Opinion ID: 2548173
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: condominium ownership act

Text: ¶10 The Condominium Ownership Act, Utah Code Ann. §§ 57-8-1 to -36 (2000 & Supp. 2003), contains provisions applicable to condominium developments, which apply notwithstanding a conflicting provision of law. Id. § 57-8-35(1). Therefore, if any part of the Condominium Ownership Act conflicts with the above interpretation of the Lien Restriction Act, we must apply the Condominium Ownership Act. The trial court concluded that section 57-8-19 of the Condominium Ownership Act, which provides for the creation of liens on condominium units, and section 57-8-27, which governs the taxation of units, required that the units in this case be treated as single-family dwellings under the Lien Restriction Act. However, the cited sections compel no such result. ¶11 Section 57-8-19 comes nearest to providing the protection the owners seek, but it stops short. It allows liens or other encumbrances to be filed against condominium units in the same manner and under the same conditions in every respect as liens or encumbrances may arise or be created upon or against any other separate parcel of real property subject to individual ownership. Id. § 57-8-19(1). Read in isolation, this section could be viewed as affording the owners the protection they seek. However, when the remaining portion of the section is read, it is clear that section 57-8-19 does not override the definition of residence in the Lien Restriction Act, but merely recognizes and resolves one of the unique problems of condominium ownership. ¶12 Typically, condominium owners own an individual unit and an undivided fractional interest in common areas. The existence of other units and common areas might, without clarification, allow the filing of liens against an entire project for work done on individual units and common areas, thus jeopardizing innocent owners' interests. Section 57-8-19 addresses this problem by declaring that individual units are to be treated separately for lien purposes. Thus, one property owner is protected from the other owners' non-payment. The very same subsection the owners cite also contains a provision stating that, under certain circumstances, each owner has consented to work or services performed in common areas. Id. Read as a whole, section 57-8-19 merely clarifies the procedure for filing liens against condominium units, which have unique characteristics. It does not alter the definition of residence found in the Lien Restriction Act. ¶13 Likewise, section 57-8-27 does not require that the owners' units be deemed residences. This section merely addresses a condominium's status for tax purposes. It declares that each unit and the accompanying fractional interest in common areas is to be taxed as a separate parcel. Id. § 57-8-27(1). Thus, coupled with section 57-8-35(1), which treats condominium developments as subdivisions, each unit is given a separate parcel number and pays separate property taxes, so that no owner is punished for the non-payment of taxes by another. Nothing in the Lien Restriction Act conflicts with this approach to taxation.