Common Interest Community Defined

Nearly without exception, UCIOA achieves the goal of uniformity among all three forms of ownership simply by consolidating the three prior Acts of the Conference and adding a very few generic definitions. The principal new definition is "common interest community."

Because of the use of consistent definitions and policies in the three Acts preceding UCIOA, consolidation of the three in the merged Act was a relatively simple task. The section numbering system of UCIOA is entirely parallel with the other three Acts, and the language of UCIOA tracks, as applicable, with the cognate sections of those three Acts. Differences in result between the three Acts are preserved where appropriate. At the same time, during the drafting of UCIOA, in a few instances, it became clear that some differences in result were of form rather than legitimate substance. In those cases, the substantive result of one or more of the three Acts was changed to reflect a policy generally applicable in all forms.

The result is that a State wishing to consider legislation in the common interest ownership field has a range of choices from which to select. Many States will wish to adopt comprehensive legislation, providing maximum flexibility and certainty to all developers, lenders, and title insurers, while at the same time providing all unit purchasers and their associations a uniform level of disclosure, warranty protection, and other rights. In those States, the consolidated Act is a workable and desirable long-term solution. Other States may wish simply to adopt a modern condominium statute to replace an existing but plainly outdated, statutory structure. In those States, UCA alone is the obvious choice. Finally, in States where existing "second" or "third" generation condominium statutes are seen as satisfactory, but a need for additional certainty and structure is desirable for planned communities or cooperatives, the two Acts governing those forms of ownership are available. Following adoption of one of the three constituent Acts, it would be very feasible, by a few carefully considered amendments, to adopt UCIOA and thereby extend coverage to include all forms of ownership in the field.