Opinion ID: 2593799
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Owners Bound by Declarations and Bylaws

Text: At the time several of the Owners signed their residence agreements, the declarations and bylaws had not been recorded. Noting that K.S.A. 58-3115 states that neither the declaration nor any amendment thereto shall be valid unless duly recorded, the Owners contend that the declarations are not binding on owners who signed their residency agreements prior to the filing of the declaration. KBRS filed the declaration before each plaintiff accepted the deed to his or her condominium unit. The accepted deeds provided: FOR GOOD AND VALUABLE CONSIDERATION, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, Grantor hereby conveys and warrants to Grantee all of the following described condominium unit together with its undivided interest in the common areas and facilities, located in the County of Harvey and State of Kansas: Unit ... according to the Declaration of Condominium, dated September 11, 1989 and recorded September 12, 1989, ... and all recorded amendments thereto, together with the undivided interest in common and limited common areas and facilities declared in the declaration to be appurtenant to such unit. .... EXCEPT AND SUBJECT TO all restrictions, easements, conditions, covenants, reservations, liens and charges and the rights and powers created or reserved by said condominium declaration described above and the provisions of the Condominium Ownership Act of Kansas. All easements, rights, benefits and privileges of every character granted, created, reserved or declared by said declaration and all impositions and obligations imposed by said declaration shall be deemed and taken to be covenants running with the land and liens to the extent set forth in said declaration and the Condominium Ownership Act of Kansas. As to the binding effect of the declarations and bylaws on such Owners, the trial court found: This court does not accept the claim of [certain] plaintiffs ... that they are not bound by the Declarations because the Declarations were filed several days after they either signed their residency agreements or took their deed. In the residency agreements, KBRS agreed to convey to the plaintiffs good title to certain units. That was accomplished when, following the filing of Declarations, warranty deeds were delivered to the plaintiffs. The Declarations are specifically incorporated into and made a part of the respective deeds by which plaintiffs claim title to the condominium units. What plaintiffs received was the property described in the deed, which was clearly property described by and subject to the Declarations. By accepting their deeds, the plaintiffs rights to anything further or contrary that they might have been entitled to by virtue of their residency agreement was fully and finally extinguished. See Palmer v. The Land and Power Company, 172 Kan. 231[, 239 P.2d 960 (1952)]. It is a general rule of law applicable to all contracts, including deeds, that prior stipulations and agreements are merged in the final and formal contract or deed executed by the parties. When a deed is delivered and accepted as performance of a contract to convey, the contract is presumed to be merged in the deed. An agreement for the conveyance of land is in its nature executory, and the acceptance of a deed in pursuance thereof is to be deemed prima facie an execution of the contract and the agreement thereby becomes void and of no further effect. Palmer v. Land & Power Co., 172 Kan. 231, 237, 239 P.2d 960 (1952). Because the deeds were delivered and accepted subsequent to the filing of the declaration and the deeds referenced the binding effect of the declaration, the deeds supercede the residency agreements. Under these circumstances, the Owners are bound by the declaration.