What is the difference between a tenancy in common and a condominium?
In a condominium, property has been legally divided into physical parts that can be separately owned. Each condo owner owns a particular area of the property that is delineated on a map recorded in the public records, and has a deed which identifies the area which is individually owned. By contrast, TIC owners own percentages in an undivided property rather than particular units or apartments, and their deeds show only their ownership percentages. The right of a particular TIC owner to use a particular dwelling comes from a written contract signed by all co-owners (often called a “Tenancy In Common Agreement”), not from a deed, map or other document recorded in county records. The difference between physical division of ownership in county records (as in a condominium) and an unrecorded contract allocating usage rights (as in a tenancy in common) is significant from both regulatory and practical standpoints, as discussed below.
