The declaration and bylaws
These two documents create the condominium and set the rules it will live by. Buyers, lenders, and the District all read them, and they stay with the building long after the last unit has sold.
What each one does
The declaration is the document that legally creates the condominium. It defines the units, the common elements, and each owner's share of them. The bylaws govern the unit owners' association: how it is run, how decisions are made, and how costs are shared.
Where they fit
Both are exhibits to the Public Offering Statement, and both are recorded among the District's land records. Recording them, together with the plat and plans, is what brings the condominium into legal existence.
Why the drafting matters
These are not forms. Choices made in them affect who pays for the roof, who may use the yard or the parking, what an owner can change, and how the developer hands control to the owners.
In a two- or three-unit building there is no management company and every owner is a neighbor. Unclear documents are a common source of the disputes that follow.
Where it goes wrong
- Using a template written for a large building in a two-unit conversion.
- Leaving parking, roof decks, or yards ambiguously assigned.
- Documents that say one thing while the plat and plans show another.