Ohio § 5311.01

§ 5311.01.

As used in this chapter, except as otherwise provided: (A) “ Agent ” means any person who represents a developer or who acts for or on behalf of a developer

in selling or offering to sell any ownership interest in a condominium development.  “Agent” does not include an attorney whose representation of a developer consists

solely of rendering legal services. (B) “ Additional property ” means land, including surface and air rights, or improvements to land that are described

in an original declaration and that may be added in the future to an expandable condominium

property. (C) “ Affiliate of a developer ” means any person who controls a developer or is controlled by a developer.  For the purposes of this division: (1) A person “ controls ” a developer if any of the following applies: (a) The person is a general partner, officer, member, manager, director, or employer

of the developer. (b) The person owns, controls, holds with power to vote, or holds proxies representing

more than twenty per cent of the voting interest in the developer, doing so either

directly or indirectly, acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through

one or more subsidiaries. (c) The person controls, in any manner, the election of a majority of the developer's

directors. (d) The person has contributed more than twenty per cent of the developer's capital. (2) A person “is controlled by ” a developer if any of the following applies: (a) The developer is a general partner, member, manager, officer, director, or employer

of the person. (b) The developer owns, controls, holds with power to vote, or holds proxies representing

more than twenty per cent of the voting interest in the person, doing so either directly

or indirectly, acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or

more subsidiaries. (c) The developer controls, in any manner, the election of a majority of the person's

directors. (d) The developer has contributed more than twenty per cent of the person's capital. (3) “Control” does not exist for purposes of division (C)(1) or (2) of this section if

a person or developer holds any power described in either of those divisions solely

as security for an obligation and that power is not exercised. (D) “ Body of water ” means a stream, lake, pond, marsh, river, or other body of natural or artificial

surface water. (E) “ Common assessments ” means assessments that are charged proportionately against all units for common

purposes. (F) “ Common elements ” means, unless otherwise provided in the declaration, the following parts of the

condominium property: (1) The land described in the declaration; (2) All other areas, facilities, places, and structures that are not part of a unit,

including, but not limited to, the following: (a) Foundations, columns, girders, beams, supports, supporting walls, roofs, halls, corridors,

lobbies, stairs, stairways, fire escapes, entrances, and exits of buildings; (b) Basements, yards, gardens, parking areas, garages, and storage spaces; (c) Premises for the lodging of janitors or persons in charge of the property; (d) Installations of central services, including, but not limited to, power, light, gas,

hot and cold water, heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, and incinerating; (e) Elevators, tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts, and, in general, all apparatus

and installations existing for common use; (f) Community and commercial facilities that are not listed in division (F)(2)(a), (b),

(c), (d), or (e) of this section but provided for in the declaration; (g) All parts of the condominium property that are not listed in division (F)(2)(a),

(b), (c), (d), (e), or (f) of this section that are necessary or convenient to its

existence, maintenance, and safety, that are normally in common use, or that have

been designated as common elements in the declaration or drawings. (G) “ Common expenses ” means expenses designated as common expenses in this chapter or in the declaration. (H) “ Common losses ” means the amount by which the common expenses during any period of time exceeds

the common assessments and common profits during that period. (I) “ Common profits ” means the amount by which the total income received from any of the following exceeds

expenses allocable to the particular income, rental, fee, or charge: (1) Assessments charged for special benefits to specific units; (2) Rents received from the rental of equipment or space in common elements; (3) Any other fee, charge, or income other than common assessments. (J) “ Common surplus ” means the amount by which common assessments collected during any period exceed

common expenses. (K) “ Condominium ” means a form of real property ownership in which a declaration has been filed submitting

the property to the condominium form of ownership pursuant to this chapter and under

which each owner has an individual ownership interest in a unit with the right to

exclusive possession of that unit and an undivided ownership interest with the other

unit owners in the common elements of the condominium property. (L) “ Condominium development ” means a condominium property in which two or more individual residential or water

slip units, together with their undivided interests in the common elements of the

property, are offered for sale pursuant to a common promotional plan. (M) “ Condominium instruments ” means the declaration and accompanying drawings and plans, the bylaws of the unit

owners association, the condominium development disclosure statement described in section 5311.26 of the Revised Code , any contracts pertaining to the management of the condominium property, and any

other documents, contracts, or instruments establishing ownership of or exerting control

over a condominium property or unit. (N) “ Condominium ownership interest ” means a fee simple estate or a ninety-nine-year leasehold estate, renewable forever,

in a unit, together with an appurtenant undivided interest in the common elements. (O) “ Condominium property ” means all real and personal property submitted to the provisions of this chapter,

including land, the buildings, improvements, and structures on that land, the land

under a water slip, the buildings, improvements, and structures that form or that

are utilized in connection with that water slip, and all easements, rights, and appurtenances

belonging to the land or to the land under a water slip. (P) “ Conversion condominium development ” means a condominium development that was operated as a rental property and occupied

by tenants immediately prior to the submission of the property to the provisions of

this chapter. (Q) “ Convertible unit ” means a unit that may be converted into one or more units and common elements, including

limited common elements. (R) “ Declaration ” means the instrument by which property is submitted to the provisions of this chapter.  “ Declaration ” includes all amendments to that declaration. (S) “ Developer ” means any person who directly or indirectly sells or offers for sale condominium

ownership interests in a condominium development.  “ Developer ” includes the declarant of a condominium development and any successor to that declarant

who stands in the same relation to the condominium development as the declarant. (T) “ Exclusive use area ” means common elements that the declaration reserves for delegation by the board

of directors to the use of a certain unit or units, to the exclusion of other units. (U) “ Expandable condominium property ” means a condominium property in which the original declaration reserves the right

to add additional property. (V) “ Leasehold condominium development ” means a condominium development in which each unit owner owns a ninety-nine-year

leasehold estate, renewable forever, in the owner's unit, in the land upon which that

unit is situated, or in both, together with an undivided leasehold interest in the

common elements, with all leasehold interests due to expire at the same time. (W) “ Limited common elements ” means the common elements that the declaration designates as being reserved for

use by a certain unit or units, to the exclusion of the other units. (X) “ Offer ” includes any inducement or solicitation to encourage a person to acquire a condominium

ownership interest in a condominium development. (Y) “ Par value ” means a number, expressed in dollars, points, or as a percentage or fraction, attached

to a unit by the declaration. (Z) “ Purchaser ” means a person who purchases a condominium ownership interest for consideration

pursuant to an agreement for the conveyance or transfer of that interest for consideration. (AA) “ Sale of a condominium ownership interest ” means the execution by both parties of an agreement for the conveyance or transfer

for consideration of a condominium ownership interest.  “Sale of a condominium ownership interest” does not include a transfer of one or

more units from the developer to another developer, a subsidiary of the developer,

or a financial institution for the purpose of facilitating the sale or development

of the remaining or unsold portion of the condominium property or additional property. (BB) “ Unit ” means the part of the condominium property that is designated as a unit in the declaration,

is delineated as a unit on the drawings prepared pursuant to section 5311.07 of the Revised Code , and is one of the following: (1) A residential unit, in which the designated part of the condominium property is devoted

in whole or in part to use as a residential dwelling consisting of one or more rooms

on one or more floors of a building.  A “residential unit” may include exterior portions of the building, spaces in a

carport, and parking spaces as described and designated in the declaration and drawings. (2) A water slip unit, which consists of the land that is under the water in a water

slip and the land that is under the piers or wharves that form the water slip, and

that is used for the mooring of watercraft. (3) A commercial unit in which the property is designated for separate ownership or occupancy

solely for commercial purposes, industrial purposes, or other nonresidential or nonwater

slip use. (CC) “ Unit owner ” means a person who owns a condominium ownership interest in a unit. (DD) “ Unit owners association ” means the organization that administers the condominium property and that consists

of all the owners of units in a condominium property. (EE) “Watercraft” has the same meaning as in section 1546.01 of the Revised Code . (FF) “ Water slip ” means a channel of water between piers or wharves.