08/17/2010
The 2010 Legislature of the State of Kansas recently enacted House Bill No. 2472, which is entitled the "Kansas Uniform Common Interest Owners Bill of Rights Act (the Act)." This Act is the Kansas version of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. The Kansas version is intended to serve as a "Bill of Rights" for homeowners, condominium and cooperative apartment owners. The effective date of the Act is January 1, 2011. It does not apply retroactively, but the provisions of existing declarations or bylaws of a common interest community that are contrary to the mandatory provisions of the Act are not enforceable beginning January 1, 2011.
The legislation is intended to adopt uniform rules as they affect owners' associations. Key provisions of the Act include:
As a whole, the Act is fair and does not prejudice either the developers, directors or officers, or the members of an association. It does provide for the structure of a community association where such a structure might be lacking.
Developers may have some concerns as to their ability to control an association until such time as it is appropriate for the homeowners to take control. There are some questions that remain, such as whether a developer can make unilateral changes to a declaration. As with all new legislation, some adaptation to the Act will be necessary.
For now, all those affected must review their declarations, articles of incorporation, by-laws and rules to establish conformity, since the Act makes non-conforming provisions unenforceable, thereby substituting the provisions of the Act. In most cases, a few amendments and the adoption of new by-laws will be enough to be compliant.
We are undertaking reviews of community association documents for our clients and are making recommendations as to the appropriate changes.
For more information on this alert, contact Allen Blair or any one of our real estate attorneys.