## Facts

- A condominium was created by recorded declaration establishing 48 units, though the declarant was required to build only 24 and had an option to build the remaining 24 during a defined declarant control period.
- The declaration allocated to each unit (including the declarant’s units) an undivided 1/48 interest in the common elements and a 1/48 share of common expenses, with one vote per unit.
- Before the association’s first assessment, the declarant paid all common expenses; afterward, all unit owners were liable for their allocated shares.
- The declaration contemplated a later adjustment of expense allocations at the end of the declarant control period if fewer than 48 units were ultimately constructed.
- A bank foreclosed on the original declarant’s interest; KRE acquired at the foreclosure sale units 25–48 (unbuilt) and special declarant rights.
- The foreclosure deed conveyed the property subject to unpaid and future condominium assessments and related charges or liens.
- After acquiring control, KRE built 16 units but did not pay assessments attributable to units that remained unconstructed.
- The association sued to recover unpaid assessments allocated to KRE’s unbuilt units; the trial court granted summary judgment for the association, and the intermediate court affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether common-expense assessments may be levied and collected on units created by a condominium declaration even if those units are not yet physically constructed.
2. Whether the Maine Condominium Act bars or overrides a declaration’s allocation of common expenses to declared but unbuilt units, such that a successor declarant is not liable for those assessments.

## Decision

- The Law Court affirmed the judgment for the association.
- The association could assess common expenses against all 48 declared units, including unbuilt units.
- KRE, as successor declarant and owner of the unbuilt units, was liable for the proportionate assessments allocated to those units under the declaration.

## Legal Principles

- A condominium declaration’s allocation of common-expense liability among units is enforceable unless the governing statute expressly provides otherwise.
- Under the Maine Condominium Act, a “unit” may be treated as a legal property interest for assessment purposes upon creation in the declaration, even before construction.
- The Act prohibits preferential treatment for a declarant in allocating common-expense assessments; a declarant or successor declarant must bear its allocated share on the same basis as other unit owners.
- A deed conveying condominium units “subject to” unpaid and future assessments supports enforcement of the association’s assessment obligations against the successor owner.

## Conclusion

The court held that declared condominium units exist as assessable legal interests upon recordation of the declaration, and because the Maine Condominium Act does not bar such assessments and disallows preferential treatment for a declarant, the successor declarant was obligated to pay common-expense assessments allocated to its unbuilt units.


Pilgrim Place Condo. Ass'n v. KRE Props., Inc., 666 A.2d 500 (Me. 1995)