NOTE: §1141.2 eff. until Jan. 1, 2025. See Acts 2024, No. 158.

§1141.2. Definitions

            As used in this Part, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

            (1) "Association property" means all the property either held by the association or commonly held by the members of the association, or both, and lots privately held by members of the association.

            (2) "Common area" means property owned or otherwise maintained, repaired, or administered by the association for the benefit, use, and enjoyment of its members.

            (3) "Community documents" means the articles of incorporation, bylaws, plat, declarations, covenants, conditions, restrictions, rules and regulations, or other written instruments, including any amendment thereto, by which the association has the authority to exercise any of its powers to manage, maintain, or otherwise affect the association property or which otherwise govern the use of association property.

            (4) "Declaration" means any instrument, however denominated, that establishes or regulates, or both, a residential planned community, and any amendment thereto.

            (5) "Homeowners association" or "association" means a nonprofit corporation, unincorporated association, or other legal entity, which is created pursuant to a declaration, whose members consist primarily of lot owners, and which is created to manage or regulate, or both, the residential planned community.

            (6) "Lot" means any plot or parcel of land designated for separate ownership shown on a recorded subdivision plat for a residential development or the boundaries of which are otherwise described in a recorded instrument, other than common area, within the jurisdiction of the residential community as such area is described in the community documents.

            (7) "Residential planned community" or "planned community" means a real estate development, used primarily for residential purposes, in which the owners of separately owned lots are mandatory members of an association by virtue of such ownership.

NOTE: §1141.2 as amended by Acts 2024, No. 158, eff. Jan. 1, 2025.

§1141.2. Definitions

            As used in this Part, the following terms have the meanings indicated below:

            (1) "Affiliate of the declarant" means any person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a declarant. For purposes of this Paragraph:

            (a) A person controls a declarant if the person satisfies any of the following:

            (i) The person is a general partner, officer, director, employer, or manager of the declarant.

            (ii) The person directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds the power to vote, or holds proxies representing, more than twenty percent of the voting interest in the declarant.

            (iii) The person controls in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the declarant.

            (iv) The person has contributed more than twenty percent of the capital of the declarant.

            (b) A person is controlled by a declarant if the declarant satisfies any of the following:

            (i) The declarant is a general partner, officer, director, employer, or manager of the person.

            (ii) The declarant directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds the power to vote, or holds proxies representing, more than twenty percent of the voting interest in the person.

            (iii) The declarant controls in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the person.

            (iv) The declarant has contributed more than twenty percent of the capital of the person.

            (c) Control does not exist if the powers described in this Paragraph are held solely as security for an obligation and are not exercised.

            (2) "Assessment" means the sum allocable to each lot and due to the association pursuant to R.S. 9:1141.32.

            (3) "Association" or "lot owners association" means the lot owners association organized pursuant to R.S. 9:1141.19.

            (4) "Board of directors" means the body, regardless of name, designated in the declaration or bylaws to conduct and supervise the affairs of the association.

            (5) "Bylaws" means a written instrument that meets the requirements of R.S. 9:1141.25 and contains the procedures for the conduct of the affairs of the association, including any amendments to the instrument.

            (6) "Common area" means any immovable property located within a planned community and designated as such on a recorded plat for the benefit of or use by lot owners and their invitees.

            (7) "Common expense liability" means the liability for common expenses allocated to each lot pursuant to R.S. 9:1141.6.

            (8) "Common expenses" means expenditures made by, or financial liabilities of, the association, together with any allocations to reserves for the benefit and use of the planned community.

            (9) "Community document or documents" means the articles of incorporation, bylaws, declarations, building restrictions, rules and regulations, or other written instruments, including any amendment thereto, by which the association has the authority to exercise any of its powers to manage, maintain, or otherwise affect the planned community or any immovable property located therein.

            (10) "Complete property description" means any description of immovable property that, if contained in a mortgage of the immovable property filed for registry, would be sufficient for the mortgage to be effective against third persons.

            (11) "Declarant" means the person designated as such in the declaration or, in the absence of a designation, the owner of the immovable property or the ground lessee who executes the declaration to establish the planned community.

            (12) "Declaration" means any instrument, however denominated, that creates a planned community, including any amendments to the instrument.

            (13) "Development right" means any right or combination of rights reserved by a declarant in the declaration to do any of the following:

            (a) Add immovable property to a planned community.

            (b) Create lots, common areas, or limited common areas within a planned community.

            (c) Subdivide lots or convert lots into common areas.

            (d) Withdraw immovable property from a planned community.

            (14) "Director" means a person who serves on the board of directors elected or appointed to conduct and supervise the affairs of the association.

            (15) "Electronic means" includes any form of communication that does not directly involve the physical transmission of paper and that creates a record capable of being retrieved, reviewed, and retained by a recipient of the communication. A meeting conducted by electronic means includes a meeting conducted by teleconference, videoconference, internet exchange, or other electronic methods. Any term used in this Paragraph that is defined in R.S. 9:2601 et seq., the Louisiana Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, shall have the meaning set forth in that Act.

            (16) "Electronic transmission" or "electronically transmitted" means any form or process of communication, not directly involving the physical transfer of paper or another tangible medium, that is both of the following:

            (a) Suitable for the retention, retrieval, and reproduction of information by the recipient.

            (b) Retrievable in paper form by the recipient through an automated process used in conventional commercial practice, provided that this requirement shall not apply if both of the following conditions are met:

            (i) The electronic transmission is otherwise retrievable in perceivable form.

            (ii) The sender and the recipient have consented in writing to the use of the form of electronic transmission.

            (17) "Leasehold planned community" means a planned community in which all or a portion of the immovable property is subject to a lease, the expiration or termination of which will terminate the planned community or reduce its size.

            (18) "Limited common areas" means a portion of the common areas allocated by the declaration or by operation of R.S. 9:1141.8 for the exclusive use of one or more but fewer than all of the lot owners and their invitees.

            (19) "Lot" means any immovable property within a planned community designated for separate ownership on a recorded plat, other than common areas.

            (20) "Lot owner" means a person appearing as an owner of a lot in the conveyance records of the parish where the lot is located.

            (21) "Majority vote" means the vote cast through a method permitted by R.S. 9:1141.28 by more than fifty percent of the voting interest present at a duly called meeting of the association.

            (22) "Member" or "membership" means all lot owners, as well as former lot owners entitled to distributions of proceeds pursuant to R.S. 9:1141.15, or their heirs, successors, or assigns.

            (23) "Nonresidential use" means any commercial, office, retail, or similar type of use, or any other use that is not a residential use.

            (24) "Occupant" means any person occupying a lot, including persons occupying by permission or accommodation of the owner, former owner, or another occupant, whether express or implied.

            (25) "Person" means both natural persons and juridical persons as defined in Civil Code Article 24, unless otherwise indicated.

            (26) "Planned community" means immovable property described in a declaration that obligates lot owners to pay assessments related to common areas, to other lots, or to other property described in the declaration. A planned community shall not include condominium property subject to the Louisiana Condominium Act.

            (27) "Record", used as a noun, means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

            (28) "Residential use" means the use of a lot as a residence, including the use of a multi-unit building as a residence, provided that the building contains four or fewer separate housing units, the building is located on a single lot, and the entirety of the building is owned by the same person or persons.

            (29) "Restriction" means an obligation imposed on a lot, whether affirmative or negative, by the declaration.

            (30) "Rule" means a policy, guideline, restriction, procedure, or regulation of an association, however denominated, that is not set forth in the declaration or bylaws and that governs the conduct of persons or the use or appearance of property.

            (31) "Security right" means any form of security as defined in Civil Code Article 3136.

            (32) "Special declarant rights" means rights reserved for the benefit of a declarant to do any of the following:

            (a) Complete improvements indicated on plats filed with the declaration.

            (b) Exercise any development right.

            (c) Exercise sales and marketing rights in accordance with R.S. 9:1141.12.

            (d) Establish any servitudes through the common areas for making improvements within the planned community or within immovable property that may be added to the planned community.

            (e) Make the planned community subject to a master association.

            (f) Combine a planned community with another planned community.

            (g) Appoint or remove any officer of the association or any master association or any director during any period of declarant control.

            (h) Control any construction, design review, or aesthetic standards committee or process.

            (i) Attend meetings of the lot owners and, except during an executive session, the board of directors.

            (j) Have access to the records of the association to the same extent as a lot owner.

            (k) Set the number of directors and officers of the association.

            (33) "Supermajority vote" means the vote cast through a method permitted by R.S. 9:1141.28 by more than eighty percent of the voting interest in the association.

            (34) "Two-thirds vote" means the vote cast through a method permitted by R.S. 9:1141.28 by at least two-thirds of the voting interest present at a duly called meeting of the association.

            (35) "Unrelated purchaser" means a person who purchases a lot and who is not any of the following:

            (a) The declarant or an affiliate of the declarant.

            (b) An individual, trust, or other person that directly or indirectly owns twenty percent or more of the declarant.

            (c) An immediate family member of a person described in Subparagraph (a) or (b) of this Paragraph.

            (36) "Vote" means consent, waiver, ballot, or proxy by a method permitted by R.S. 9:1141.28.

            (37) "Voting interest" or "voting power" means the votes allocated to a lot in the declaration.

            Acts 1999, No. 309, §2, eff. June 16, 1999; Acts 2024, No. 158, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2025.