Declarations

Purpose

A condominium declaration creates a condominium project.  The plat that accompanies the declaration is a graphic description, or picture, of what the buyer of the unit is purchasing.  Refer to the outline of Idaho Code requirements  for declarations for additional information.

The importance of this document is why the Ada County Surveyor’s staff tries to look at all of the aspects of the submittal.  The declarations are generally only reviewed for statutory requirements.  We check to make sure that referenced sections and documents really exist, and that the number of typographical errors are kept to a minimum, but to do so, we still have to read through the majority of the document.

We do not review for legal validity or context.  In reading the document, questions of a legal nature are intended for the preparer of the declarations to review and respond to.  It is interesting to note that there is no requirement for the preparers of the declarations to identify themselves, and there is no statutory requirement that legal counsel prepare the documentation.

This section is somewhat different than prior sections.  Prior comments from this office are included.  Each comment is annotated with a short description of the issue.  The reader is encouraged to think about the resolution of the issue, however the annotation should show what the ultimate resolution should be.  This is nothing close to a complete list, but a sampling of the comments from about 30 different reviews.  The names have been changed to protect anonymity.

Common Problems

Plats in general are required to be submitted to this office in a “ready to record” condition.  This includes the declarations.  The following tends to showcase just how “not ready” some of these documents were.  Most of the problems can be summarized three ways.

·            They are not Consistent

·            They are not Complete

·            They are not Clear

Last revised: 4/24/2007 3:56:32 PM

Declarations

Purpose

A condominium declaration creates a condominium project.  The plat that accompanies the declaration is a graphic description, or picture, of what the buyer of the unit is purchasing.  Refer to the outline of Idaho Code requirements  for declarations for additional information.

The importance of this document is why the Ada County Surveyor’s staff tries to look at all of the aspects of the submittal.  The declarations are generally only reviewed for statutory requirements.  We check to make sure that referenced sections and documents really exist, and that the number of typographical errors are kept to a minimum, but to do so, we still have to read through the majority of the document.

We do not review for legal validity or context.  In reading the document, questions of a legal nature are intended for the preparer of the declarations to review and respond to.  It is interesting to note that there is no requirement for the preparers of the declarations to identify themselves, and there is no statutory requirement that legal counsel prepare the documentation.

This section is somewhat different than prior sections.  Prior comments from this office are included.  Each comment is annotated with a short description of the issue.  The reader is encouraged to think about the resolution of the issue, however the annotation should show what the ultimate resolution should be.  This is nothing close to a complete list, but a sampling of the comments from about 30 different reviews.  The names have been changed to protect anonymity.

Common Problems

Plats in general are required to be submitted to this office in a “ready to record” condition.  This includes the declarations.  The following tends to showcase just how “not ready” some of these documents were.  Most of the problems can be summarized three ways.

·            They are not Consistent

·            They are not Complete

·            They are not Clear

Last revised: 4/24/2007 3:56:32 PM