A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) 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.
63-509: Daikyo Incorporated ( 株式会社 大京 , Kabushiki gaisha Daikyō ) is a Japanese real estate company and one of the largest builders of condominiums in the country. This article about a Japanese corporation- or company-related topic is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Condominium (living space) Residential condominiums are frequently constructed as apartment buildings, referred as well as Horizontal Property. There are also rowhouse style condominiums, in which
126-552: A search warrant . Also, in Illinois v. Rodriguez the US Supreme Court held that "a warrantless entry is valid when based upon the consent of a third party whom the police, at the time of the entry, reasonably believe to possess common authority over the premises, but who in fact does not do so." Furthermore, the court held: a person who permits others to have "joint access or control for most purposes ... assume[s]
189-574: A strata , and in Quebec , where they are referred to as syndicates of co-ownership . The townhouse complex of Brentwood Village in Edmonton , Alberta , was the first condominium development in Canada (registered in 1967). With regular condominiums, the unit owner usually owns the internal unit space and a share of the corporation; the corporation owns the exterior of the building land and common area; in
252-488: A (single family) house. However, shares are not considered as real estate but as personal property and the co-op can take possession of the apartment for a term time and evict the tenant or owner because of disturbance or unpaid maintenance fees. Finnish housing cooperatives are incorporated as (non-profit) limited-liability companies ( Finnish : asunto- osakeyhtiö , Swedish : bostadsaktiebolag ), where one share usually represents one square meter (sometimes ten) of
315-560: A building to be classified as "Flats" is four, with a requirement for having at least one elevator or lift for buildings upwards of four floors. Almost all have a separate room called the "Drawing Room", used for guest entertainment purposes. However, its use as a TV room and dining room is common. Another unique feature is the balcony or "terrace", which is standard for all flats. In the Philippines, condominiums are classified into three types: low-rise, mid-rise, and high-rise. Condos have
378-603: A common area. This could be any one of the examples listed above or it could take form of a "break room". These areas are generally centrally located and for everyone's use within the businesses involved. There can be stipulations on conduct within the common areas as well as availability of the common areas. Businesses may also have common areas within themselves. Typically the businesses with common areas will have their own rules that cater to their business type, policy, and company vision. States vary in how they tax common areas, for real estate tax purposes. It may depend on whether it
441-542: A complex of residences, such as an apartment building, and a condominium is purely legal. 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. A building developed as a condominium (and sold in individual units to different owners ) could actually be built at another location as (for example) an apartment building (the developers would retain ownership and rent individual units to different tenants ). Where
504-496: 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
567-401: 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,
630-478: A few censuses metropolitan areas according to Statistics Canada . Condominiums exist in most parts of Canada, though they are more common in larger cities. They are regulated under provincial or territorial legislation, and specific legal details vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In most parts of Canada, they are referred to as condominiums, except in British Columbia , where they are referred to as
693-410: A founding document, which may variously be called a "Master Deed", "Enabling Declaration", "Declaration of Conditions", "Conditions, Covenants, and Restrictions (CC&Rs)", "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
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#1732787971609756-765: A freehold owned by a corporation, itself owned by individual leaseholders. This provides an opportunity for them to participate in the proper management of the block. Again, the quality of management is very variable. The statute creating commonholds was motivated by a desire to eliminate some of the problems and perceived injustices, such as the commercial exploitation of lessees by freeholders as their leases began to have too little time left to satisfy lenders. Since most leasehold developments are undertaken by commercial entities, commonholds did not become widespread. There are, however, other statutes in place that give some degree of protection for leaseholders. It is, nevertheless, essential to consider proper legal advice whenever engaged in
819-513: A lower tax liability in an office condominium than in an office rented from a taxable, for-profit company. However, the frequent turnover of commercial land uses in particular can make the inflexibility of condominium arrangements problematic. In Australia, condominiums are known as " strata title schemes " or "community title schemes". The 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) showed that one in eight Canadian households lived in condominium dwellings, colloquially known as "condos", mostly located in
882-417: A non-profit corporation, in which the tenants own shares; each share carries the right and duty to lease an apartment from the cooperative. Shares can be bought and sold, but often the cooperative's rules strictly limit the price for which they may change hands. (In contrast, condominiums are traded on a free market). Because the official share prices are often lower than the market value and sellers often retain
945-442: A person's ability to challenge the reasonableness of the search only because that person voluntarily has relinquished some of his expectation of privacy by sharing access or control over his property with another person. In residence halls of colleges and universities, the common areas are those spaces in a dorm that are for the use of all the student residents. In order to paint murals, improve with fixtures , or otherwise change
1008-657: A special type of ownership title called a CCT - condominium certificate of title. Condominiums usually have amenities, like swimming pools, owned parking, a clubhouse, and a building for administration. Initially, the concept of a condominium was introduced by the Federal Law "On the Fundamentals of the Federal Housing Policy" No. 4218-1 dated December 24, 1992: "Condominium is an association of owners of residential premises in apartment buildings with
1071-499: A spoken pledge. For example, businesses may share common areas in a store that accepts vendors from multiple backgrounds. It is understood in a lease or contract that they will share space with these different vendors. With apartments, there are two different types of common areas a developer can have. One would be under contract and the other would be under lease. Apartments that rent by the unit (i.e. conventional housing) are signed for by one individual. That one individual legally decides
1134-426: Is a condo or a co-op. For example, the state of Arizona taxes "residential common areas" in housing developments with a flat tax, but common areas of condominiums and golf courses are assessed separately. Depending upon the common area type (i.e. business, residential, state-owned) there are certain precautions one must take with utilizing them. Some require leases, some require contracts, and some only require
1197-464: Is assigned to specific apartments ( Finnish : hallinnanjakosopimus , Swedish : avtal om delning av besittningen ) is usually used only with detached or semi-detached houses. A housing cooperative is a common form of home ownership in Finland. Owning shares that correspond to one apartment in a housing company is generally considered as much owning your own home as actually directly owning
1260-565: Is if a serious threat was posed. State-run universities do have the authority to prohibit use of common areas should they see fit (whether that be decorating, furnishings, or physical use). For-profit housing can only limit these things to some extent. They cannot legally control every aspect of common area use because of the aforementioned Fair Housing Laws. Common area also applies to organizations such as shopping malls and strip malls, in which multiple businesses operate. Oftentimes, business parks, malls, and other multi-company facilities will have
1323-411: Is owned jointly by the apartment owners, who execute their joint ownership through an owner's association . The expenses of maintaining the joint property are shared pro rata among the owners. Another 5% of Danish homes are in housing cooperatives (Danish andelsbolig ), which occupy a legal position intermediate between condominiums and housing associations . The entire property is legally owned by
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#17327879716091386-492: Is the "time share", although not all time shares are condominiums, and not all time shares involve actual ownership of (i.e., deeded title to) real property. Condominiums may be found in both civil law and common law legal systems as it is purely a creation of statute . Among other things, the HOA assesses unit owners for the costs of maintaining the common areas, etc. That is, the HOA decides how much each owner should pay and has
1449-464: The United States , it is "An area inside a housing development owned by all residents or by an overall management structure which charges each tenant for maintenance and upkeep." Common areas often exist in apartments , gated communities , condominiums , cooperatives , and shopping malls . In any situation where there is a tenancy in common , all the tenants in common collectively own
1512-631: The homeowner association represents an entity with rights and duties that may include contracts. The right of ownership is divided in the first article of the WoEigG into homeownership, individual freehold ownership, part ownership, and commonhold ownership. In Greece, condominiums became very popular in the 1960s. It is a building one sees everywhere in Greece, since most of its population lives in big cities. They are known as πολυκατοικίες ( polykatoikíes ), literally "multi-residences". In Hong Kong
1575-483: The US, a building's loss factor is the percentage of the building's area shared by tenants or space that are dedicated to the common areas of a building used to calculate the difference between the net (usable) and gross (billable) areas . That portion of the space is considered "lost" because it cannot be directly leased and the maintenance and operation costs must be covered by the other rentable areas. The loss factor
1638-566: The apartment. Membership in a condo is obtained by buying the shares on the open market, most often through a real estate agent. No board approval is needed to buy shares, but in some cases other stockholders or the housing cooperative itself has the right to claim the stocks being sold. There is usually no requirement for the owner(s) to live in the condo. Owning apartments for rent is a common form of saving and private investment in Finland. In Germany, condominiums are known as Eigentumswohnungen ( lit. ' ownership dwellings ' ) and
1701-426: 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
1764-409: The case of a freehold condominium the owner owns the land and building and the corporation owns common shared roadways and amenities. The Canadian Condominium Institute is a non-profit association of condominium owners and corporations with chapters in each province and territory. The Condo Owners Association COA Ontario is a non-profit association representing condominium owners with divisions across
1827-468: The common area, permission may have to be obtained from the director of residential life. Legally, there is nothing that a tenant can do if they do not approve of their common area furnishings, decorations, etc. unless it interferes directly with a disability. Anything pertaining to religion or beliefs are all covered under the Fair Housing Law. The only way to control common areas in this regard
1890-540: The common areas, meaning that any one individual owner does not possess more control over the land than any other owner. This differs from a commons or common land , as used in English law, which is owned by one person, but which may be used by a group of persons. Examples of common areas include: In Maryland v. Garrison , the US Supreme Court found that police may enter a common area when executing
1953-567: The condominium ( "Condominio" ) is governed by law, last reformed in 2012. Co-ownership of the common parts of the buildings (such as the stairs, main walls, facades, roof, and courtyards) is mandatory: a landlord can not give up the right to common parts for not paying the costs. Each owner's quota in the condominium is expressed in thousandths ( "millesimi" ) of the whole; these are used to determine majorities in owners' assemblies ( "assemblee condominiali" ). See housing cooperative under owners association . Condominiums (Norwegian Eierseksjon )
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2016-449: 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 (such as a rental cap for the total number of units in a community that can be leased at one time) or otherwise as permitted by local law. A homeowners association (HOA), whose members are
2079-633: The equivalent legal structures of a condominium is commonhold , a form of ownership introduced in September 2004. As of 3 June 2009, there were 12 commonhold residential developments comprising 97 units in England and one commonhold residential development, comprising 30 units, in Wales. "Condominium" is not a term that is widely used in England and Wales. Commonhold is a creature of statute and comparatively rare, and condominiums are more likely to be found in
2142-411: The equivalent to a condominium is a "multi-owner building" or "building in multiple ownership". These are sometimes part of a private housing estate comprising multiple buildings but often consist of a single building owned in common. The relationships among the parties, including rights of exclusive occupation of flats and parking spaces, are defined by the deed of mutual covenant ("DMC", analogous to
2205-465: The establishment of conditions for joint ownership and use of inter-apartment stairs, elevators, corridors, roofs, technical basements, non-apartment engineering equipment, adjacent territory, and other common areas. In Singapore and Malaysia , "Condo" or "Condominium" are terms used for housing buildings with some special luxury features like security guards, swimming pools, or tennis courts. In Singapore, most houses without such features are built by
2268-481: The expenditure of money to perform. This did not create a significant problem until the 1950s when flats (where ownership is divided horizontally) first began to appear on the market as more affordable, particularly for first-time buyers. Until then flats had been confined to short-term unsaleable tenancies, with varying degrees of statutory rent protection and security of tenure. It was soon learned that freehold flats were an unsatisfactory form of ownership because it
2331-526: 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
2394-404: The exteriors of the dwellings or yards, and "site condominiums", where the owner has more control and possibly ownership (as in a "whole lot" or "lot line" condominium) over the exterior appearance. These structures are preferred by some planned neighborhoods and gated communities . The description of the condominium units and the common areas and any restrictions on their use are established in
2457-524: The form of leaseholds because of long-standing legal differences between leasehold and freehold tenure. By virtue of the landmark case of Tulk v Moxhay , in English law only restrictive covenants can be enforced against freehold land. This means it is not possible to enforce a positive covenant on successive owners of freehold land, other than to maintain a boundary fence, without creating an elaborate trust. A positive covenant is, broadly, one that involves
2520-436: The freedom to select whom to sell to, under-the-table payments are common. Current public policy favors condominiums over housing cooperatives, and recent legislation has aimed at making the latter more condominium-like. For example, since 2005, cooperative shares may be used to secure bank loans. (However, Danish mortgage banks still may not mortgage individual housing cooperative apartments.) In England and Wales , one of
2583-552: The governmental Housing Development Board (HDB), and such HDB units can be possessed for rent or individually bought from the government. Condominiums and HDB flats make up the overwhelming majority of available residential housing in the country. Common area A common area is, in real estate or real property law , the "area which is available for use by more than one person..." The common areas are those that are available for common use by all tenants, (or) groups of tenants and their invitees. In Texas and other parts of
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2646-401: 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. Unlike apartments, which are leased by their tenants , in most systems condominium units are owned outright, and the owners of the individual units also collectively own the common areas of
2709-547: 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
2772-416: The legal power to collect that. Condominium ownership is also used, albeit less frequently, for non-residential land uses: offices, hotel rooms, retail shops, private airports, marinas, group housing facilities (retirement homes or dormitories), bare land (in British Columbia ) and storage . The legal structure is the same, and many of the benefits are similar; for instance, a nonprofit corporation may face
2835-605: The master deed described above) and the Building Management Ordinance Cap. 344. Condominiums are a very common form of real estate ownership in contemporary Hungary, as most state- or municipality-owned apartments were privatized following the end of socialism in Hungary in 1989. Historically, condominiums ( Hungarian : társasház ) were formalized as a legal ownership structure as early as 1924. Condominiums in Hungary are traded and mortgaged on
2898-485: The most important law considering condominiums is the Wohnungseigentumsgesetz (abbreviated WoEigG). It is the basis for all legal regulations involving individual freehold ownership, the rights, and duties of homeowner associations, and the management of condominiums. The WoEigG dates back to 1951, but it was re-enacted in 2007. Now, homeowners are invested with partial legal capacity, which means that
2961-535: 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 (perhaps collected monthly), pet restrictions, and color/design choices visible from
3024-539: The other being a Co-operative Housing Society (CHS) or Co-operative Group Housing Society (CGHS), which needs to be registered with the municipal authorities. Iranian government has begun supporting villas and opposing apartment building concerned by people's manner. In Israel, condominiums (known "בתים משותפים" , "shared houses" or "cooperative houses") are a common form of home ownership. Public housing has historically been organized as subsidized purchases and mortgages in government-constructed condominiums. In Italy,
3087-792: The owners themselves; in the 21st century, however, the owners' convention typically hires a professional building manager who does not personally live in the building. Decisions that involve changes to the terms and conditions, or larger common expenses, still need to be approved by the convention, however. Voting power is based on the percentage of property owned. In India, condominiums are known as "Apartments" or "Apartment Buildings/Complexes" or "Societies" or "Flats". Each building consists of multiple floors and flats/living units with different configurations. The most common configurations are "1-BHK", "2-BHK" and "3-BHK" (BHK stands for bedroom-hall-kitchen). The association of homeowners has many names - two common names are Resident Welfare Association (RWA) and
3150-733: The owners through their association, such as a homeowner association or its equivalent. 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 . 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 (the Latin plural of condominium ) originally referred to territories over which two or more sovereign powers shared joint sovereignty. This technique
3213-552: The property, such as 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
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#17327879716093276-412: The province and districts within the various municipalities. Apartments (Danish ejerlejlighed , literally "owner-apartment") comprise some 5% of Danish homes. They are traded and mortgaged on the same markets as freestanding houses, and are treated legally much like other forms of real estate. Each owner-tenant directly owns their own apartment; the rest of the building and the ground on which it stands
3339-481: The provisions to create enforceable positive covenants in freehold blocks of flats were occasionally mooted but never gained currency. On 21 July 2020 the UK Law Commission reported on the existing difficulties and made proposals to improve the law and encourage the acceptance of commonhold as the preferred form of tenure. In Finland, a condominium-like arrangement where the ownership of the real estate
3402-413: The purchase of a flat, for the requirements for a fully marketable flat remain complex. The Law of Property Act 1925 , s. 153, contains provisions for the "enlargement" of leases into freeholds, one of the effects of which is to preserve the enforceability of positive covenants contained in the lease against the resulting freehold. There are clear, but stringent, requirements. Artificial schemes using
3465-469: The risk that [such persons] might permit the common area to be searched." 415 U.S., at 171, n. 7; see also Frazier v. Cupp , 394 U.S. 731, 740 (1969) (holding that defendant who left a duffel bag at another's house and allowed joint use of the bag "assumed the risk that [the person] would allow someone else to look inside"). As the Court's assumption-of-risk analysis makes clear, third-party consent limits
3528-401: The same market as any free-standing single-family home ( Hungarian : kertesház ; "garden-house"), and are treated much like other forms of real estate. The condominium acts as a non-profit legal entity maintaining the common areas of the property, and is managed by a representative ( Hungarian : közös képviselő ) elected by the owners' convention. Historically, this representative was one of
3591-427: The security of flats unless certain basic provisions were included. This benefited owners whether or not they borrowed money since the purchase was invariably conducted through a solicitor or licensed conveyancer trained to reject leases failing to meet the necessary standards. Despite these standards, the actual form of leasehold systems is variable. Highly favoured are arrangements where the leases are granted out of
3654-399: The unit owners, manages the condominium through a board of directors elected by the membership. This exists under various names depending on the jurisdiction, such as "unit title", "sectional title", " commonhold ", "strata council", or " tenant-owner's association ", "body corporate", "Owners Corporation", "condominium corporation" or "condominium association". Another variation of this concept
3717-413: The units open directly to the outside and are not stacked. Alternatively, detached condominiums look like single-family homes , but the yards (gardens), building exteriors, and streets, as well as any recreational facilities (such as a pool, bowling alley, tennis courts, and golf course), are jointly owned and maintained by a community association . Many shopping malls are commercial condominiums in which
3780-644: The use of the common area should they ever gain a roommate in the future. If an apartment complex leases by the bedroom, there is a clause or paragraph detailing how the space is to be used equally between all lease holders. Lastly, there are state-owned and mandated common areas. Forts and bases, government run facilities, and even jails have common areas. There is no agreement in a lease stating how those areas should be used. There are different kinds of common areas and all of them have different rules and stipulations. They all have different legal proceedings should something happen in those areas. In commercial real estate in
3843-506: Was formally introduced in 1983. Approximately 19% of Norwegian homes are condominiums, as approximately 50% of the owner-occupied flats and duplexes, approximately 30% of the rowhouses, and 2.5% of the detached houses are organized as condominiums. The title "Condominiums" is not used in Pakistan rather they are called "Flats" for average-style buildings while "Complexes" for sophisticated and larger buildings. The minimum number of floors for
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#17327879716093906-517: 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. The distinction between
3969-487: Was not possible to impose essential maintenance requirements. As such, flats became virtually unmarketable because they were an unacceptable form of security to lenders. Thus solicitors, the principal property lawyers in England and Wales in those days, began to use leases instead, where such limitations did not apply. Progress was haphazard and piecemeal, but over time things became more standard. Improvements became universal as institutional lenders refused to advance money on
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