House Bill No. 6538
Public Act No. 21-169
AN ACT MAKING REVISIONS TO THE COMMON INTEREST
OWNERSHIP ACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 47-250 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
passage):
(a) The following requirements apply to unit owner meetings:
(1) An association shall hold a meeting of unit owners annually at a
time, date and place stated in or fixed in accordance with the bylaws;
(2) An association shall hold a special meeting of unit owners if its
president, a majority of the executive board, or unit owners having at
least twenty per cent, or any lower percentage specified in the bylaws,
of the votes in the association request that the secretary call the meeting.
If the association does not notify unit owners of a special meeting within
fifteen days after the requisite number or percentage of unit owners
request the secretary to do so, the requesting members may directly
notify the unit owners of the meeting. Only matters described in the
meeting notice required by subdivision (3) of this subsection may be
considered at a special meeting; House Bill No. 6538
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(3) An association shall notify unit owners of the time, date and place
of each annual and special meeting of unit owners not less than ten days
or more than sixty days before the meeting date. Notice may be by any
means described in section 47-261c. The notice of any meeting shall state
the time, date and place of the meeting and the items on the agenda,
including (A) a statement of the general nature of any proposed
amendment to the declaration or bylaws, (B) any budget changes, and
(C) any proposal to remove an officer or member of the executive board;
(4) Unit owners shall be given a reasonable opportunity at any
meeting to comment regarding any matter affecting the common
interest community or the association; and
(5) [The] Unless prohibited by the declaration or bylaws, [may allow
for] meetings of unit owners [to] may be conducted by telephonic, video
or other conferencing process if the alternative process is consistent with
subdivision (7) of subsection (b) of this section.
Sec. 2. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 47-252 of the general statutes
are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective
from passage):
(a) Unless prohibited or limited by the declaration or bylaws, unit
owners may vote (1) at a meeting in person [,] or electronically, (2) by a
proxy pursuant to subsection (c) of this section or, (3) when a vote is
conducted without a meeting, by electronic or paper ballot pursuant to
subsection (d) of this section.
(b) At [either] a meeting of unit owners conducted in person,
electronically or both in person and electronically, or in a vote
conducted without a meeting, the following requirements apply:
(1) If only one of several owners of a unit is present at a meeting of
the association or participating in the vote without a meeting, that
owner is entitled to cast all the votes allocated to that unit. If more than House Bill No. 6538
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one of the owners are present at the meeting or participating in the vote
without a meeting, the votes allocated to that unit may be cast only in
accordance with the agreement of a majority in interest of the owners,
unless the declaration expressly provides otherwise. There is majority
agreement if any one of the owners casts the votes allocated to the unit
without protest being made promptly to the person presiding over the
meeting by any of the other owners of the unit.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, unless a greater
number or fraction of the votes in the association is required by this
chapter or other law or the declaration, a majority of the votes cast is the
decision of the unit owners.
(3) Unless a greater number or fraction of the votes in the association
is required by the declaration, bylaws or certificate of incorporation of
the association, directors shall be elected by a plurality of the votes cast
by the unit owners. If the declaration, bylaws or certificate of
incorporation of the association requires any or all directors to be elected
by unit owners of a specified group or class of units, then such directors
shall be elected by a plurality of the votes cast by the unit owners of
units of such group or class of units. The provisions of this subdivision
shall not apply to directors who may be appointed by the declarant or
under subsection (g) of section 47-245.
(4) If the declaration, bylaws or certificate of incorporation of the
association provide for the election of officers by the unit owners, then
unless a greater number or fraction of the votes in the association is
required by the declaration, bylaws or certificate of incorporation of the
association, officers shall be elected by a plurality of the votes cast by
the unit owners. If the declaration, bylaws or certificate of incorporation
of the association requires any or all officers to be elected by unit owners
of a specified group or class of units, then such officers shall be elected
by a plurality of the votes cast by the unit owners of units of such group
or class of units. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to House Bill No. 6538
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directors who may be appointed by the declarant or under subsection
(g) of section 47-245.
Sec. 3. Subsection (b) of section 47-260 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
passage):
(b) [Subject] Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or
bylaws to the contrary, and subject to subsections (c) and (d) of this
section, all records retained by an association shall be available for
examination in person or electronically and for copying by a unit owner
or the owner's authorized agent:
(1) During reasonable business hours or at a mutually convenient
time and location; and
(2) Upon [five] thirty days' notice in a record reasonably identifying
the specific records of the association requested, provided the
association shall, not later than five business days following the date of
receiving such notice, provide the requesting unit owner or owner's
authorized agent with two dates on which the records may be
examined, copied, or both.
Sec. 4. Section 47-278 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) A declarant, association, unit owner or any other person subject
to this chapter may bring an action to enforce a right granted or
obligation imposed by this chapter, the declaration or the bylaws. The
court may award reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
(b) Parties to a dispute arising under this chapter, the declaration or
the bylaws may agree to resolve the dispute by any form of binding or
nonbinding alternative dispute resolution, provided: (1) A declarant
may agree with the association to do so only after the period of declarant House Bill No. 6538
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control has expired; and (2) an agreement to submit to any form of
binding alternative dispute resolution must be in a record authenticated
by the parties.
(c) (1) (A) [Except] Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration
or bylaws to the contrary, and except as otherwise provided under
subdivision (2) of this subsection, before an association brings an action
or institutes a proceeding against a unit owner other than a declarant,
the association shall schedule a hearing to be held during a regular or
special meeting of the executive board and shall send a written notice
[by certified mail, return receipt requested, and] by regular mail, to the
unit owner at least ten business days prior to the date of such hearing.
Such notice shall include a statement of the nature of the claim against
the unit owner and the date, time and place of the hearing.
(B) The unit owner shall have the right to give testimony orally or in
writing at the hearing, either personally or through a representative,
and the executive board shall consider such testimony in making a
decision whether to bring an action or institute a proceeding against
such unit owner.
(C) [The] Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws
to the contrary, the executive board shall make such decision and the
association shall send such decision in writing [by certified mail, return
receipt requested, and] by regular mail, to the unit owner, not later than
thirty days after the date on which the hearing concludes.
(2) The provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not apply
to an action brought by an association against a unit owner (A) to
prevent immediate and irreparable harm, or (B) to foreclose a lien for an
assessment attributable to a unit or fines imposed against a unit owner
pursuant to section 47-258.
(d) (1) Any unit owner other than a declarant, seeking to enforce a House Bill No. 6538
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right granted or obligation imposed by this chapter, the declaration or
the bylaws against the association or another unit owner other than a
declarant, may submit a written request to the association for a hearing
before the executive board. Such request shall include a statement of the
nature of the claim against the association or another unit owner.
(2) [Not] Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws
to the contrary, not later than thirty days after the date on which the
association receives such request, the association shall schedule a
hearing to be held during a regular or special meeting of the executive
board and shall send written notice [by certified mail, return receipt
requested, and] by regular mail, to the unit owner at least ten business
days prior to the date of such hearing. Such notice shall include the date,
time and place of the hearing. Such hearing shall be held not later than
forty-five days after the date on which the association receives such
request.
(3) [The] Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws
to the contrary, the executive board shall make a decision on the unit
owner's claim and the association shall send such decision in writing [by
certified mail, return receipt requested, and] by regular mail, to the unit
owner, not later than thirty days after the date on which the hearing
concludes.
(4) The failure of the association to comply with the provisions of this
subsection shall not affect a unit owner's right to bring an action
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.