• Ohio Condominium Regulationscondominiums comforatble affordable living for eve image by Nellie Vin from Fotolia.com
  
  The laws governing Ohio condominium associations are primarily located in Chapter 5311, "Condominium Property," of the Ohio Revised Code. This chapter includes statutes that directly affect condominium properties, owners and associations. In addition, miscellaneous regulations that indirectly affect condominium associations are found throughout the Ohio Administrative Code.
  
  

Creation of Association

• TThe owner of real property that is to be converted into use as a condominium property must submit a signed declaration to a judge, a court clerk, the county auditor, the county engineer, a notary public or the mayor for certification. The declaration must be filed, along with the association bylaws and the property drawings, with the county recorder.
  
  A condominium unit owners association must be formed within 60 days of the declaration filing. The association must be registered as a not-for-profit organization that facilitates recreational, educational and/or social services for the unit owners, all of whom are required to be members of the association.
  
  The association must be run by a board of directors that is initially set up by either the developer of the property or members of the association. The board of directors should consist of, at minimum, a president, secretary and treasurer. All actions of the board of directors must be approved by a vote of at least 75 percent of the unit owners. The following exemptions allow the board of directors to bypass a membership vote: fulfillment of requirements of institutional mortgagees, guarantors and insurers of first mortgage loans, the federal national mortgage association, the federal home loan mortgage corporation, the federal housing administration, the veterans administration or insurance underwriters. Other exemptions include corrections of clerical, typographical or obvious factual errors in the declaration, and designation of a person to receive service of process.
  
  

Bylaws and Regulations

• The association is required to forms its own bylaws that will govern both the conduct of the association and its board of directors. The bylaws should include a provision stating that the association can sue and be sued and that the association and the unit owners will comply with all covenants, conditions and restrictions set forth in the deed or be subject to civil action. The association has the option of including a provision that exempts it from Chapter 5311 of the Ohio Revised Code.
  
  The bylaws are not permitted to include any prohibition against unit owners placing a flagpole and/or a United States flag on the immediately adjacent exterior of their units. The bylaws, however, can require that flags be displayed in accordance with Title 4 U.S.C. § 5 (Display and use of flag by civilians; codification of rules and customs; definition); S.C.R. 61 of the 105th Congress, 1st Session (1998) ("Our Flag"); or any federal law, proclamation of the president of the United States or the governor, section of the Revised Code, or local ordinance or resolution.
  
  

Allowed Governmental Interference

• The Board of Building Standards may inspect a condominium property pursuant to the Ohio Mechanical Code at any time to ensure that all units have at least one smoke detector and an audible alarm-signaling device installed in the immediate vicinity of all sleeping rooms.
  
  The State Fiscal Administration may distribute community assistance funds for facility development to assist any county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to acquire a condominium unit for its clients.
  
  The Office of the State Attorney General may institute a consumer protection action against the developer or the association on behalf of a unit owner when the unit owner shows that the developer or the association has willfully violated Chapter 5311 of the Ohio Revised Code.