Ohio Code 5311.27 – Purchaser’s remedies – attorney general actions
(A)(1) In addition to any other remedy available, a contract or agreement for the sale of a condominium ownership interest that is executed in violation of section 5311.25 or 5311.26 of the Revised Code shall be voidable by the purchaser until the later of fifteen days after the contract is entered into for sale of the condominium ownership interest or fifteen days after the purchaser executes a document evidencing receipt of the information required by section 5311.26 of the Revised Code, except that in no case is the contract or agreement voidable after the title to the condominium ownership interest is conveyed to the purchaser.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5311.27
- Agent: means any person who represents a developer or who acts for or on behalf of a developer in selling or offering to sell any ownership interest in a condominium development. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Bond: includes an undertaking. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Condominium: means a form of real property ownership in which a declaration has been filed submitting the property to the condominium form of ownership pursuant to this chapter and under which each owner has an individual ownership interest in a unit with the right to exclusive possession of that unit and an undivided ownership interest with the other unit owners in the common elements of the condominium property. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Condominium instruments: means the declaration and accompanying drawings and plans, the bylaws of the unit owners association, the condominium development disclosure statement described in section 5311. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Condominium ownership interest: means a fee simple estate or a ninety-nine-year leasehold estate, renewable forever, in a unit, together with an appurtenant undivided interest in the common elements. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Developer: includes the declarant of a condominium development and any successor to that declarant who stands in the same relation to the condominium development as the declarant. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Purchaser: means a person who purchases a condominium ownership interest for consideration pursuant to an agreement for the conveyance or transfer of that interest for consideration. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Unit: means the part of the condominium property that is designated as a unit in the declaration, is delineated as a unit on the drawings prepared pursuant to section 5311. See Ohio Code 5311.01
(2) Upon the exercise of the right to void the contract or agreement, the developer or an agent shall refund fully and promptly to the purchaser any deposit or other prepaid fee or item and any amount paid on the purchase price and shall pay all closing costs paid by the purchaser or for which the purchaser is liable in connection with the void sale.
(B)(1) Any developer or agent who sells a condominium ownership interest in violation of section 5311.25 or 5311.26 of the Revised Code shall be liable to the purchaser in an amount equal to the difference between the amount paid for the interest and the least of the following amounts:
(a) The fair market value of the interest as of the time the suit is brought;
(b) The price at which the interest is disposed of in a bona fide market transaction before suit is brought;
(c) The price at which the unit is disposed of in a bona fide market transaction after suit is brought but before judgment is entered.
(2)(a) In no case shall the amount recoverable under this section be less than five hundred dollars for each violation against each purchaser bringing an action under this section, together with court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
(b) If the purchaser complaining of the violation of section 5311.25 or 5311.26 of the Revised Code brings or maintains an action that the purchaser knows to be groundless or in bad faith and if the developer or agent prevails, the court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees to the developer or agent.
(C)(1) If the attorney general has reason to believe that substantial numbers of persons are affected and substantial harm is occurring or is about to occur to those persons or that the case is otherwise of substantial public interest, the attorney general may do either of the following:
(a) Bring an action to obtain a declaratory judgment that an act or practice of a developer violates section 5311.25 or 5311.26 of the Revised Code or the condominium instruments, or to enjoin a developer who is violating or threatening to violate those sections or instruments;
(b) Bring a class action for damages on behalf of persons injured by a developer’s violation of section 5311.25 or 5311.26 of the Revised Code or of the condominium instruments.
(2)(a) On motion of the attorney general and without bond, in an attorney general’s action under this section, the court may make appropriate orders, including, but not limited to, orders for appointment of a master or a receiver, for sequestration of assets, to reimburse persons found to have been damaged, or to grant other appropriate relief. The court may assess the expenses of a master or receiver against the developer.
(b) Any moneys or property recovered by the attorney general in an action under this section that, with due diligence within five years, cannot be restored to persons entitled to them shall be unclaimed funds reportable under Chapter 169 of the Revised Code.
(c) No action may be brought by the attorney general under this section to recover for a transaction more than two years after the occurrence of a violation.
(d) If a court determines that provision has been made for reimbursement or other appropriate corrective action, insofar as practicable, with respect to all persons damaged by a violation, or in any other appropriate case, the attorney general, with court approval, may terminate enforcement proceedings brought by the attorney general upon acceptance of an assurance from the developer of voluntary compliance with sections 5311.25 and 5311.26 of the Revised Code or with the condominium instruments, with respect to the alleged violation. The assurance shall be filed with the court and entered as a consent judgment. A consent judgment is not evidence of prior violation of those sections. Disregard of the terms of a consent judgment entered upon an assurance shall be treated as a violation of an injunction issued under this section.
(D) Nonmaterial errors and omissions in the disclosure statements required by sections 5311.25 and 5311.26 of the Revised Code shall not be actionable in a civil action otherwise authorized by this section if the developer or agent has attempted in good faith to comply with the disclosure requirements and if the developer or agent has substantially complied with those requirements.