2006 Minnesota Statutes

515B.1-103 DEFINITIONS.
In the declaration and bylaws, unless specifically provided otherwise or the context otherwise
requires, and in this chapter:
(1) "Additional real estate" means real estate that may be added to a flexible common
interest community.
(2) "Affiliate of a declarant" means any person who controls, is controlled by, or is under
common control with a declarant.
(A) A person "controls" a declarant if the person (i) is a general partner, officer, director, or
employer of the declarant, (ii) directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other
persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote, or holds
proxies representing, more than 20 percent of the voting interest in the declarant, (iii) controls in
any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the declarant, or (iv) has contributed
more than 20 percent of the capital of the declarant.
(B) A person "is controlled by" a declarant if the declarant (i) is a general partner, officer,
director, or employer of the person, (ii) directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more
other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote, or
holds proxies representing, more than 20 percent of the voting interest in the person, (iii) controls
in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the person, or (iv) has contributed
more than 20 percent of the capital of the person.
(C) Control does not exist if the powers described in this subsection are held solely as a
security interest and have not been exercised.
(3) "Allocated interests" means the following interests allocated to each unit: (i) in a
condominium, the undivided interest in the common elements, the common expense liability, and
votes in the association; (ii) in a cooperative, the common expense liability and the ownership
interest and votes in the association; and (iii) in a planned community, the common expense
liability and votes in the association.
(4) "Association" means the unit owners' association organized under section 515B.3-101.
(5) "Board" means the body, regardless of name, designated in the articles of incorporation,
bylaws or declaration to act on behalf of the association, or on behalf of a master association
when so identified.
(6) "CIC plat" means a common interest community plat described in section 515B.2-110.
(7) "Common elements" means all portions of the common interest community other than
the units.
(8) "Common expenses" means expenditures made or liabilities incurred by or on behalf of
the association, or master association when so identified, together with any allocations to reserves.
(9) "Common expense liability" means the liability for common expenses allocated to each
unit pursuant to section 515B.2-108.
(10) "Common interest community" or "CIC" means contiguous or noncontiguous real estate
within Minnesota that is subject to an instrument which obligates persons owning a separately
described parcel of the real estate, or occupying a part of the real estate pursuant to a proprietary
lease, by reason of their ownership or occupancy, to pay for (i) real estate taxes levied against;
(ii) insurance premiums payable with respect to; (iii) maintenance of; or (iv) construction,
maintenance, repair or replacement of improvements located on, one or more parcels or parts of
the real estate other than the parcel or part that the person owns or occupies. Real estate which
satisfies the definition of a common interest community is a common interest community whether
or not it is subject to this chapter. Real estate subject to a master association, regardless of when
the master association was formed, shall not collectively constitute a separate common interest
community unless so stated in the master declaration recorded against the real estate pursuant to
section 515B.2-121, subsection (f)(1).
(11) "Condominium" means a common interest community in which (i) portions of the real
estate are designated as units, (ii) the remainder of the real estate is designated for common
ownership solely by the owners of the units, and (iii) undivided interests in the common elements
are vested in the unit owners.
(12) "Conversion property" means real estate on which is located a building that at any
time within two years before creation of the common interest community was occupied for
residential use wholly or partially by persons other than purchasers and persons who occupy with
the consent of purchasers.
(13) "Cooperative" means a common interest community in which the real estate is owned
by an association, each of whose members is entitled by virtue of the member's ownership interest
in the association to a proprietary lease.
(14) "Dealer" means a person in the business of selling units for the person's own account.
(15) "Declarant" means:
(i) if the common interest community has been created, (A) any person who has executed a
declaration, or an amendment to a declaration to add additional real estate, except secured parties,
persons whose interests in the real estate will not be transferred to unit owners, or, in the case of a
leasehold common interest community, a lessor who possesses no special declarant rights and
who is not an affiliate of a declarant who possesses special declarant rights, or (B) any person who
reserves, or succeeds under section 515B.3-104 to any special declarant rights; or
(ii) any person or persons acting in concert who have offered prior to creation of the common
interest community to transfer their interest in a unit to be created and not previously transferred.
(16) "Declaration" means any instrument, however denominated, that creates a common
interest community.
(17) "Dispose" or "disposition" means a voluntary transfer to a purchaser of any legal or
equitable interest in the common interest community, but the term does not include the transfer or
release of a security interest.
(18) "Flexible common interest community" means a common interest community to which
additional real estate may be added.
(19) "Leasehold common interest community" means a common interest community in
which all or a portion of the real estate is subject to a lease the expiration or termination of which
will terminate the common interest community or reduce its size.
(20) "Limited common element" means a portion of the common elements allocated by
the declaration or by operation of section 515B.2-102(d) or (f) for the exclusive use of one or
more but fewer than all of the units.
(21) "Master association" means an entity created on or after June 1, 1994, that directly
or indirectly exercises any of the powers set forth in section 515B.3-102 on behalf of one
or more members described in section 515B.2-121(b), (i), (ii) or (iii), whether or not it also
exercises those powers on behalf of one or more property owners' associations described in
section 515B.2-121(b)(iv). A person (i) hired by an association to perform maintenance, repair,
accounting, bookkeeping or management services, or (ii) granted authority under an instrument
recorded primarily for the purpose of creating rights or obligations with respect to utilities,
access, drainage, or recreational amenities, is not, solely by reason of that relationship, a master
association.
(22) "Master declaration" means a written instrument, however named, (i) recorded on or
after June 1, 1994, against property subject to powers exercised by a master association and (ii)
complying with section 515B.2-121, subsection (f)(1).
(23) "Period of declarant control" means the time period provided for in section
515B.3-103(c) during which the declarant may appoint and remove officers and directors of
the association.
(24) "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership,
trustee under a trust, personal representative, guardian, conservator, government, governmental
subdivision or agency, or other legal or commercial entity capable of holding title to real estate.
(25) "Planned community" means a common interest community that is not a condominium
or a cooperative. A condominium or cooperative may be a part of a planned community.
(26) "Proprietary lease" means an agreement with a cooperative association whereby a
member of the association is entitled to exclusive possession of a unit in the cooperative.
(27) "Purchaser" means a person, other than a declarant, who by means of a voluntary
transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a unit other than (i) a leasehold interest of less
than 20 years, including renewal options, or (ii) a security interest.
(28) "Real estate" means any fee simple, leasehold or other estate or interest in, over, or
under land, including structures, fixtures, and other improvements and interests that by custom,
usage, or law pass with a conveyance of land though not described in the contract of sale or
instrument of conveyance. "Real estate" may include spaces with or without upper or lower
boundaries, or spaces without physical boundaries.
(29) "Residential use" means use as a dwelling, whether primary, secondary or seasonal,
but not transient use such as hotels or motels.
(30) "Secured party" means the person owning a security interest as defined in paragraph (31).
(31) "Security interest" means a perfected interest in real estate or personal property, created
by contract or conveyance, which secures payment or performance of an obligation. The term
includes a mortgagee's interest in a mortgage, a vendor's interest in a contract for deed, a lessor's
interest in a lease intended as security, a holder's interest in a sheriff's certificate of sale during the
period of redemption, an assignee's interest in an assignment of leases or rents intended as security,
a lender's interest in a cooperative share loan, a pledgee's interest in the pledge of an ownership
interest, or any other interest intended as security for an obligation under a written agreement.
(32) "Special declarant rights" means rights reserved in the declaration for the benefit of
a declarant to:
(i) complete improvements indicated on the CIC plat, planned by the declarant consistent
with the disclosure statement or authorized by the municipality in which the CIC is located;
(ii) add additional real estate to a common interest community;
(iii) subdivide or combine units, or convert units into common elements, limited common
elements and/or units;
(iv) maintain sales offices, management offices, signs advertising the common interest
community, and models;
(v) use easements through the common elements for the purpose of making improvements
within the common interest community or any additional real estate;
(vi) create a master association and provide for the exercise of authority by the master
association over the common interest community or its unit owners;
(vii) merge or consolidate a common interest community with another common interest
community of the same form of ownership; or
(viii) appoint or remove any officer or director of the association, or the master association
where applicable, during any period of declarant control.
(33) "Time share" means a right to occupy a unit or any of several units during three
or more separate time periods over a period of at least three years, including renewal options,
whether or not coupled with an estate or interest in a common interest community or a specified
portion thereof.
(34) "Unit" means a portion of a common interest community the boundaries of which are
described in the common interest community's declaration and which is intended for separate
ownership or separate occupancy pursuant to a proprietary lease.
(35) "Unit identifier" means English letters or Arabic numerals, or a combination thereof,
which identify only one unit in a common interest community and which meet the requirements
of section 515B.2-104.
(36) "Unit owner" means a declarant or other person who owns a unit, a lessee under a
proprietary lease, or a lessee of a unit in a leasehold common interest community whose lease
expires simultaneously with any lease the expiration or termination of which will remove the
unit from the common interest community, but does not include a secured party. In a common
interest community, the declarant is the unit owner of a unit until that unit has been conveyed to
another person.
History: 1993 c 222 art 1 s 3; 1994 c 388 art 4 s 2; 1995 c 92 s 5; 1999 c 11 art 2 s 2; 2000
c 260 s 73; 2005 c 121 s 2