What the Declarant Is Allowed To Control

The declaration may authorize the declarant, a managing agent, or a person the declarant selects to appoint and remove some or all of the management committee members or the association's officers, or to exercise powers the declaration and this chapter otherwise assign to the association, its officers, or the committee.

Where the declaration grants that authority, the declarant may appoint its own officers, employees, or agents to the management committee or as officers of the association. 

The scope cannot be widened after the fact without unanimity. An amendment to the declaration may not increase the scope of that authorization unless all unit owners unanimously consent.

When Declarant Control Ends

The authorization terminates on the day the first of these happens.

• The time limit in the declaration expires. That limit may not exceed six years for an expandable condominium, four years for a project containing any convertible land, or three years for any other condominium project
• Units to which three-fourths of the undivided interest in the common areas and facilities appertain have been conveyed
• All additional land has been added, and all convertible land converted, whichever last occurs

Two things to note about that list. The years are ceilings on what the declaration may set, not defaults, so your declaration may be shorter. And the second trigger is measured by undivided interest conveyed, not by unit count, so in a project with units of unequal size, those two numbers are not the same.

Declarant-Era Contracts Die Unless Owners Renew Them

A management contract, a lease of recreational areas or facilities, or any other contract or lease designed to benefit the declarant, if entered into during the period of administrative control on behalf of the association or the owners as a group, is not binding after that period ends unless owners holding a majority of the votes renew and ratify it.

The default is termination. A new owner-elected committee does not have to act to escape a declarant-favorable contract; it has to act only if it wants to keep one.

What the Declarant Owes You While It Is in Control

During the period of administrative control, the declarant shall do all of the following:

• Use reasonable care and prudence in managing and maintaining the common areas and facilities
• Establish a sound fiscal basis for the association by imposing and collecting assessments and establishing reserves for maintenance and replacement of the common areas
• For any service the association is or will be obligated to provide, disclose how much the declarant is paying for or subsidizing it
• Comply with and enforce the declaration, including design controls, land-use restrictions, and the payment of assessments
• Disclose all material facts and circumstances affecting the condition of the property the association maintains, and the association's financial condition, including the declarant's and its affiliates' interest in any contract, lease, or agreement the association entered into

The subsidy disclosure and the affiliate-interest disclosure are the two that matter most at turnover. A budget propped up by declarant subsidies will need real assessments once the subsidy stops, and owners are entitled to know that before they inherit it.

The Interpretive Rule That Favors Owners

"This section shall be strictly construed to protect the rights of the unit owners."

If No Association or Committee Exists Yet

If the association or management committee does not exist, or has no officers, when the condominium project is created, the declarant has the power and responsibility to act in every instance where this chapter or the declaration requires action by the association, the committee, or their officers, until an association or committee with officers exists.

That is a responsibility as much as a power. The duties in Subsection (5) apply to the declarant during that time.

What Happens at Turnover

This chapter sets no election formula for the moment control ends, so the mechanics come from your declaration and bylaws. Read them before the date arrives, and see Management Committees for who may serve, and board member overview for what the law requires of the new committee.

Two documents to obtain at turnover: the association's financial records and the reserve analysis. For what the association must keep and how quickly it must produce it, see Records and Document Requests.

Every deadline on this page also appears in Deadlines and Thresholds. If the declarant will not disclose what this section requires, read Advisory Opinions and Where To Take a Problem.

Reviewed against the Utah Code, current as of September 8, 2026.