2006 Code of Virginia § 55-487 - Conversion buildings

55-487. Conversion buildings.

A. A declarant of a cooperative containing conversion buildings shall giveeach of the tenants of a conversion building formal notice of the conversionat the time the cooperative is registered by the agency. This notice shalladvise each tenant of (i) the offering price of the cooperative interests forthe unit he occupies, (ii) the projected common expense assessments againstthat cooperative interest for at least the first year of the cooperative'soperation, (iii) any relocation services, public or private, of which thedeclarant is aware, (iv) any measure taken or to be taken by the declarant toreduce the incidence of tenant dislocation, and (v) the details of therelocation plan, if any is provided by the declarant, to assist tenants inrelocating. No tenant or subtenant may be required to vacate upon less than120 days' notice, except by reason of nonpayment of rent, waste or conductthat disturbs other tenants' peaceful enjoyment of the premises, and theterms of the tenancy may not be altered during that period. Until theexpiration of the 120-day period, the declarant shall have no right of accessto the unit except as provided herein and in subsection A of 55-248.18 andexcept that, upon 45 days' written notice to the tenant, the declarant mayenter the unit in order to make additional repairs, decorations, alterationsor improvements, provided (i) the making of the same does not constitute anactual or constructive eviction of the tenant; and (ii) such entry is madeeither with the consent of the tenant or only at times when the tenant isabsent from the unit. Failure to give notice as required by this section isa defense to an action for possession. The declarant shall also providegeneral notice to the tenants of the cooperative or proposed cooperative atthe time of application to the agency, in addition to the formal noticerequired by this subsection.

B. For sixty days after delivery or mailing of the formal notice described insubsection A, the person required to give the notice shall offer to conveythe cooperative interest for each unit or proposed unit occupied forresidential use to the tenant who leases the unit associated with thatcooperative interest. A specific statement of the purchase price and theamount of any initial or special cooperative fee due from the purchaser on orbefore settlement of the purchase contract and the basis of such fee shall begiven to the tenant. If a tenant fails to purchase the cooperative interestduring that 60-day period, the offeror may not offer to dispose of aninterest in that cooperative interest during the following 180 days at aprice or on terms more favorable to the offeree than the price or termsoffered to the tenant. This subsection does not apply to any cooperativeinterest in a conversion building if the unit which is part of thatcooperative interest will be restricted exclusively to nonresidential use orthe boundaries of the converted unit do not substantially conform to thedimensions of the residential unit before conversion.

C. If a seller, in violation of subsection B, conveys a cooperative interestto a purchaser for value who has no knowledge of the violation, thatconveyance extinguishes any right a tenant may have under subsection B topurchase that cooperative interest if the deed states that the seller hascomplied with subsection B, but does not affect the right of a tenant torecover damages from the seller for a violation of subsection B.

D. If a notice of conversion specifies a date by which a unit or proposedunit must be vacated, and otherwise complies with the provisions of 55-248.6 and 55-248.15, the notice also constitutes a notice to vacate asspecified by 55-222, 55-248.6 and 55-248.15. The details of the relocationplan, if any is provided by the declarant for assisting tenants inrelocating, shall also be provided to the tenant.

E. Any county, city or town may require by ordinance that the declarant of aconversion cooperative file with that governing body all information which isrequired by the agency pursuant to 55-498 and a copy of the formal noticerequired by subsection A. Such information shall be filed with that governingbody when the application for registration is filed with the agency, and suchcopy of the formal notice shall be filed with that governing body whenever itis sent to tenants. No fee shall be imposed for such filings with a governingbody.

F. The governing body of any county utilizing the urban county executive formof optional government ( 15.2-800 through 15.2-858) or the county managerplan of optional government ( 15.2-702 through 15.2-749), or of any city ortown adjoining any such county, may require by ordinance that the declarantof any residential cooperative containing conversion buildings converted frommulti-family rental use shall reimburse any tenant displaced by theconversion for amounts actually expended to relocate as a result of suchdislocation. The reimbursement shall not be required to exceed the amount towhich the tenant would have been entitled to receive under 25.1-407 and25.1-415 if the real estate comprising the condominium had been condemned bythe Department of Highways and Transportation.

G. Any county, city or town may require by ordinance that elderly or disabledtenants, occupying as their residence up to twenty percent of the apartmentsor units in a cooperative containing conversion buildings at the time ofissuance of the general notice required by subsection A hereof, be offeredleases or extensions of leases on the apartments or units they occupy or onother apartments or units of at least equal size and overall quality for upto three years beyond the date of such notice.

The terms and conditions thereof shall be as agreed upon by the lessor andthe lessee, provided that the rent for such apartment or unit shall not be inexcess of reasonable rent for comparable apartments or units in the samemarket area as such conversion building.

Such leases or extensions shall not be required, however, in the case of anyapartments or units which will, in the course of the conversion, besubstantially altered in physical layout, restricted exclusively tononresidential use, or be converted in such a manner as to require relocationof the tenant in premises outside of the project being converted.

H. For the purposes of this section:

"Agency" means the Real Estate Board.

"Elderly" means not less than sixty-two years of age.

"Disabled" means suffering from a severe, chronic physical or mentalimpairment which results in substantial functional limitations.

I. Nothing in this section permits termination of a lease by a declarant inviolation of its terms.

(1982, c. 277; 1983, c. 310; 1984, c. 321; 1985, c. 69; 1993, c. 634.)