ARTICLE 3. MANAGEMENT OF THE COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITY.

§36B-3-101. Organization of unit owners' association.

A unit owners' association must be organized no later than the date the first unit in the common interest community is conveyed. The membership of the association at all times consists exclusively of all unit owners or, following termination of the common interest community, of all former unit owners entitled to distributions of proceeds under section 2-118 or their heirs, successors, or assigns. The association must be organized as a profit or nonprofit corporation, trust, partnership, or as an unincorporated association.

§36B-3-102. Powers of unit owners' association.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), and subject to the provisions of the declaration, the association, even if unincorporated, may:

(1) Adopt and amend bylaws and rules and regulations;

(2) Adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves and collect assessments for common expenses from unit owners;

(3) Hire and discharge managing agents and other employees, agents, and independent contractors;

(4) Institute, defend, or intervene in litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or two or more unit owners on matters affecting the common interest community;

(5) Make contracts and incur liabilities;

(6) Regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement, and modification of common elements;

(7) Cause additional improvements to be made as a part of the common elements;

(8) Acquire, hold, encumber, and convey in its own name any right, title, or interest to real estate or personal property, but (i) common elements in a condominium or planned community may be conveyed or subjected to a security interest only pursuant to section one hundred twelve of this article and (ii) part of a cooperative may be conveyed, or all or part of a cooperative may be subjected to a security interest, only pursuant to section one hundred twelve of this article;

(9) Grant easements, leases, licenses, and concessions through or over the common elements;

(10) Impose and receive any payments, fees, or charges for the use, rental, or operation of the common elements, other than limited common elements described in subsections (1) and (4), section one hundred two, article two of this chapter, and for services provided to unit owners;

(11) Impose charges for late payment of assessments and, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, rules, and regulations of the association;

(12) Impose reasonable charges for the preparation and recordation of amendments to the declaration, resale certificates required by section one hundred nine, article four of this chapter, or statements of unpaid assessments;

(13) Provide for the indemnification of its officers and executive board and maintain directors' and officers' liability insurance;

(14) Assign its right to future income, including the right to receive common expense assessments, but only to the extent the declaration expressly so provides;

(15) Exercise any other powers conferred by the declaration or bylaws;

(16) Exercise all other powers that may be exercised in this state by legal entities of the same type as the association;

(17) Institute litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name against a unit owner for the collection of dues or assessments that are overdue or in arrears; and

(18) Exercise any other powers necessary and proper for the governance and operation of the association.

(b) The declaration may not impose limitations on the power of the association to deal with the declarant which are more restrictive than the limitations imposed on the power of the association to deal with other persons.

§36B-3-103. Executive board members and officers.

(a) Except as provided in the declaration, the bylaws, subsection (b), or other provisions of this chapter, the executive board may act in all instances on behalf of the association. In the performance of their duties, the officers and members of the executive board are required to exercise (i) if appointed by the declarant, the care required of fiduciaries of the unit owners and (ii) if elected by the unit owners, ordinary and reasonable care.

(b) The executive board may not act on behalf of the association to amend the declaration (section 2-117), to terminate the common interest community (section 2-118) or to elect members of the executive board or determine the qualifications, powers and duties, or terms of office of executive board members (section 3-103(f)), but the executive board may fill vacancies in its membership for the unexpired portion of any term.

(c) Within thirty days after adoption of any proposed budget for the common interest community, the executive board shall provide a summary of the budget to all the unit owners, and shall set a date for a meeting of the unit owners to consider ratification of the budget not less than fourteen nor more than thirty days after mailing of the summary. Unless at that meeting a majority of all unit owners or any larger vote specified in the declaration reject the budget, the budget is ratified, whether or not a quorum is present. In the event the proposed budget is rejected, the periodic budget last ratified by the unit owners must be continued until such time as the unit owners ratify a subsequent budget proposed by the executive board.

(d) Subject to subsection (e), the declaration may provide for a period of declarant control of the association, during which a declarant, or persons designated by him may appoint and remove the officers and members of the executive board. Regardless of the period provided in the declaration, a period of declarant control terminates no later than the earlier of: (i) Sixty days after conveyance of seventy-five percent of the units that may be created to unit owners other than a declarant; (ii) two years after all declarants have ceased to offer units for sale in the ordinary course of business; or (iii) two years after any right to add new units was last exercised. A declarant may voluntarily surrender the right to appoint and remove officers and members of the executive board before termination of that period, but in that event the declarant may require, for the duration of the period of declarant control, that specified actions of the association or executive board, as described in a recorded instrument executed by the declarant, be approved by the declarant before they become effective.

(e) Not later than sixty days after conveyance of twenty-five percent of the units that may be created to unit owners other than a declarant, at least one member and not less than twenty-five percent of the members of the executive board must be elected by unit owners other than the declarant. Not later than sixty days after conveyance of fifty percent of the units that may be created to unit owners other than a declarant, not less than thirty-three and one-third percent of the members of the executive board must be elected by unit owners other than the declarant.

(f) Except as otherwise provided in section 2-120(e), not later than the termination of any period of declarant control, the unit owners shall elect an executive board of at least three members, at least a majority of whom must be unit owners. The executive board shall elect the officers. The executive board members and officers shall take office upon election.

(g) Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws to the contrary, the unit owners, by a two-thirds vote of all persons present and entitled to vote at any meeting of the unit owners at which a quorum is present, may remove any member of the executive board with or without cause, other than a member appointed by the declarant.

§36B-3-104. Transfer of special declarant rights.

(a) A special declarant right (section 1-103(29)) created or reserved under this chapter may be transferred only by an instrument evidencing the transfer recorded in every county in which any portion of the common interest community is located. The instrument is not effective unless executed by the transferee.

(b) Upon transfer of any special declarant right, the liability of a transfer or declarant is as follows:

(1) A transferor is not relieved of any obligation or liability arising before the transfer and remains liable for warranty obligations imposed upon him by this chapter. Lack of privity does not deprive any unit owner of standing to maintain an action to enforce any obligation of the transferor.

(2) If a successor to any special declarant right is an affiliate of a declarant (section 1-103(1)), the transferor is jointly and severally liable with the successor for any obligations or liabilities of the successor relating to the common interest community.

(3) If a transferor retains any special declarant rights, but transfers other special declarant rights to a successor who is not an affiliate of the declarant, the transferor is liable for any obligations or liabilities imposed on a declarant by this chapter or by the declaration relating to the retained special declarant rights and arising after the transfer.

(4) A transferor has no liability for any act or omission or any breach of a contractual or warranty obligation arising from the exercise of a special declarant right by a successor declarant who is not an affiliate of the transferor.

(c) Unless otherwise provided in a mortgage instrument, deed of trust, or other agreement creating a security interest, in case of foreclosure of a security interest, sale by a trustee under an agreement creating a security interest, tax sale, judicial sale, or sale under Bankruptcy Code or receivership proceedings, of any units owned by a declarant or real estate in a common interest community subject to development rights, a person acquiring title to all the property being foreclosed or sold, but only upon his request, succeeds to all special declarant rights related to that property held by that declarant, or only to any rights reserved in the declaration pursuant to section 2-115 and held by that declarant to maintain models, sales offices, and signs. The judgment or instrument conveying title must provide for transfer of only the special declarant rights requested.

(d) Upon foreclosure of a security interest, sale by a trustee under an agreement creating a security interest, tax sale, judicial sale, or sale under bankruptcy code or receivership proceedings, of all interests in a common interest community owned by a declarant:

(1) The declarant ceases to have any special declarant rights, and

(2) The period of declarant control (section 3-103(d)) terminates unless the judgment or instrument conveying title provides for transfer of all special declarant rights held by that declarant to a successor declarant.

(e) The liabilities and obligations of a person who succeeds to special declarant rights are as follows:

(1) A successor to any special declarant right who is an affiliate of a declarant is subject to all obligations and liabilities imposed on the transferor by this chapter or by the declaration.

(2) A successor to any special declarant right, other than a successor described in paragraphs (3) or (4) of a successor who is an affiliate of a declarant, is subject to the obligations and liabilities imposed by this chapter or the declaration:

(i) On a declarant which relates to the successor's exercise or nonexercise of special declarant rights; or

(ii) On his transferor, other than:

(A) Misrepresentation by any previous declarant;

(B) Warranty obligations on improvements made by any previous declarant, or made before the common interest community was created;

(C) Breach of any fiduciary obligation by any previous declarant or his appointees to the executive board; or

(D) Any liability or obligation imposed on the transferor as a result of the transferor's acts or omissions after the transfer.

(3) A successor to only a right reserved in the declaration to maintain models, sales offices, and signs (section 2-115), may not exercise any other special declarant right, and is not subject to any liability or obligation as a declarant, except the obligation to provide a public offering statement and any liability arising as a result thereof.

(4) A successor to all special declarant rights held by a transferor who succeeded to those rights pursuant to a deed or other instrument of conveyance in lieu of foreclosure or a judgment or instrument conveying title under subsection (c), may declare in a recorded instrument the intention to hold those rights solely for transfer to another person. Thereafter, until transferring all special declarant rights to any person acquiring title to any unit or real estate subject to development rights owned by the successor, or until recording an instrument permitting exercise of all those rights, that successor may not exercise any of those rights other than any right held by his transferor to control the executive board in accordance with section 3-103(d) for the duration of any period of declarant control, and any attempted exercise of those rights is void. So long as a successor declarant may not exercise special declarant rights under this subsection, the successor declarant is not subject to any liability or obligation as a declarant other than liability for his acts and omissions under section 3-103(d).

(f) Nothing in this section subjects any successor to a special declarant right to any claims against or other obligations of a transferor declarant other than claims and obligations arising under this chapter or the declaration.

§36B-3-105. Termination of contracts and leases of declarant.

If entered into before the executive board elected by the unit owners pursuant to section 3-103(f) takes office: (i) Any management contract, employment contract, or lease of recreational or parking areas or facilities; (ii) any other contract or lease between the association and a declarant or an affiliate of a declarant; or (iii) any contract or lease that is not bona fide or was unconscionable to the unit owners at the time entered into under the circumstances then prevailing, may be terminated without penalty by the association at any time after the executive board elected by the unit owners pursuant to section 3- 103(f) takes office upon not less than ninety days' notice to the other party. This section does not apply to: (i) Any lease the termination of which would terminate the common interest community or reduce its size, unless the real estate subject to that lease was included in the common interest community for the purpose of avoiding the right of the association to terminate a lease under this section; or (ii) a proprietary lease.

§36B-3-106. Bylaws.

(a) The bylaws of the association must provide:

(1) The number of members of the executive board and the titles of the officers of the association;

(2) Election by the executive board of president, treasurer, secretary, and any other officers of the association the bylaws specify;

(3) The qualifications, powers and duties, terms of office, and manner of electing and removing executive board members and officers and filling vacancies;

(4) Which, if any, of its powers the executive board or officers may delegate to other persons or to a managing agent;

(5) Which of its officers may prepare, execute, certify, and record amendments to the declaration on behalf of the association; and

(6) A method for amending the bylaws.

(b) Subject to the provisions of the declaration, the bylaws may provide for any other matters the association deems necessary and appropriate.

§36B-3-107. Upkeep of common interest community.

(a) Except to the extent provided by the declaration, subsection (b), or section 3-113(h), the association is responsible for maintenance, repair, and replacement of the common elements, and each unit owner is responsible for maintenance, repair, and replacement of his unit. Each unit owner shall afford to the association and the other unit owners, and to their agents or employees, access through his unit reasonably necessary for those purposes. If damage is inflicted on the common elements or on any unit through which access is taken, the unit power responsible for the damage, or the association if it is responsible, is liable for the prompt repair thereof.

(b) In addition to the liability that a declarant as a unit owner has under this chapter, the declarant alone is liable for all expenses in connection with real estate subject to the development rights. No other unit owner and no other portion of the common interest community is subject to a claim for payment of those expenses. Unless the declaration provides otherwise, any income or proceeds from real estate subject to development rights inures to the declarant.

(c) In a planned community, if all development rights have expired with respect to any real estate, the declarant remains liable for all expenses of that real estate unless, upon expiration, the declaration provides that the real estate becomes common elements or units.

§36B-3-108. Meetings.

A meeting of the association must be held at least once each year. Special meetings of the association may be called by the president, a majority of the executive board, or by unit owners having twenty percent, or any lower percentage specified in the bylaws, of the votes in the association. Not less than ten nor more than sixty days in advance of any meeting, the secretary or other officer specified in the bylaws shall cause notice to be hand-delivered or sent prepaid by United States mail to the mailing address of each unit or to any other mailing address designated in writing by the unit owner. The notice of any meeting must state the time and place of the meeting and the items on the agenda, including the general nature of any proposed amendment to the declaration or bylaws, any budget changes, and any proposal to remove an officer or member of the executive board.

§36B-3-109. Quorums.

(a) Unless the bylaws provide otherwise, a quorum is present throughout any meeting of the association if persons entitled to cast twenty percent of the votes that may be cast for election of the executive board are present in person or by proxy at the beginning of the meeting.

(b) Unless the bylaws specify a larger percentage, a quorum is deemed present throughout any meeting of the executive board if persons entitled to cast fifty percent of the votes on that board are present at the beginning of the meeting.

§36B-3-110. Voting; proxies.

(a) If only one of several owners of a unit is present at a meeting of the association, that owner is entitled to cast all the votes allocated to that unit. If more than one of the owners are present, 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 that unit without protest being made promptly to the person presiding over the meeting by any of the other owners of the unit.

(b) Votes allocated to a unit may be cast pursuant to a proxy duly executed by a unit owner. If a unit is owned by more than one person, each owner of the unit may vote or register protest to the casting of votes by the other owners of the unit through a duly executed proxy. A unit owner may revoke a proxy given pursuant to this section only by actual notice of revocation to the person presiding over a meeting of the association. A proxy is void if it is not dated or purports to be revocable without notice. A proxy terminates one year after its date, unless it specifies a shorter term.

(c) If the declaration requires that votes on specified matters affecting the common interest community be cast by lessees rather than unit owners of leased units: (i) The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) apply to lessees as if they were unit owners; (ii) unit owners who have leased their units to other persons may not cast votes on those specified matters; and (iii) lessees are entitled to notice of meetings, access to records, and other rights respecting these matters as if they were unit owners. Unit owners must also be given notice, in the manner provided in section 3-108, of all meetings at which lessees are entitled to vote.

(d) No votes allocated to a unit owned by the association may be cast.

§36B-3-111. Tort and contract liability.

Neither the association nor any unit owner except the declarant is liable for that declarant's torts in connection with any part of the common interest community which that declarant has the responsibility to maintain. Otherwise, an action alleging a wrong done by the association must be brought against the association and not against any unit owner. If the wrong occurred during any period of declarant control and the association gives the declarant reasonable notice of and an opportunity to defend against the action, the declarant who then controlled the association is liable to the association or to any unit owner for: (i) All tort losses not covered by insurance suffered by the association or that unit owner; and (ii) all costs that the association would not have incurred but for a breach of contract or other wrongful act or omission. Whenever the declarant is liable to the association under this section, the declarant is also liable for all expenses of litigation, including reasonable attorney's fees, incurred by the association. Any statute of limitation affecting the association's right of action under this section is tolled until the period of declarant control terminates. A unit owner is not precluded from maintaining an action contemplated by this section because he is a unit owner or a member or officer of the association. Liens resulting from judgments against the association are governed by section 3- 117 (Other Liens).

§36B-3-112. Conveyance or encumbrance of common elements.

(a) In a condominium or planned community, portions of the common elements may be conveyed or subjected to a security interest by the association if persons entitled to cast at least eighty percent of the votes in the association, including eighty percent of the votes allocated to units not owned by a declarant, or any larger percentage the declaration specifies, agree to that action; but all owners of units to which any limited common element is allocated must agree in order to convey that limited common element or subject it to a security interest. The declaration may specify a smaller percentage only if all of the units are restricted exclusively to nonresidential uses. Proceeds of the sale are an asset of the association.

(b) Part of a cooperative may be conveyed and all or part of a cooperative may be subjected to a security interest by the association if persons entitled to cast at least eighty percent of the votes in the association, including eighty percent of the votes allocated to units not owned by a declarant, or any larger percentage the declaration specified, agree to that action; but, if fewer than all of the units or limited common elements are to be conveyed or subjected to a security interest, then all unit owners of those units, or the units to which those limited common elements are allocated, must agree in order to convey those units or limited common elements or subject them to a security interest. The declaration may specify a smaller percentage only if all of the units are restricted exclusively to nonresidential uses. Proceeds of the sale are an asset of the association. Any purported conveyance or other voluntary transfer of an entire cooperative, unless made pursuant to section 2-118, is void.

(c) An agreement to convey common elements in a condominium or planned community, or to subject them to a security interest, or in a cooperative, an agreement to convey any part of a cooperative or subject it to a security interest, must be evidenced by the execution of an agreement, or ratifications thereof, in the same manner as a deed, by the requisite number of unit owners. The agreement must specify a date after which the agreement will be void unless recorded before that date. The agreement and all ratifications thereof must be recorded in every county in which a portion of the common interest community is situated, and is effective only upon recordation.

(d) The association, on behalf of the unit owners, may contract to convey an interest in a common interest community pursuant to subsection (a), but the contract is not enforceable against the association until approved pursuant to subsections (a), (b), and (c). Thereafter, the association has all powers necessary and appropriate to effect the conveyance or encumbrance, including the power to execute deeds or other instruments.

(e) Unless made pursuant to this section, any purported conveyance, encumbrance, judicial sale, or other voluntary transfer of common elements or of any other part of a cooperative is void.

(f) A conveyance or encumbrance of common elements or of a cooperative pursuant to this section does not deprive any unit of its rights of access and support.

(g) Unless the declaration otherwise provides, a conveyance or encumbrance of common elements pursuant to this section does not affect the priority or validity of preexisting encumbrances.

(h) In a cooperative, the association may acquire, hold, encumber, or convey a proprietary lease without complying with this section.

§36B-3-113. Insurance.

(a) Commencing not later than the time of the first conveyance of a unit to a person other than a declarant, the association shall maintain, to the extent reasonably available:

(1) Property insurance on the common elements and, in a planned community, also on property that must become common elements, insuring against all risks of direct physical loss commonly insured against or, in the case of a conversion building, against fire and extended coverage perils. The total amount of insurance after application of any deductibles must be not less than eighty percent of the actual cash value of the insured property at the time the insurance is purchased and at each renewal date, exclusive of land, excavations, foundations, and other items normally excluded from property policies; and

(2) Liability insurance, including medical payments insurance, in an amount determined by the executive board but not less than any amount specified in the declaration, covering all occurrences commonly insured against for death, bodily injury, and property damage arising out of or in connection with the use, ownership, or maintenance of the common elements and, in cooperatives, also of all units.

(b) In the case of a building that is part of a cooperative or that contains units having horizontal boundaries described in the declaration, the insurance maintained under subsection (a)(1), to the extent reasonably available, must include the units, but need not include improvements and betterments installed by unit owners.

(c) If the insurance described in subsections (a) and (b) is not reasonably available, the association promptly shall cause notice of that fact to be hand delivered or sent prepaid by United States mail to all unit owners. The declaration may require the association to carry any other insurance, and the association in any event may carry any other insurance it considers appropriate to protect the association or the unit owners.

(d) Insurance policies carried pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) must provide that:

(1) Each unit owner is an insured person under the policy with respect to liability arising out of his interest in the common elements or membership in the association;

(2) The insurer waives its right to subrogation under the policy against any unit owner or member of his household;

(3) No act or omission by any unit owner, unless acting within the scope of his authority on behalf of the association, will void the policy or be a condition to recovery under the policy; and

(4) If, at the time of a loss under the policy, there is other insurance in the name of a unit owner covering the same risk covered by the policy, the association's policy provides primary insurance.

(e) Any loss covered by the property policy under subsections (a)(1) and (b) must be adjusted with the association, but the insurance proceeds for that loss are payable to any insurance trustee designated for that purpose, or otherwise to the association, and not to any holder of a security interest. The insurance trustee or the association shall hold any insurance proceeds in trust for the association, unit owners, and lien holders as their interests may appear. Subject to the provisions of subsection (h), the proceeds must be disbursed first for the repair or restoration of the damaged property, and the association, unit owners, and lien holders are not entitled to receive payment of any portion of the proceeds unless there is a surplus of proceeds after the property has been completely repaired or restored, or the common interest community is terminated.

(f) An insurance policy issued to the association does not prevent a unit owner from obtaining insurance for his own benefit.

(g) An insurer that has issued an insurance policy under this section shall issue certificates or memoranda of insurance to the association and, upon written request, to any unit owner or holder of a security interest. The insurer issuing the policy may not cancel or refuse to renew it until thirty days after notice of the proposed cancellation or nonrenewal has been mailed to the association, each unit owner and each holder of a security interest to whom a certificate or memorandum of insurance has been issued at their respective last known addresses.

(h) Any portion of the common interest community for which insurance is required under this section which is damaged or destroyed must be repaired or replaced promptly by the association unless (i) the common interest community is terminated, in which case section 2-118 applies (ii) repair or replacement would be illegal under any state or local statute or ordinance governing health or safety, or (iii) eighty percent of the unit owners, including every owner of a unit or assigned limited common element that will not be rebuilt, vote not to rebuild. The cost of repair or replacement in excess of insurance proceeds and reserves is a common expense. If the entire common interest community is not repaired or replaced, (i) the insurance proceeds attributable to the damaged common elements must be used to restore the damaged area to a condition compatible with the remainder of the common interest community, and (ii) except to the extent that other persons will be distributees (section 2-105(a)(12(ii)), (A) the insurance proceeds attributable to units limited common elements that are not rebuilt must be distributed to the owners of those units and the owners of the units to which those limited common elements were allocated, or to lien holders, as their interests may appear, and (B) the remainder of the proceeds must be distributed to all the unit owners or lien holders, as their interests may appear, as follows: (1) In a condominium, in proportion to the common element interests of all the units and (2) in a cooperative or planned community, in proportion to the common expense liabilities of all the units. If the unit owners vote not to rebuild any unit, that unit's allocated interests are automatically reallocated upon the vote as if the unit had been condemned under section 1-107(a), and the association promptly shall prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration reflecting the reallocations.

(i) The provisions of this section may be varied or waived in the case of a common interest community all of whose units are restricted to nonresidential use.

§36B-3-114. Surplus funds.

Unless otherwise provided in the declaration, any surplus funds of the association remaining after payment of or provision for common expenses and any prepayment of reserves must be paid to the unit owners in proportion to their common expense liabilities or credited to them to reduce their future common expense assessments.

§36B-3-115. Assessments for common expenses.

(a) Until the association makes a common expense assessment, the declarant shall pay all common expenses. After an assessment has been made by the association, assessments must be made at least annually, based on a budget adopted at least annually by the association.

(b) Except for assessments under subsections (c), (d) and (e), all common expenses must be assessed against all the units in accordance with the allocations set forth in the declaration pursuant to section 2-107(a) and (b). Any past due common expense assessment or installment thereof bears interest at the rate established by the association not exceeding eighteen percent per year.

(c) To the extent required by the declaration:

(1) Any common expense associated with the maintenance, repair or replacement of a limited common element must be assessed against the units to which that limited common element is assigned, equally, or in any other proportion the declaration provides;

(2) Any common expense or portion thereof benefiting fewer than all of the units must be assessed exclusively against the units benefited; and

(3) The costs of insurance must be assessed in proportion to risk and the costs of utilities must be assessed in proportion to usage.

(d) Assessments to pay a judgment against the association (section 3-117(a)) may be made only against the units in the common interest community at the time the judgment was entered, in proportion to their common expense liabilities.

(e) If any common expense is caused by the misconduct of any unit owner, the association may assess that expense exclusively against his unit.

(f) If common expense liabilities are reallocated, common expense assessments and any installment thereof not yet due must be recalculated in accordance with the reallocated common expense liabilities.

§36B-3-116. Lien for assessments.

(a) The association has a lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit or fines imposed against its unit owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due. Unless the declaration otherwise provides, fees, charges, late charges, fines and interest charged pursuant to section 3- 102(a)(10), (11) and (12) are enforceable as assessments under this section. If an assessment is payable in installments, the full amount of the assessment is a lien from the time the first installment thereof becomes due.

(b) A lien under this section is prior to all other liens and encumbrances on a unit except (i) liens and encumbrances recorded before the recordation of the declaration and, in a cooperative, liens and encumbrances which the association creates, assumes, or takes subject to, (ii) a first security interest on the unit recorded before the date on which the assessment sought to be enforced became delinquent, or, in a cooperative, the first security interest encumbering only the unit owner's interest and perfected before the date on which the assessment sought to be enforced became delinquent, and (iii) liens for real estate taxes and other governmental assessments or charges against the unit or cooperative. The lien is also prior to all security interests described in clause (ii) above to the extent of the common expense assessments based on the periodic budget adopted by the association pursuant to section 3-115(a) which would have become due in the absence of acceleration during the six months immediately preceding institution of an action to enforce the lien. This subsection does not affect the priority of mechanics' or materialmen's liens, or the priority of liens for other assessments made by the association. (The lien under this section is not subject to the provisions of (insert appropriate reference to state homestead, dower and curtesy, or other exemptions).)

(c) Unless the declaration otherwise provides, if two or more associations have liens for assessments created at any time on the same property, those liens have equal priority.

(d) A lien for unpaid assessments is extinguished unless proceedings to enforce the lien are instituted within three years after the full amount of the assessments becomes due.

(e) This section does not prohibit actions to recover sums for which subsection (a) creates a lien or prohibit an association from taking a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

(f) A judgment or decree in any action brought under this section must include costs and reasonable attorney's fees for the prevailing party.

(g) The association upon written request shall furnish to a unit owner a statement setting forth the amount of unpaid assessments against the unit. If the unit owner's interest is real estate, the statement must be in recordable form. The statement must be furnished within ten business days after receipt of the request and is binding on the association, the executive board, and every unit owner.

(h) For the purpose of perfecting and preserving its lien, the association shall give notice to the unit owner in the manner set forth in section one (§56-2-1), article two, chapter fifty-six of this code, or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, and in a form reasonably calculated to inform the owner of his liability for payment of the assessment. The lien shall be discharged as to subsequent purchasers for value without notice unless the association shall cause to be recorded a notice of the lien in the office of the clerk of the county commission of any county wherein any part of the condominium is located. The notice shall contain:

(1) A legally sufficient description of the unit;

(2) The name or names of the owners of the unit;

(3) The amount of unpaid assessments due together with the date when each fell due; and

(4) The date of recordation.

The clerk of the county commission in whose office the notice is recorded shall index the notice in the appropriate deed books and lien books in the name of the unit owners and of the association. The cost of recordation shall be assessed against any unit owner found to be delinquent in a subsequent proceeding to enforce the lien.

Upon payment of the assessment, the association shall execute a written release of the lien in the manner set forth in section one (§38-12-1), article twelve, chapter thirty-eight of this code. This release shall be recorded, at the expense of the association, in the office of the clerk of the county commission wherein the notice of the lien was filed.

(i) At any time before the association has disposed of a unit in a cooperative or entered into a contract for its disposition under the power of sale, the unit owners or the holder of any subordinate security interest may cure the unit owner's default and prevent sale or other disposition by tendering the performance due under the security agreement, including any amounts due because of exercise of a right to accelerate, plus the reasonable expenses of proceeding to foreclosure incurred to the time of tender, including reasonable attorney's fees of the creditor.

§36B-3-117. Other liens.

(a) In a condominium or planned community:

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a judgment for money against the association (if recorded) is not a lien on the common elements, but is a lien in favor of the judgment lien holder against all of the units in the common interest community at the time the judgment was entered. No other property of a unit owner is subject to the claims of creditors of the association.

(2) If the association has granted a security interest in the common elements to a creditor of the association pursuant to section 3-112, the holder of that security interest shall exercise its right against the common elements before its judgment lien on any unit may be enforced.

(3) Whether perfected before or after the creation of the common interest community, if a lien, other than a deed of trust or mortgage, including a judgment lien or lien attributable to work performed or materials supplied before creation of the common interest community, becomes effective against two or more units, the unit owner of an affected unit may pay to the lien holder the amount of the lien attributable to his unit and the lien holder, upon receipt of payment, promptly shall deliver a release of the lien covering that unit. The amount of the payment must be proportionate to the ratio which that unit owner's common expense liability bears to the common expense liabilities of all unit owners whose units are subject to the lien. After payment, the association may not assess or have a lien against that unit owner's unit for any portion of the common expenses incurred in connection with that lien.

(4) A judgment against the association must be indexed in the name of the common interest community and the association and, when so indexed, is notice of the lien against the units.

(b) In a cooperative:

(1) If the association receives notice of an impending foreclosure on all or any portion of the association's real estate, the association shall promptly transmit a copy of that notice to each unit owner of a unit located within the real estate to be foreclosed. Failure of the association to transmit the notice does not affect the validity of the foreclosure.

(2) Whether or not a unit owner's unit is subject to the claims of the association's creditors, no other property of a unit owner is subject to those claims.

§36B-3-118. Association records.

The association shall keep financial records sufficiently detailed to enable the association to comply with section 4-109. All financial and other records must be made reasonably available for examination by any unit owner and his authorized agents.

§36B-3-119. Association as trustee.

With respect to a third person dealing with the association in the association's capacity as a trustee, the existence of trust powers and their proper exercise by the association may be assumed without inquiry. A third person is not bound to inquire whether the association has power to act as trustee or is properly exercising trust powers. A third person, without actual knowledge that the association is exceeding or improperly exercising its powers, is fully protected in dealing with the association as if it possessed and properly exercised the powers it purports to exercise. A third person is not bound to assure the proper application of trust assets paid or delivered to the association in its capacity as trustee.