A quirk of Illinois Condominium law has long prevented sending notice of the meeting at which an Association’s annual budget would be considered at the same time as the proposed annual budget was sent to unit owners. This is because one section of the law provided that the annual budget had to be sent out at least 30 days in advance of the meeting while another section required that the notice of meeting could not be sent out more than 30 days in advance. Effective June 1, 2016, this will no longer be the case, as the Illinois Condominium Property Act has been amended to provide that the proposed budget can now be distributed to unit owners at least 25 days in advance.

Logan Law, LLC condominium attorneys have represented Illinois condominium associations for forty five years and have a depth of experience and knowledge of Illinois condominium law. Feel free to contact a Logan Law, LLC attorney whenever you need an attorney experienced in condominium or community association law.

The 2014 Appellate Court decision in Palm v 2800 Lake Shore Drive Condominium Association held that discussions of condominium business and taking action on matters at meetings closed to unit owners by a quorum of association Board members was improper except under very limited circumstances. Closed sessions could only be held to discuss (i) pending, imminent or threatened litigation involving the association, (ii) employment issues, (iii) rule violations and (iv) delinquent unit owner assessments.

Effective June 1, 2016, the Illinois Condominium Property Act has been amended to clarify how the closed sessions should be conducted. The amendment provides that closed sessions can only be held as part of a properly called open board meeting.

After the open board meeting is called to order, the directors may then move into a closed session to discuss the topics properly part of a closed session. The amendment also clarifies that any vote on matters considered in a closed session must take place in an open board meeting.

Logan Law, LLC condominium attorneys have represented Illinois condominium associations for forty five years and have a depth of experience and knowledge of Illinois condominium law. Feel free to contact a Logan Law, LLC attorney whenever you need an attorney experienced in condominium or community association law.

The Illinois Supreme Court has affirmed the Appellate Court’s 2014 decision in 1010 Lake Shore Drive Condominium Association v Deutsche Bank, which had held that an Illinois Condominium Association’s right to collect pre-foreclosure assessments is not necessarily wiped out by the confirmation of the foreclosure sale. The Supreme Court held that the assessment lien for pre-foreclosure assessments is only extinguished if two things occur, (i) the foreclosing lender names the condominium association as a party to the foreclosure suit and (ii) the purchaser at the foreclosure sale pays the assessments as they accrue beginning the month following the foreclosure sale.

The Supreme Court held that the payment of assessments after the foreclosure sale is essential “to confirm the extinguishment of the lien created by the prior owner’s failure to pay assessments.” The Supreme Court emphasized that the Illinois Condominium Act protects mortgage lenders by allowing the lender “from time to time (to) request in writing a written statement *** setting forth the unpaid common expenses with respect to the unit covered …” by the loan. Associations are cautioned to respond promptly to any such request to avoid giving a lender a possible defense to an action for pre-foreclosure assessments.

Associations with units delinquent in assessments which are being foreclosed are advised to consult legal counsel in order to make sure they recover the maximum amount of delinquent assessments available in this change area of the law. Feel free to contact a Logan Law, LLC condominium attorney, if you have any questions regarding collection of delinquent condominium assessments or if you need assistance or advice regarding other areas of condominium law.

The 2014 Appellate Court decision in Palm v 2800 Lake Shore Drive Condominium Association held that discussions of condominium business and taking action on matters at meetings closed to unit owners by a quorum of Association Board members was improper except under very limited circumstances. Effective June 1, 2016, the Illinois Condominium Property Act (ICPA) has been amended to clarify the power of an Illinois Association Board to take action in emergency situations.
A new section 18(a) 21 has been added to the ICPA to cover this situation. The new section specifically provides that “The intent of adding this paragraph (21) is to empower and support boards to act in emergencies”.

The new section permits the Board to ratify and confirm actions of board members taken in response to an emergency. The section requires that within seven business days of the occurrence of an emergency event, board members give notice to unit owners of the occurrence of the emergency as well as a general description of the actions to address the event.

Logan Law, LLC condominium attorneys have represented Illinois condominium associations for forty five years and have a depth of experience and knowledge of Illinois condominium law. Feel free to contact a Logan Law, LLC attorney whenever you need an attorney experienced in condominium or community association law.

The Illinois Condominium Property Act provides for only a single qualification for running for or serving on the Board of an Illinois condominium association. That qualification is that the board member or candidate have an ownership interest in a unit. While a delinquent unit owner may be evicted from possession of his or her unit for non-payment of assessments, he or she may still technically remain on the Board of the Association.

In fact, the only disqualification associated with assessment delinquency is found at section 18(b)(1) of the Condominium Act, where a delinquent unit owner may not be counted for purposes of determining if a quorum is present in connection with voting for an amendment to the association’s by laws. However, even in that situation, the delinquent unit owner may still have his or her vote counted in the vote regarding the amendment.

Feel free to contact a Logan Law, LLC condominium attorney, if you have any questions regarding the rights and responsibilities of delinquent Illinois condominium association unit owners, regarding collection of delinquent condominium assessments or if you need assistance or advice regarding other areas of condominium law.

The Illinois Condominium Property Act and the Chicago Condominiums Ordinance require condominium associations to comply with requests of unit owners to review Association records within thirty (30) days of written request for the records.  Both laws provide that a wrongful failure or refusal to produce the records will entitle the unit owner to reimbursement of the unit owner’s attorney fees if the unit owner is forced to retain an attorney to obtain access to the records.

The Chicago Ordinance permits the unit owner to inspect the Association’s books and records of account for the previous ten (10) years, including but not limited to itemized and detailed records of all receipts and expenditures.  The Ordinance does not require the unit owner to state any purpose in order to obtain access to the records.

In the case of the Illinois Condominium Property Act, records are divided into two categories.  The first category, which includes the association’s declaration and by laws, articles of incorporation, meeting minutes and insurance policies, is freely available for inspection by unit owners and does not require that the inquisitive owner state any reason for the request.  The right of a unit owner to inspect other documents of the association requires that the unit owner provide the association “a proper purpose” for the inspection.  In the case of those other records, the unit owner must submit a written request for the records “stating with particularity the records sought to be examined and a proper purpose for the request”.

Logan Law, LLC condominium attorneys have represented Illinois condominium associations for forty five years and have a depth of experience and knowledge of Illinois condominium law.  Feel free to contact a Logan Law, LLC attorney whenever you need an attorney experienced in condominium or community association law.

The 2014 Appellate Court decision in the long running dispute  Of Gary Palm v 2800 Lake Shore Drive Condominium Association will have long lasting and deep effects on the conduct of the Board of Managers of Illinois condominium associations.  The decision will change the way most Boards conduct their business.  Until Palm, most condominium associations and condominium law attorneys believed that a Board could meet in “closed session” telephonic or in person meetings or e-mail exchanges to discuss association business, so long as no final decisions were made or votes taken.

The Palm decision has turned that belief on its head, by holding that any meeting of a quorum of board members to discuss association business, including by telephone or e-mail, had to be held as an open meeting of the board, with proper advance notice to unit owners.  The only exceptions to this rule were the three specific exceptions to the open meeting rule set forth in the Illinois Condominium Property Act, which are meetings:

•  To discuss pending or threatened litigation involving the association;
• To consider information regarding the hiring and firing of employees; or
• To discuss rule violations or unpaid assessments.

Association Boards should be sure to consult their legal counsel regarding the rules of the post Palm II “brave new world” and to set up procedures to make sure that they do not run afoul of the law.  Feel free to contact an experienced Illinois condominium law attorney at Logan Law, LLC, if you have questions about the Palm II decision or any other area of condominium association law.