Stat. §§47-200 et seq. — Connecticut's adoption of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act that covers condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives created on or after January 1, 1984. Older projects fall under the 1976 Condominium Act or the pre-1977 Unit Ownership Act, so the first diligence question in Connecticut is always which statute governs. Two features make the state distinctive. CIOA gives associations a nine-month super-priority lien (§47-258) — one of the strongest in the Northeast — that can sit ahead of a first mortgage. And north-central and eastern Connecticut is the epicenter of the pyrrhotite crumbling-concrete-foundation crisis, a slow, irreversible, insurance-excluded structural problem with a state-backed claims program (CFSIC) that sunsets June 30, 2030. Layer on coastal storm and flood exposure along Long Island Sound and a hardening insurance market, and a Connecticut document review becomes an exercise in reading lien exposure, reserve adequacy, foundation status, and insurance against the building's age and location.
The nine-month super-priority lien (§47-258)
CIOA gives the association's lien priority over a first mortgage for the common-expense assessments that would have come due in the nine months immediately before a foreclosure action, plus the association's costs and reasonable attorney's fees. The window was raised from six to nine months in 2013 (P.A. 13-156) and is among the longest in the country. For a buyer, widespread delinquencies and active association foreclosures signal financial distress, and a distressed unit can carry a meaningful association claim ahead of the mortgage. Read the delinquency/aging report and any recorded liens before assuming the building's collections are healthy.
Crumbling foundations — pyrrhotite and the CFSIC sunset
An estimated 35,000+ structures across roughly 41 north-central and eastern Connecticut towns were built with concrete aggregate containing pyrrhotite, which expands and crumbles over 10–30 years. Failure is slow, irreversible, and excluded from standard property insurance. The state-backed captive insurer CFSIC pays claims — for condominiums the association is the claimant through a single application — but its funding sunsets June 30, 2030, with per-unit caps around $82,000. In or near the affected zone, the absence of a foundation test on record is the single highest-severity Connecticut red flag. Confirm any core testing, foundation distress in minutes, and CFSIC participation status.
Reserves required, but 'adequate' is undefined
CIOA requires associations to maintain adequate reserves for major repairs and replacement, and the proposed budget summary must state the reserve amount and the basis on which it was calculated and funded (§47-261e). But 'adequate' is not quantified — there is no statutory minimum percent funded. A periodic professional reserve study is required only for new associations at formation, not broadly for existing ones, so older buildings may set reserves by guesswork. Read the reserve balance and the disclosed basis of calculation against the building's age and major components, and treat the absence of an engineering-based study as a caution.
The 15% special-assessment safe harbor
Under §47-261e, unless the declaration provides otherwise, a board may impose special and emergency assessments without an owner vote so long as the cumulative total in a calendar year does not exceed 15% of the last adopted periodic budget. Above 15% cumulative, the board must follow the summary-and-vote process and owners may reject. That means a substantial special assessment can land board-only in an aging building. Read the budget, the special-assessment history, and recent minutes rather than assuming an owner vote stands between you and a capital bill.
Coastal and statewide insurance stress
CIOA §47-255 requires property coverage of at least 80% of actual cash value, liability coverage, and fidelity (crime) coverage, and for post-1984 condos whose master policy covers units, the master policy is generally primary. Connecticut homeowners are seeing renewal increases of 10%+, and shoreline associations along Long Island Sound face wind, surge, and flood exposure that pushes some onto the FAIR Plan or the Coastal Market Assistance Program. Standard policies exclude flood and pyrrhotite. Confirm the 80%-ACV floor, fidelity coverage, the deductible (a deductible above 5% can jeopardize conventional financing), and flood coverage in SFHA buildings.
