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Condo board asked to improve building's accessibility

Q. The elevator in my five-story condominium building stops at the first-floor lobby. However, there are three steps that must be navigated to get to the apartments on the first floor.

One new owner has asked for an accommodation of some sort to make it easier to navigate those three steps, particularly when bringing groceries up those three steps to the apartment. I am an original owner for the building, which was built in 1973, and this is the first such request. If we do make an accommodation in this instance, will that subject the association to all the rules and regulations of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act?

A. The issue is going to be governed by the federal Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988, as few associations are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act. It requires an association to permit reasonable modifications of common elements by a disabled resident if such modifications may be necessary to afford such person full enjoyment of the premises. The modification is to be made at the expense of the disabled resident, not the association.

An association can and should investigate a resident's request for a modification of the common elements. For example, is the resident disabled? Is the modification necessary to afford such person full enjoyment of the premises? These issues may or may not be obvious, depending on the disability. If not obvious, the resident's doctor can provide input. The association should also determine if the requested modification is reasonable. Not all requested modifications are reasonable.

Whether or not an association must permit a disabled person to install a modification to the common elements is to be examined on a case-by-case basis. Note, too, that the association can require the resident to restore the common elements when the resident moves from the building if the modification does not provide any benefit to the rest of the building. The association's attorney should be consulted on this complicated fair housing issue.

Q. Our condominium has 19 units. The bylaws provide that a majority of the owners constitutes a quorum at meetings of the owners. I thought I read that the quorum for meetings of the owners is 20 percent by law. What is the proper quorum?

A. For condominiums with 20 or more units, the percentage of unit owners constituting a quorum is 20 percent. In a condominium of less than 20 units, the quorum set forth in the bylaws would govern. If the bylaws are silent, then the quorum would be 20 percent. These percentages refer to percentages of ownership in the common elements and not the number of units represented at the meeting.

Note that a unit owner who is in arrears on the unit's regular or separate assessments for 60 days or more is not to be counted for purposes of determining if a quorum is present, but that unit owner retains the right to vote on amendments to the association's bylaws. That's just plain odd.

Q. I thought the Common Interest Community Association Act contained some language regarding the percentage of owners required for a quorum and that this would override whatever the association's declaration states. Is that correct?

A. Section 1-40 (b) (1) of the Common Interest Community Association Act provides that 20 percent of the membership shall constitute a quorum, unless the community instruments indicate a lesser amount. So, if the association's declaration provides for a quorum of more than 20 percent, the quorum will be 20 percent; if the association's declaration provides for a quorum of less than 20 percent, then that lower quorum will be applicable.

• David M. Bendoff is an attorney with Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit in Buffalo Grove. Send questions for the column to him at CondoTalk@ksnlaw.com. The firm provides legal service to condominium, townhouse, homeowner associations and housing cooperatives. This column is not a substitute for consultation with legal counsel.

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