Dryer Venting for 1984 Condo
The IRC (International Residential Code, section M1502) requires venting a dryer to the outside, and did so as far back as 1997 (the oldest reference I have access to), but most likely farther back than that. However, you CAN use what's called a ventless &quot;condensing&quot; dryer if it is specifically UL listed as such and if there is no access to an outside wall. The &quot;water-filled lint catch basin&quot; is exactly what that would look like, and you will have to periodically empty that water. So it could be that the condo builder provided listed ventless condensing dryers to all of the initial buyers of the condos, rather than install vents to the outside walls. If what's there now is not one though, you can't use a regular dryer there.
Dryer vents are also restricted to being 35ft or less and for every 90deg. bend, that is reduced by 5ft. I don't think a vertical vent (i.e. out the roof) is acceptable, either. So you must either use the condensing ventless dryers or go out a side wall with no more than 35ft of pipe.