Section 448.4-112

Title XXIX OWNERSHIP AND CONVEYANCE OF PROPERTY

Chapter 448

Effective - 28 Aug 1983   

  448.4-112.  Conversion buildings — low or moderate income elderly tenants and disabled tenants, rights of. — 1.  A declarant of a condominium containing conversion buildings, and any person in the business of selling real estate for his own account who intends to offer units in such a condominium, shall give each of the residential tenants and any residential subtenant in possession of a portion of a conversion building notice of the conversion no later than one hundred twenty days before the declarant will require the tenants and any subtenant in possession to vacate, and the declarant shall further provide those persons with the original sale certificate not less than sixty days before the termination of such one hundred twenty-day period nor less than sixty days before the declarant will require those persons to vacate, whichever is the later date.  The notice shall set forth generally the rights of tenants and subtenants under this section and shall be hand-delivered to each unit or mailed by prepaid United States mail to the tenant and subtenant at the address of each unit or any other mailing address provided by a tenant.  No tenant or subtenant may be required by the declarant to vacate upon less than the later of one hundred twenty days' notice or upon notice less than sixty days after receipt of the original sale certificate, except by reason of nonpayment of rent, waste, or conduct which disturbs other tenants' peaceful enjoyment of the premises, and the terms of the tenancy may not be altered during that period.  Failure of a declarant to give notice as required by this section is a defense to an action for possession.

  2.  The notice required by subsection 1 of this section shall be accompanied by any form requesting age, income, and any other information of residential tenants which the local government entity may provide to declarant for the purpose of gathering data on the low or moderate income tenant affected by condominium conversions.

  3.  (1)  Subject to the provisions of subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection 3, any low or moderate income elderly tenant of a conversion building on the date the notice of conversion was submitted pursuant to subsection 1 of this section shall have the right to occupy his unit as provided in this section for a three-year period with an option to renew for no more than four successive periods.  Any disabled tenant of a conversion building on the date said notice of conversion was given shall have the right to occupy his unit as provided in this section for a one-year period with the option to renew for no more than two successive periods.  To exercise the right to occupy, the tenant shall notify the declarant in writing within thirty days of receipt of the notice of conversion.  If a tenant dies after exercising a right under this section, the surviving spouse, if qualified as a low or moderate income elderly or disabled tenant at the time of the decedent spouse's death, shall succeed to that right under the same terms and with the obligations of the decedent tenant.  All rights and obligations under this subdivision shall terminate upon the tenant's abandonment of the unit or by his death or the death of his successor, if any.  All rights of such tenant may be waived in a written agreement with the declarant or successor unit owner, if the notice of conversion discloses fully and completely the rights and obligations provided elderly and disabled tenant under this subsection, including the applicability only to conversion buildings of six or more units, the limitation of number of units eligible in the building to be converted, the rent for which the tenant will be obligated, and the qualification requirements for Missouri housing development commission financing.

  (2)  Any unit of a conversion building which is used for residential purposes and which is occupied by one or more low or moderate income elderly or disabled tenants at the time the notice of conversion is submitted pursuant to subsection 1 of this section, shall be retained by the declarant or successor unit owner as a rental unit for occupancy by such tenants under subdivision (1) of this subsection 3.  Rent to be charged tenants under this subsection shall not exceed an amount equal to the carrying costs, replacement reserve, real property taxes, return on equity not to exceed ten percent per annum, and the portion of common expenses and insurance allocable to the unit.  This subsection shall only apply to condominiums consisting of six or more units used for residential purposes at any time during the twelve months immediately preceding submission of the notice of conversion.  In such condominium, no more than ten percent of the total number of units, but not less than one unit in any condominium consisting of six to ten units, with fractions rounded to the nearest whole, shall be required to be retained as rental units under this subsection.

  (3)  Any declarant retaining such rental unit pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection 3 shall be eligible to apply for financial assistance, including but not limited to, a permanent loan, for the acquisition, plans, rehabilitation, or other expenses related to the development of such unit, from the Missouri housing development commission; provided, that the declarant shall have no obligation and such low or moderate income elderly or disabled tenant shall have no rights under this subsection 3 if financial assistance, in an amount sufficient to limit the tenant's rental obligations to thirty percent of the tenant's annual gross income, under this subdivision (3) is unavailable.  For the purposes of this subsection 3, the Missouri housing development commission may allocate ten percent of its unobligated fund balances to provide financial assistance to any declarant whose application contains qualifying tenants and who otherwise meets the review criteria of the Missouri housing development commission, subject to the provisions of chapter 215.  For the purposes of this subdivision (3), "fund balances" shall mean those funds in the operating account of the Missouri housing development commission or available for transfer to the operating fund as certified by the certified public accountants of the Missouri housing development commission.  In the event of an excess of qualifying tenants over the number of units for which financial assistance is available, the Missouri housing development commission shall consider the factors of age, income, length of occupancy in the unit and disability in determining preference for receipt of the financial assistance under this subdivision (3).

  4.  For sixty days after delivery or mailing of the original sale certificate, the declarant shall offer to convey each unit or proposed unit occupied for residential use to the tenant who leases that unit; provided, that in the case of a low or moderate income tenant who is seeking to purchase the unit through a government assistance program, such period may be extended by mutual agreement of the tenant and declarant.  If a tenant fails to purchase the unit during that sixty-day period, the declarant may not offer to dispose of an interest in that unit during the following one hundred eighty days at a price or on terms more favorable to the offeree than the price or terms offered to the tenant unless declarant first notifies and offers the tenant the same terms, after which the tenant has ten days to accept or reject such offer.  This subsection does not apply to any unit in a conversion building if that unit will be restricted exclusively to nonresidential use or the boundaries of the converted unit do not substantially conform to the dimensions of the residential unit before conversion.

  5.  If a declarant, in violation of subsection 4 of this section, conveys a unit to a purchaser for value who has no knowledge of the violation, recordation of the deed conveying the unit extinguishes any right a tenant may have under subsection 4 of this section to purchase that unit if the deed states that the seller has complied with subsection 4 of this section, but does not affect the right of a tenant to recover damages from the declarant for a violation of subsection 4 of this section.

  6.  If a notice of conversion specifies a date by which a unit or proposed unit shall be vacated, and otherwise complies with the provisions of sections 441.050 and 441.060, the notice also constitutes a notice to vacate specified by those sections.

  7.  Nothing in this section permits termination of a lease by a declarant in violation of its terms.

  8.  The declarant shall submit written notice of conversion to the department in charge of building codes or the equivalent in any incorporated city, town, or village in which any portion of any building to be converted into a condominium is located.  Such notice shall be filed at the time the declarant gives notice of conversion to tenant under this section.

­­--------

(L. 1983 H.B. 177)