Minutes should be available to owners in a timely fashion

Q. My townhouse association has a procedure for the approval of monthly board meeting minutes that takes two months. Basically, the previous month's meeting minutes are discussed, changes discussed and a motion to approve with corrections is made and voted on at the following board meeting. The changes are reviewed and approved at this second board meeting before the minutes are available to the unit owners. Should it really take two meetings to approve minutes before they are available to the members?

A. Meeting minutes are one of the most important of the corporate books. The minutes provide a record of actions taken by the board and provide evidence that proper procedure was followed. So the minutes must be accurate.

Minutes should be prepared and approved, and available for distribution to the members, as soon as possible. Minutes are generally approved at the next board meeting following the meeting they address.

Most minute takers make an audio recording, and prepare minutes from the recording, so I am curious as to why there are so many changes to the draft minutes. Other than typographical errors, draft minutes should not generally require substantial correction such that it takes multiple board meetings to approve them. That said, the board's procedure here is not unlawful.

Q. The board of our condominium association is about to levy a special assessment that will be due in monthly installments over a period of a year. Can the board offer a discount to owners who pay their special assessments early and in a lump sum?

A. The Condominium Property Act expressly provides that the board shall have no authority to forebear collection of assessments. As a result, the board cannot offer an assessment discount to the owners who pay early. Further, if the association receives less than the entire special assessment due to such discounting, it raises a question as to how it would fund the shortfall.

Q. I have been informed by the building manager of my association that I will be receiving a letter indicating I have 30 days to pay my unpaid condominium assessments. I was also informed that if I cannot pay the requested amount, I will then be served with an eviction notice and will have to vacate my unit. I have been an owner in the building for over 10 years and have never missed a payment until I lost my job. Can I really be evicted from my unit? Can I enter into some sort of payment plan with the association?

A. In Illinois, a condominium or community association can utilize a forcible entry and detainer (eviction) action against an owner who is delinquent in the payment of assessments. This permits the association to evict the owner from their unit, and allows the association to lease the unit to a third party, and the rent is used to pay the arrearage. The process is initiated by sending a statutorily required 30-day notice and demand to the owner. If the owner does not pay the full amount due within the 30 days, an eviction suit is filed.

When the association obtains a judgment, the unit is then leased to a third party, and the rent received is applied to the payment of outstanding assessments and other charges and the association's attorney's fees. When the owner's account is brought current, the owner can request the court to return possession of the unit to the owner. Most owners bring their account current before the time for eviction.

A payment plan is something the board can consider. Note too that a board has a fiduciary obligation to collect assessments from the owners. In general, a collection action should be implemented whenever an owner is delinquent for 60 days, and if a payment plan is not viable, in order to avoid the potential impact of a mortgage foreclosure.

• David M. Bendoff is an attorney with Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit in the Chicago suburbs. 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.