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HomeCivil CodeDiv. 4Pt. 5.3Ch. 4Art. 2§ 6656 Condominium Project Partition

§ 6656 Condominium Project Partition

Civil Code·California
AI Summary·Official Text·Key Terms·Related Statutes·References
AI SummaryVerified

§ 6656 Condominium Project Partition

Key Takeaways

  • •In a condo building, shared spaces (like hallways or pools) usually can't be split up by a court.
  • •If a condo is badly damaged (like by a fire or earthquake) and not fixed for over 3 years, an owner can ask a court to sell the whole building.
  • •If most of the condo (75% or more) is destroyed and over half the owners don’t want to fix it, a court can order the whole place to be sold.
  • •If the condo is really old (over 50 years) and falling apart, and over half the owners don’t want to fix it, a court can order it to be sold.

Example

A big earthquake damages a condo building, and half of it is ruined. The owners argue about whether to fix it or not. More than half of the owners don’t want to spend the money to repair it.

Since 75% of the building is damaged and over half the owners don’t want to fix it, one owner can go to court and ask for the whole building to be sold instead of repaired.

AI-generated — May contain errors. Not legal advice. Always verify source.

Official Source
View on CA.gov

§ 6656 Condominium Project Partition

(a) Except as provided in this section, the common area in a condominium project shall remain undivided, and there shall be no judicial partition thereof. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit partition of a cotenancy in a condominium. (b) The owner of a separate interest in a condominium project may maintain a partition action as to the entire project as if the owners of all of the separate interests in the project were tenants in common in the entire project in the same proportion as their interests in the common area. The court shall order partition under this subdivision only by sale of the entire condominium project and only upon a showing of one of the following: (1) More than three years before the filing of the action, the condominium project was damaged or destroyed, so that a material part was rendered unfit for its prior use, and the condominium project has not been rebuilt or repaired substantially to its state prior to the damage or destruction. (2) Three-fourths or more of the project is destroyed or substantially damaged and owners of separate interests holding in the aggregate more than a 50-percent interest in the common area oppose repair or restoration of the project. (3) The project has been in existence more than 50 years, is obsolete and uneconomic, and owners of separate interests holding in the aggregate more than a 50-percent interest in the common area oppose repair or restoration of the project. (4) Any conditions in the declaration for sale under the circumstances described in this subdivision have been met. (Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 605, Sec. 21. (SB 752) Effective January 1, 2014.)

Last verified: January 21, 2026

Key Terms

common areajudicial partitionpartition actionseparate interesttenants in common

Related Statutes

  • § 4610 Condominium Project Partition Rules
  • § 4500 Condominium Common Area Ownership
  • § 4505 Common Area Access Rights
  • § 4510 Member Access To Property
  • § 4525 Seller Disclosure Requirements

References

  • Official text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
  • California Legislature. Civil Code. Section 6656.
View Official Source