Statutes

1. Are statutes governing a condominium subject to registration or not?

The Articles of Association of a limited liability housing company are subject to registration in the Finnish Trade Register (not the Land Register).

2. Which statute clauses would you emphasise or consider more relevant?

Most of the mandatory clauses specified in chapter 1 section 13 of the Limited Liability Housing Companies Act are relevant, e.g. clauses containing the following information on the limited liability housing company:

• trade name;
• location and tenure status of the buildings and the real estate in the possession of the company;
• location of each owner apartment in the real estate or building, its identifying number or letter, floor area calculated in accordance with generally accepted construction -sector measurement methods, purpose of use, and the number of rooms in the apartment;
• share or shares (share group) that confer the right of possession to each owner apartment, identified by means of the order number;
• facilities that are in the direct possession of the company; and
• grounds for determination of the charge for common expenses and who determines the amount and payment method.

The articles of association may contain a redemption clause, according to which the limited liability housing company or another person (e.g. shareholder) has the right to redeem shares when the ownership of the shares is transferred to a third party by a shareholder other than the limited liability housing company. Especially for a prospective buyer or seller of shares in a limited liability housing company it is relevant to know, whether or not the Articles of Association of the company in question contain such a redemption clause.

3. In your LR system, if there was a statute clause or provision contrary to Law, should Land Registrars refuse registration thereof? If yes, provide an example. If not, explain briefly the reasons.

The National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland may reject the registration application in case one or several clauses of the Articles of Association are contrary to law or in case one or several of the mandatory clauses are not included in the Articles of Association. For instance a clause that restricts the transfer of shares may not be included in the Articles of Association unless the clause in question is a redemption clause as specified above or unless otherwise provided in some other act.

4. Formal publicity of statutes: What is the procedure to get LR information about statutes? How do interested parties look at the statute?

The Articles of Association of a limited liability housing company are registered in the Finnish Trade Register (Business Register) not the Land Register. The Trade Register is a public register. A copy of the Articles of Association of a limited liability housing company can be ordered from the Trade Register e.g. on the Internet. A small fee is charged for the copy.

5. Particularly: if interested parties asked for LR information about an apartment, would information about condominium statutes also provided?

The Finnish Land Register does not contain information on apartments in a building or buildings owned by a limited liability housing company.