Pennsylvania § 4216 - Amendment of declaration.

§ 4216. Amendment of declaration.

(a) Number of votes required.--Except in cases of amendments that may be executed by a declarant under section 4209 (relating to exercise of development rights), the association under section 4107 (relating to eminent domain), 4206(c) (relating to leasehold cooperatives), 4208(c) (relating to limited common elements), 4211(a) (relating to relocation of boundaries between adjoining units) or 4212 (relating to subdivision of units), the executive board of the association under subsection (f) or certain proprietary lessees under section 4208(b), 4211(a), 4212(b) or 4217(b) (relating to termination of cooperative ownership), and except as limited by subsection (d) and section 4218 (relating to rights of secured lenders and secured creditors), the declaration may be amended only by vote or agreement of proprietary lessees of cooperative interests to which at least 67% of the votes in the association are allocated or any larger majority the declaration specifies. The declaration may specify a smaller number only if all of the units are restricted exclusively to nonresidential use.

(b) Limitation of action to challenge amendment.--No action to challenge the validity of an amendment adopted by the association pursuant to this section may be brought more than six months after the amendment is recorded.

(c) Recording amendment.--The following shall apply:

(1) Every amendment to the declaration must be recorded in every county in which any portion of the cooperative is located in the same records as are maintained for the recording of deeds of real property and is effective only upon recordation. In cases where the amendment is executed by the association, it shall be indexed in the name of the cooperative and the association in both the grantor and the grantee index. In cases where the amendment is executed by the declarant or one or more proprietary lessees, it shall be indexed in the grantee's index in the name of the cooperative and the association and in the grantor's index in the name of the declarant or proprietary lessee or lessees, as well as in the name of the association.

(2) Except for counties which do not maintain a uniform parcel identifier number system of indexing, all counties shall assign a master parcel number to each cooperative, and every amendment to the declaration shall be indexed against the master parcel. If required by the county, an amendment may be indexed against a parcel assigned to each unit within the cooperative, but no fees shall be charged to each unit unless the indexing against each parcel is requested by the declarant or association.

(3) The provisions of this subsection shall control over any conflicting provisions in any other statute, regulation or ordinance.

(d) Restrictions on amendments.--Except to the extent expressly permitted or required by the provisions of this subpart, no amendment may create or increase special declarant rights in the absence of the unanimous consent of the proprietary lessees nor may any amendment otherwise duly adopted:

(1) Change the boundaries of any unit without the approval of the proprietary lessee of such unit.

(2) Change the allocated interests of a cooperative interest without the approval of the proprietary lessee who owns such cooperative interest.

(3) Change the uses to which any unit is restricted without the approval of the proprietary lessee of such unit.

(e) Officer authorized to execute amendment.--Amendments to the declaration required by this subpart to be recorded by the association shall be prepared, executed, recorded and certified on behalf of the association by any officer of the association designated for that purpose or, in the absence of designation, by the president of the association.

(f) Corrective amendments.--Except as otherwise provided in the declaration, if any amendment to the declaration is necessary in the judgment of the executive board to cure any ambiguity or to correct or supplement any provision of the declaration that is defective, missing or inconsistent with any other provision thereof or with this subpart or if an amendment is necessary in the judgment of the executive board to conform to the requirements of any agency or entity that has established national or regional standards with respect to loans secured by mortgages or deeds of trust on units in cooperative projects (such as the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), to comply with any statute, regulation, code or ordinance which may now or hereafter be made applicable to the cooperative or association, or to make a reasonable accommodation or permit a reasonable modification in favor of handicapped, as may be defined by prevailing Federal or State laws or regulations applicable to the association, proprietary lessees, residents or employees, then, at any time and from time to time, the executive board may at its discretion effect an appropriate corrective amendment without the approval of the proprietary lessees or the holders of any liens on all or any part of the cooperative, upon receipt by the executive board of an opinion from legal counsel who is independent from the declarant to the effect that the proposed amendment is permitted by the terms of this subsection.

(Nov. 30, 2004, P.L.1499, No.190, eff. 60 days; Nov. 4, 2016, P.L.1214, No.162, eff. 60 days; Mar. 27, 2020, P.L.35, No.11, eff. 60 days)

2020 Amendment. Act 11 amended subsec. (f).

2016 Amendment. Act 162 amended subsec. (c).

2004 Amendment. Act 190 amended subsecs. (a) and (f).

Cross References. Section 4216 is referred to in sections 4102, 4209, 4303 of this title.