SB3572 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 18505 AJO 63736 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SB3572

Introduced 2/10/2012, by Sen. William R. Haine

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

765 ILCS 160/1-15
765 ILCS 160/1-20
765 ILCS 160/1-25
765 ILCS 160/1-30
765 ILCS 160/1-35
765 ILCS 160/1-45

Amends the Common Interest Community Association Act. Provides that the board of directors of a common interest community association has the authority to revise all severed community instruments independent of the membership. Provides that no action to incorporate a common interest community as a municipality shall begin until two-thirds of the members sign an incorporation document. Provides that routine scheduled elections (instead of annual elections) shall be held for the board of managers or the board of directors. Provides for the elimination of voting by proxy in elections. Provides that if there are multiple owners of a single unit only one of the multiple owners is eligible to serve as a board member at any one time, unless the member owns another unit independently. Provides that the Board shall approve a budget including reserves, capital expenses, and operating expenses which shall be assessed equally to the membership. Provides that if total common expenses exceed the budget, the board shall disclose this to all members and identify subsequent assessments that will be made to offset this variance in future budgets. Provides that assessments for additions and alterations to common areas or to association-owned property not in the budget, shall be separately assessed and are subject to approval of a simple majority (instead of two-thirds) of the total members at a meeting called for that purpose. Makes other changes.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Common Interest Community Association Act is amended by changing Sections 1-15, 1-20, 1-25, 1-30, 1-35, and 1-45 as follows:

(765 ILCS 160/1-15)

Sec. 1-15. Construction, interpretation, and validity of community instruments.

(a) Except to the extent otherwise provided by the declaration or other community instruments, the terms defined in Section 1-5 of this Act shall be deemed to have the meaning specified therein unless the context otherwise requires.

(b) All provisions of the declaration, bylaws, and other community instruments are severable. The board of directors has the authority to revise all severed community instruments independent of the membership.

(c) A provision in the declaration limiting ownership, rental, or occupancy of a unit to a person 55 years of age or older shall be valid and deemed not to be in violation of Article 3 of the Illinois Human Rights Act provided that the person or the immediate family of a person owning, renting, or lawfully occupying such unit prior to the recording of the initial declaration shall not be deemed to be in violation of such age restriction so long as they continue to own or reside in such unit.

(d) Every common interest community association shall define a member and its relationship to the units or unit owners in its community instruments.

(Source: P.A. 96-1400, eff. 7-29-10; 97-605, eff. 8-26-11.)

(765 ILCS 160/1-20)

Sec. 1-20. Amendments to the declaration or bylaws.

(a) The administration of every property shall be governed by the declaration and bylaws, which may either be embodied in the declaration or in a separate instrument, a true copy of which shall be appended to and recorded with the declaration. No modification or amendment of the declaration or bylaws shall be valid unless the same is set forth in an amendment thereof and such amendment is duly recorded. An amendment of the declaration or bylaws shall be deemed effective upon recordation, unless the amendment sets forth a different effective date.

(b) Unless otherwise provided by this Act, amendments to community instruments authorized to be recorded shall be executed and recorded by the president of the board or such other officer authorized by the common interest community association or the community instruments.

(c) If an association that currently permits leasing amends its declaration, bylaws, or rules and regulations to prohibit leasing, nothing in this Act or the declarations, bylaws, rules and regulations of an association shall prohibit a unit owner incorporated under 26 USC 501(c)(3) which is leasing a unit at the time of the prohibition from continuing to do so until such time that the unit owner voluntarily sells the unit; and no special fine, fee, dues, or penalty shall be assessed against the unit owner for leasing its unit.

(d) No action to incorporate a common interest community as a municipality shall commence until an instrument agreeing to incorporation has been signed by two-thirds of the members.

(Source: P.A. 96-1400, eff. 7-29-10; 97-605, eff. 8-26-11.)

(765 ILCS 160/1-25)

Sec. 1-25. Board of managers, board of directors, duties, elections, and voting.

(a) Routine scheduled elections shall be held for There shall be an annual election of the board of managers or board of directors from among the membership of a common interest community association.

(b) (Blank).

(c) The members of the board shall serve without compensation, unless the community instruments indicate otherwise.

(d) No member of the board or officer shall be elected for a term of more than 3 years, but officers and board members may succeed themselves.

(e) If there is a vacancy on the board, the remaining members of the board may fill the vacancy by a two-thirds vote of the remaining board members until the next annual meeting of the membership or until members holding 20% of the votes of the association request a meeting of the members to fill the vacancy for the balance of the term. A meeting of the members shall be called for purposes of filling a vacancy on the board no later than 30 days following the filing of a petition signed by membership holding 20% of the votes of the association requesting such a meeting.

(f) There shall be an election of a:

(1) president from among the members of the board, who shall preside over the meetings of the board and of the membership;

(2) secretary from among the members of the board, who shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the board and of the membership and who shall, in general, perform all the duties incident to the office of secretary; and

(3) treasurer from among the members of the board, who shall keep the financial records and books of account.

(g) If no election is held to elect board members within the time period specified in the bylaws, or within a reasonable amount of time thereafter not to exceed 90 days, then 20% of the members may bring an action to compel compliance with the election requirements specified in the bylaws. If the court finds that an election was not held to elect members of the board within the required period due to the bad faith acts or omissions of the board of managers or the board of directors, the unit owners shall be entitled to recover their reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the association. If the relevant notice requirements have been met and an election is not held solely due to a lack of a quorum, then this subsection (g) does not apply.

(h) Where there is more than one owner of a unit and there is only one member vote associated with that unit, if only one of the multiple owners is present at a meeting of the membership, he or she is entitled to cast the member vote associated with that unit.

(h-5) A member may vote:

(1) by proxy executed in writing by the member or by his or her duly authorized attorney in fact, provided, however, that the proxy bears the date of execution. Unless the community instruments or the written proxy itself provide otherwise, proxies will not be valid for more than 11 months after the date of its execution; or

(2) by submitting an association-issued ballot in person at the election meeting; or

(3) by submitting an association-issued ballot to the association or its designated agent by mail or other means of delivery specified in the declaration or bylaws.

(i) The association may, upon adoption of the appropriate rules by the board, conduct elections by secret ballot, distributed by the association, whereby the voting ballot is marked only with the voting interest for the member and the vote itself, provided that the association shall further adopt rules to verify the status of the member issuing a proxy or casting a ballot. A candidate for election to the board or such candidate's representative shall have the right to be present at the counting of ballots at such election.

(j) Upon proof of purchase, the purchaser of a unit from a seller other than the developer pursuant to an installment contract for purchase shall, during such times as he or she resides in the unit, be counted toward a quorum for purposes of election of members of the board at any meeting of the membership called for purposes of electing members of the board, shall have the right to vote for the members of the board of the common interest community association and to be elected to and serve on the board unless the seller expressly retains in writing any or all of such rights.

(Source: P.A. 96-1400, eff. 7-29-10; 97-605, eff. 8-26-11.)

(765 ILCS 160/1-30)

Sec. 1-30. Board duties and obligations; records.

(a) The board shall meet at least 4 times annually.

(b) A member of the board of the common interest community association may not enter into a contract with a current board member, or with a corporation or partnership in which a board member or a member of his or her immediate family has 25% or more interest, unless notice of intent to enter into the contract is given to unit owners within 20 days after a decision is made to enter into the contract and the unit owners are afforded an opportunity by filing a petition, signed by 20% of the membership, for an election to approve or disapprove the contract; such petition shall be filed within 20 days after such notice and such election shall be held within 30 days after filing the petition. For purposes of this subsection, a board member's immediate family means the board member's spouse, parents, and children.

(c) The bylaws shall provide for the maintenance, repair, and replacement of the common areas and payments therefor, including the method of approving payment vouchers.

(d) (Blank).

(e) The association may engage the services of a manager or management company.

(f) The association shall have one class of membership unless the declaration or bylaws provide otherwise; however, this subsection (f) shall not be construed to limit the operation of subsection (c) of Section 1-20 of this Act.

(g) The board shall have the power, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, to levy and collect reasonable fines from unit owners for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations of the common interest community association.

(h) Other than attorney's fees and court or arbitration costs, no fees pertaining to the collection of a unit owner's financial obligation to the association, including fees charged by a manager or managing agent, shall be added to and deemed a part of a unit owner's respective share of the common expenses unless: (i) the managing agent fees relate to the costs to collect common expenses for the association; (ii) the fees are set forth in a contract between the managing agent and the association; and (iii) the authority to add the management fees to a unit owner's respective share of the common expenses is specifically stated in the declaration or bylaws of the association.

(i) Board records.

(1) The board shall maintain the following records of the association and make them available for examination and copying at convenient hours of weekdays by any unit owner in a common interest community subject to the authority of the board, their mortgagees, and their duly authorized agents or attorneys:

(i) Copies of the recorded declaration, other community instruments, other duly recorded covenants and bylaws and any amendments, articles of incorporation, annual reports, and any rules and regulations adopted by the board shall be available. Prior to the organization of the board, the developer shall maintain and make available the records set forth in this paragraph (i) for examination and copying.

(ii) Detailed and accurate records in chronological order of the receipts and expenditures affecting the common areas, specifying and itemizing the maintenance and repair expenses of the common areas and any other expenses incurred, and copies of all contracts, leases, or other agreements entered into by the board shall be maintained.

(iii) The minutes of all meetings of the board which shall be maintained for not less than 7 years.

(iv) With a written statement of a proper purpose, ballots and proxies related thereto, if any, for any election held for the board and for any other matters voted on by the unit owners, which shall be maintained for not less than one year.

(v) With a written statement of a proper purpose, such other records of the board as are available for inspection by members of a not-for-profit corporation pursuant to Section 107.75 of the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 shall be maintained.

(vi) With respect to units owned by a land trust, a living trust, or other legal entity, the trustee, officer, or manager of the entity may designate, in writing, a person to cast votes on behalf of the unit owner and a designation shall remain in effect until a subsequent document is filed with the association.

(2) Where a request for records under this subsection is made in writing to the board or its agent, failure to provide the requested record or to respond within 30 days shall be deemed a denial by the board.

(3) A reasonable fee may be charged by the board for the cost of retrieving and copying records properly requested.

(4) If the board fails to provide records properly requested under paragraph (1) of this subsection (i) within the time period provided in that paragraph (1), the unit owner may seek appropriate relief and shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs if the unit owner prevails and the court finds that such failure is due to the acts or omissions of the board of managers or the board of directors.

(j) The board shall have standing and capacity to act in a representative capacity in relation to matters involving the common areas or more than one unit, on behalf of the unit owners as their interests may appear.

(Source: P.A. 96-1400, eff. 7-29-10; 97-605, eff. 8-26-11.)

(765 ILCS 160/1-35)

Sec. 1-35. Unit owner powers, duties, and obligations.

(a) The provisions of this Act, the declaration, bylaws, other community instruments, and rules and regulations that relate to the use of an individual unit or the common areas shall be applicable to any person leasing a unit and shall be deemed to be incorporated in any lease executed or renewed on or after the effective date of this Act. With regard to any lease entered into subsequent to the effective date of this Act, the unit owner leasing the unit shall deliver a copy of the signed lease to the association or if the lease is oral, a memorandum of the lease, not later than the date of occupancy or 10 days after the lease is signed, whichever occurs first.

(b) If there are multiple owners of a single unit, only one of the multiple owners shall be eligible to serve as a member of the board at any one time unless the member owns another unit independently.

(c) Two-thirds of the membership may remove a board member as a director at a duly called special meeting.

(d) In the event of any resale of a unit in a common interest community association by a unit owner other than the developer, the board shall make available for inspection to the prospective purchaser, upon demand, the following:

(1) A copy of the declaration, other instruments, and any rules and regulations.

(2) A statement of any liens, including a statement of the account of the unit setting forth the amounts of unpaid assessments and other charges due and owing.

(3) A statement of any capital expenditures anticipated by the association within the current or succeeding 2 fiscal years.

(4) A statement of the status and amount of any reserve or replacement fund and any other fund specifically designated for association projects.

(5) A copy of the statement of financial condition of the association for the last fiscal year for which such a statement is available.

(6) A statement of the status of any pending suits or judgments in which the association is a party.

(7) A statement setting forth what insurance coverage is provided for all members unit owners by the association for common properties.

The principal officer of the board or such other officer as is specifically designated shall furnish the above information within 30 days after receiving a written request for such information.

A reasonable fee covering the direct out-of-pocket cost of copying and providing such information may be charged by the association or the board to the unit seller for providing the information.

(Source: P.A. 96-1400, eff. 7-29-10; 97-605, eff. 8-26-11.)

(765 ILCS 160/1-45)

Sec. 1-45. Finances.

(a) The board shall approve a budget including reserves, capital expenses, and operating expenses which shall be assessed equally to the membership. Each unit owner shall receive through a prescribed delivery method, at least 30 days but not more than 60 days prior to the adoption thereof by the board, a copy of the proposed annual budget together with an indication of which portions are intended for reserves, capital expenditures or repairs or payment of real estate taxes.

(b) The board shall provide all members unit owners with a reasonably detailed summary of the receipts, common expenses, and reserves for the preceding budget year. The board shall (i) make available for review to all unit owners an itemized accounting of the common expenses for the preceding year actually incurred or paid, together with an indication of which portions were for reserves, capital expenditures or repairs or payment of real estate taxes and with a tabulation of the amounts collected pursuant to the budget or assessment, and showing the net excess or deficit of income over expenditures plus reserves or (ii) provide a consolidated annual independent audit report of the financial status of all fund accounts within the association.

(c) If an adopted budget or any separate assessment adopted by the board would result in the sum of all regular and separate assessments payable in the current fiscal year exceeding 115% of the sum of all regular and separate assessments payable during the preceding fiscal year, the common interest community association, upon written petition by unit owners with 20% of the votes of the association delivered to the board within 14 days of the board action, shall call a meeting of the unit owners within 30 days of the date of delivery of the petition to consider the budget or separate assessment; unless a majority of the total votes of the unit owners are cast at the meeting to reject the budget or separate assessment, it shall be deemed ratified.

(d) If total common expenses exceed the total amount of the approved and adopted budget, the common interest community association shall disclose this variance to all its members and specifically identify the subsequent assessments needed to offset this variance in future budgets. Any common expense not set forth in the budget or any increase in assessments over the amount adopted in the budget shall be separately assessed against all unit owners.

(e) Separate assessments for expenditures relating to emergencies or mandated by law may be adopted by the board without being subject to member unit owner approval or the provisions of subsection (c) or (f) of this Section. As used herein, "emergency" means a danger or to otherwise compromise the structural integrity of the common areas or any of the common assets of the common interest community. This may also include decisions that affect the life, health, safety, and welfare of the membership an immediate danger to the structural integrity of the common areas or to the life, health, safety, or property of the unit owners.

(f) Assessments for additions and alterations to the common areas or to association-owned property not included in the adopted annual budget, shall be separately assessed and are subject to approval of a simple majority two-thirds of the total members at a meeting called for that purpose.

(g) The board may adopt separate assessments payable over more than one fiscal year. With respect to multi-year assessments not governed by subsections (e) and (f) of this Section, the entire amount of the multi-year assessment shall be deemed considered and authorized in the first fiscal year in which the assessment is approved.

(h) The board of a common interest community association shall have the authority to establish and maintain a system of master metering of public utility services to collect payments in conjunction therewith, subject to the requirements of the Tenant Utility Payment Disclosure Act.

(Source: P.A. 96-1400, eff. 7-29-10; 97-605, eff. 8-26-11.)