Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 77.djvu/486

 454

PUBLIC LAW 88-218-DEC. 21, 1963

[77 STAT.

(1) the council of co-owners does not determine to repair, reconstruct or rebuild as provided in sections 21 and 22 of this Act, or, (2) the insurance indemnity is delivered pro rata to the co-owners in conformity with the pix)A'isions of section 21 of this Act and if the co-owners do not terminate and waive the regime in conformity with this section of this Act, then any unit owner or any other person aggrieved thereby may file a petition in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, setting forth under oath such facts as may be necessary to entitle the petitioner to the relief prayed and praying judicial termination of the horizontal property regime. Said petition may be served as provided in section 14(g) of this Act. The court may thereupon lay a rule upon the council of co-owners, unless they shall voluntarily appear and admit the allegations of the petition, to show cause, under oath, on or before the tenth day, exclusive of Sundays and legal holidays, after service of such rule, why the prayers of said petition should not be granted. If no cause be shown against the prayer of the petition by the council of co-owners, or by any one of the co-owners, the court may determine in a summary way whether the facts warrant termination and thereupon the court may decree the particular horizontal property regime terminated. (b) In the event a horizontal property regime is terminated or waived, the property shall be deemed to be owned in common by the co-owners, and the undivided interest in the property owned in common which shall appertain to each co-owner shall be the percentage of undivided interest previously owned by such co-owner in the common elements in the property as set forth in the declaration under section 6 hereof. (c) Upon such termination and waiver the provisions of section 10 of this Act shall no longer be applicable and reference to the principal property thereupon, shall be to the plat and record of the prior land subdivision and thereupon the restraint against partition or division of the co-ownership imposed by section 7 of this Act shall no longer apply. In the event of such partition suit the net proceeds shall be divided among all the unit owners, in proportion to their respective undivided ownership of the common elements, after first paying off, out of the respective shares of the unit owners, all liens on the unit of each unit owner. To be valid such termination shall be recorded among the land records of the District of Columbia. SEC. 12. MERGER No BAR TO EECONSTITUTION.—The merger provided for in the preceding section shall in no way bar the subsequent constitution of the property into another horizontal property regime whenever so desired and upon observance of the provisions of this Act. SEC. 13. BYLAWS, AVAILABILITY FOR EXAMINATION.—(a)

The

ad-

ministration of every building constituted into a horizontal property regime shall be governed by the bylaws as the council of co-owners may from time to time adopt, which said bylaws together with the declaration, including recorded attachments thereto, referred to in section 6 of this Act shall be available for examination by all the co-owners, their duly authorized attorneys or agents, at convenient hours on working days that shall be set and announced for general knowledge. (b) A true copy of said bylaws shall be annexed to the declaration referred to in section 6 of this Act and made a part thereof. No modification of or amendment to the bylaws shall be valid unless set forth in an amendment to the declaration and such amendment is duly recorded.

�