Drawing up a townhome survey. The garage is located in the back yard and is split by the lot line. It provides parking and some storage for the end unit I'm surveying and the attached unit next door. I didn't have access to see if there was a party wall in the garage. I am inclined to think there is one.
Is the garage a shared or a common element? Is there a distinction of any importance?
Thx,
JB
> Is the garage a shared or a common element? Is there a distinction of any importance?
If by "townhome" you "condominium", if by "shared" you mean "limited common element", and if the garages are enclosed and meant for the exclusive use of the owner of the associated unit, I would say that the garages are neither LCE nor CE, they part of the unit space.
Common element would be something owned by the Owners Association (or whatever it's called).
Shared would be owned by the individual owner(s).
Some Garages Are Not Part Of The Unit...
...and may be under a separate agreement, or even in a separate structure. Some times a 6 unit townhome or condo building may have 8 garages. You may have 0, 1 or 2 garages seaparate from the unit for the unit's use.
Paul in PA
Some Garages Are Not Part Of The Unit...
Then they are common.
Some Garages Are Not Part Of The Unit...
The residence and the garage can be quite separate structures and still be part of a single unit area.
Bottom line is that the Condominium Declaration defines what is to be Unit Area, what is to be LCE, and what is to be CE. The surveyor only defines the location and dimensions of those things. See the Condo Declaration for your final answer.
Some Garages Are Not Part Of The Unit...
To clarify...
Some Garages Are Not Part Of The Unit...
That doesn't look like a condominium plat to me. It looks like a subdivision lots with common walls. There have to be CCRs that define the maintenance arrangements. But the title is simply in fee. Common and Limited Common Elements have nothing to do with it.
Some Garages Are Not Part Of The Unit...
It never was a condominium.
It's a townhome development.
The difference being that in a townhome setup you get a little bit of land and in a condo you own the interior space (paint to paint). The townhome buildings have 6 units separated by party walls.
My question was about the difference, if any, between calling something shared or common on my plat.
I appreciate your thoughts.
Some Garages Are Not Part Of The Unit...
As Norman OK says, there is sure to be a recorded document providing for maintenance of things like party walls, and perhaps setting up a homeowners' association. In Minnesota the document would be called a Declaration of Covenants or something similar. You could pull that and see how the garages are referred to. It might also contain some other information of interest.
If the document doesn't refer to the garages in any particular way, you might just label this one "garage" and let it go at that. Either "common" or "shared" might be taken to mean that there is no party wall. As you say, it's likely that there is one.
If not portrayed on the filed plat the best a surveyor can say is:
"Garage in use by Unit 'PQ'".
Paul in PA
"Adjoining" garage. "Common" implies they both own all of the garage as a tenancy in common. "Shared" implies they both share the same space. "Adjoining" simply states the fact that the two garages join one another, but remain two separate garages, each being appurtenant to their respective parcel.
JBS
Are there separate garage doors? If so, there probably is a party wall.
