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15 U.S. Code § 3608. Judicial determinations respecting unconscionable leases
(a) Lease characteristics; authorization by unit owners; conditions precedent to actionCooperative and condominium unit owners through the unit owners’ association may bring an action seeking a judicial determination that a lease or leases, or portions thereof, were unconscionable at the time they were made. An action may be brought under this section if each such lease has all of the following characteristics:
(1)
it was made in connection with a cooperative or condominium project;
(2)
it was entered into while the cooperative or condominium owners’ association was controlled by the developer either through special developer control or because the developer held a majority of the votes in the owners’ association;
(3)
it had to be accepted or ratified by purchasers or through the unit owners’ association as a condition of purchase of a unit in the cooperative or condominium project;
(4)
it is for a period of more than twenty-one years or is for a period of less than twenty-one years but contains automatic renewal provisions for a period of more than twenty-one years;
(5)
it contains an automatic rent increase clause; and
(6)
it was entered into prior to June 4, 1975.
Such action must be authorized by the cooperative or condominium unit owners through a vote of not less than two-thirds of the owners of the units other than units owned by the developer or an affiliate of the developer, and may be brought by the cooperative or condominium unit owners through the units owners’ association. Prior to instituting such action, the cooperative or condominium unit owners must, through a vote of not less than two-thirds of the owners of the units other than units owned by the developer or an affiliate of the developer, agree to enter into negotiation with the lessor and must seek through such negotiation to eliminate or modify any lease terms that are alleged to be unconscionable; if an agreement is not reached in ninety days from the date on which the authorizing vote was taken, the unit owners may authorize an action after following the procedure specified in the preceding sentence.