Common Interest Developments (CID) are the fastest growing form of housing in the world today. They are commonly known and seen as condominiums, timeshares, planned unit developments, including single family homes, along with other titles and descriptions. The ownership benefits of a CID are to have rights to an undivided interest in common areas and amenities which might prove to be too expensive to be solely owned. For example, an owner would like to have a pool but cannot afford one on their own. But if buying a condominium with a pool in a CID of one hundred units, an owner would have use of that pool for basically one-hundredth the cost due to sharing this cost with the other 99 owners.

Within the United States, when a CID is developed, the developer is required to incorporate (in form) a Homeowners’ Association (abrev. HOA) prior to any property sales. The role of the HOA is to manage the CID once control is transferred from the developer. The HOA governs the CID based upon the incorporated Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (abrev. CC&Rs) which were recorded when the property for the CID was subdivided. The CC&Rs will outline the financial budgeting guideline for the HOA in determining the dollar amount in maintenance fees for assessing the owners. In a wholly owned CID, maintenance fees would normally be assessed on a monthly basis.

There are a number of pros and cons to living in a CID, which we will cover in our next installment.