elements;

(10) Such restrictions on and requirements respecting the use and maintenance of the units and the use of the common elements, not set forth in the declaration, as are designed to prevent unreasonable interference with the use of their respective units and of the common elements by the several unit owners;

(11) Method of adopting and of amending administrative rules and regulations governing the operation and use of the common elements;

(12) The percentage of votes required to modify or amend the bylaws, but each one of the particulars set forth in this section shall always be embodied in the bylaws.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 18)

1. Whenever in sections 448.005 to 448.210, or in any declaration or bylaw executed in accordance with sections 448.005 to 448.210, the board of managers or the members thereof are authorized or directed to acquire, hold, lease, mortgage or convey any part of or interest in the property, or to acquire any lien thereon, or to acquire or receive the proceeds of any policy of insurance or other moneys, goods or chattels, with respect to the property, such actions shall be carried out in the names of the members of the board of managers and their successors in office from time to time, as trustees, on behalf of some or all of the unit owners, as the case may be. Without limiting the rights of any unit owner, actions may be brought in the names of the members of the board of managers on behalf of two or more of the unit owners, as their respective interests may appear, with respect to any cause of action relating to the common elements or more than one unit. Service of process on two or more unit owners in any action relating to the common elements or more than one unit may be made on any member of the board of managers in the manner provided by the statute.

2. Without limiting the rights of any unit owner, the board of managers shall be considered a proper party, both to sue and be sued, in any cause of action relating to the condominium. The board of managers shall annually record with the recorder of deeds of each county in which any portion of the condominium is located a statement containing the name and address of each member of the board of managers. All information contained in such statement shall be available to the general public.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 18A, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)

Whenever the state, a political subdivision, or any other corporation, agency, or authority having the power of eminent domain shall seek to acquire any of the common elements of condominium property, such authority may conduct negotiations with the board of managers as representatives of all unit owners, and the said board of managers may execute and deliver the appropriate conveyance on behalf of all owners in return for the agreed consideration. Said board of managers shall allocate such consideration, whether received through negotiation or condemnation, to the common elements or to unit owners in proportion to their respective interests. In the event negotiations shall fail, the condemning authority may join the board of managers as party defendants in lieu of naming all unit owners having an interest in the common elements, and such proceedings shall bind all unit owners; however, any unit owner having an interest in the common elements may be made a party defendant in such proceedings.

(L. 1969 H.B. 372)

The manager or board of managers, as the case may be, shall keep detailed, accurate records in chronological order of the receipts and expenditures affecting the common elements, specifying and itemizing the maintenance and repair expenses of the common elements and any other expenses incurred. Such records and the vouchers authorizing the payments shall be available for examination by the unit owners at convenient hours of week days.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 19)

It is expressly provided that the rule of property known as the rule against perpetuities and the rule of property known as the rule restricting unreasonable restraints on alienation shall not be applied to defeat any of the provisions of sections 448.005 to 448.210.

(L. 1963 p. 648 § 20, A.L. 1983 H.B. 177)