Missouri Condo conversion protections

Condo conversion protections in Missouri

Under RSMo § 448.4-112, which applies to condominiums created within Missouri after September 28, 1983, a declarant of a condominium that contains conversion buildings, and any person in the business of selling real estate for his own account who intends to offer units in that condominium, must give each residential tenant and any residential subtenant in possession notice of the conversion no later than 120 days before the declarant will require those persons to vacate, and must also give them the original sale certificate not less than 60 days before the end of that 120-day period or not less than 60 days before they are required to vacate, whichever is later. A conversion building is a building that, at any time before creation of the condominium, was occupied wholly or partially by persons other than purchasers and persons who occupy with the consent of purchasers. The notice must set forth generally the rights of tenants and subtenants under § 448.4-112 and must be hand-delivered to each unit or mailed by prepaid United States mail to the tenant and subtenant at the address of each unit or any other mailing address provided by a tenant. It must be accompanied by any age, income, or other information form that the local government entity may provide to the declarant for data on low or moderate income tenants affected by the conversion. No tenant or subtenant may be required by the declarant to vacate on less than the later of 120 days' notice or 60 days after receipt of the original sale certificate, except for nonpayment of rent, waste, or conduct that disturbs other tenants' peaceful enjoyment of the premises, and the terms of the tenancy may not be altered during that period. Failure to give the required notice is a defense to an action for possession. If the notice specifies a date by which a unit or proposed unit must be vacated and otherwise complies with RSMo §§ 441.050 and 441.060, it also constitutes a notice to vacate under those sections. Nothing in § 448.4-112 permits termination of a lease by a declarant in violation of its terms. The declarant must also submit written notice of conversion to the department in charge of building codes, or the equivalent, in any incorporated city, town, or village where any portion of a building to be converted is located, at the time the tenant notice is given. For 60 days after delivery or mailing of the original sale certificate, the declarant must offer to convey each unit or proposed unit occupied for residential use to the tenant who leases that unit; if a low or moderate income tenant is seeking to purchase through a government assistance program, that period may be extended by mutual agreement. If the tenant does not purchase during that 60-day period, the declarant may not, during the following 180 days, offer to dispose of an interest in that unit at a price or on terms more favorable to the offeree than those offered to the tenant, unless the declarant first offers the tenant the same terms, after which the tenant has 10 days to accept or reject. That purchase offer does not apply if the unit will be restricted exclusively to nonresidential use or the boundaries of the converted unit do not substantially conform to the dimensions of the residential unit before conversion. If the declarant conveys a unit in violation of that offer rule to a purchaser for value who has no knowledge of the violation, recordation of a deed stating that the seller has complied extinguishes the tenant's right to purchase that unit but does not affect the tenant's right to recover damages from the declarant. Additional occupancy rights apply only as provided in § 448.4-112.3, and only in a condominium of six or more units used for residential purposes at any time during the 12 months immediately preceding the conversion notice. In such a condominium, no more than 10 percent of the total number of units, but not less than one unit in a condominium of six to ten units, with fractions rounded to the nearest whole, must be retained as rental units under that subsection. A low or moderate income elderly tenant (a person 68 or older whose annual net income is less than 80 percent of the HUD Section 8 area median income, and who occupies a conversion building) who is in the building on the date the conversion notice is submitted has the right to occupy the unit for a three-year period, with an option to renew for no more than four successive periods. A Disabled person (a person who meets the low or moderate income tenant income test and is totally and permanently disabled or blind and receiving federal Social Security disability benefits, federal SSI, veterans administration benefits, a state blind pension under RSMo §§ 209.010 to 209.160, state aid to the blind under § 209.240, or state supplemental payments under § 208.030) who is in the building on the date the notice is given has the right to occupy the unit for a one-year period, with an option to renew for no more than two successive periods. To exercise the right, the tenant must notify the declarant in writing within 30 days of receipt of the conversion notice. If that tenant dies after exercising the right, a surviving spouse who then qualifies as a low or moderate income elderly tenant or as Disabled succeeds to the right on the same terms and with the same obligations; the rights end on abandonment of the unit or on the death of the tenant or successor. Those rights may be waived in a written agreement with the declarant or successor unit owner only if the conversion notice fully and completely discloses the rights and obligations, including that they apply only to conversion buildings of six or more units, the limit on the number of units that must be retained, the rent the tenant will owe, and the qualification requirements for Missouri Housing Development Commission financing. Rent for a retained unit may not exceed carrying costs, a replacement reserve, real property taxes, a return on equity of not more than 10 percent per year, and the portion of common expenses and insurance allocable to the unit. A declarant who retains such a unit may apply to the Commission for financial assistance; the declarant has no obligation, and the tenant has no rights, under subsection 3 if financial assistance in an amount sufficient to limit the tenant's rental obligation to 30 percent of the tenant's annual gross income is unavailable. Section 448.4-112 is not among the chapter 448 sections that § 448.1-102.1 also applies to condominiums created before September 28, 1983. Sections 448.1-101 to 448.4-120 do not apply to condominiums or units located outside Missouri, except that the original sale certificate provisions apply to contracts for disposition of such units signed in Missouri by any party. Section 448.4-106 requires extra statements in the original sale certificate for a condominium containing a conversion building with residential units. That is a purchaser-disclosure rule and is not a tenant purchase right; it is not summarized here as a tenant protection. Example: a residential tenant who is not a low or moderate income elderly tenant or Disabled, as those terms are defined in § 448.1-103, cannot be required to leave solely because of the conversion until the later of 120 days after the conversion notice or 60 days after receiving the original sale certificate, unless the tenant has failed to pay rent, committed waste, or engaged in conduct that disturbs other tenants' peaceful enjoyment of the premises.

Verified Source: RSMo §§ 448.1-102, 448.1-103, 448.4-106, 448.4-112 · last checked 2026-11-12