The unsuspecting buyer thinks they're getting a high quality home for the high price they're paying, but they get no more than the cheap apartment you once occupied. By the time they realize they've been taken, the landlord is counting his money in the Caymans. The law permits this and even gives you the "chance" to buy your unit, so that you don't have to move . Each City and County has their own rules as to what you get, or don't get, as a tenant in such a building. Also, whether the landlord has to really fix everything, or can get away with superficial cosmetics, depends on the quality of local code enforcement. The most you can do to get things fixed, and to stall the inevitable conversion, is to have everyone in the building go through their unit with the Habitability Checklist on this website, and send the combined lists to the Housing Department and the landlord; when the units come up for sale, another copy should be given to the broker who is selling the unit, because then he will have to tell all of the buyers about all of the defects you have listed, even in the other tenants' units. This is because a condo owner owns the entire building complex plus the air space within their particular unit. If unit 5 is falling apart, every condo owner has to pay to repair it. This prospect makes the landlord obligated to fix everything before he starts selling the units, and he may not be able to afford to do that, and give up. At least, it gets you your money's worth for the last few months of your tenancy.
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