Preparation a key to efficient board meetings

Q. The board meetings of our association last for hours. This causes many problems, including difficulty attracting candidates for the board. What one item would you suggest our association board members utilize in order for our board meetings to run more efficiently?

A. That's a difficult question as there are so many moving parts to an efficient board meeting. That said, preparation by each board member is probably the most important component of a board meeting. Every board member should be provided, sufficiently in advance of the meeting (not the day before), a detailed agenda, meeting minutes to be approved, the manager's report, and copies of any documents such as contracts to be considered at the meeting.

Each board member should carefully review these materials in advance of the meeting. The meeting environment is definitely not the place to read documents for the first time. This will avoid time spent at the meeting simply getting board members acquainted with the topics of the meeting. Most importantly, this will permit the meeting time to be spent on active discussion and voting on the matters being considered.

This all may seem obvious; however, I have attended many board meetings where this did not occur. As a result, the meetings took far longer than they should.

Q. Our association is considering amending the declaration to prohibit dogs because of the damage they cause to the property. Is there anything in particular the association should consider?

A. Issues with dogs are common problems in associations. Associations can frequently control issues through the adoption of appropriate rules. Many association declarations grant the board authority to have a dog permanently removed from the property if it causes a nuisance.

If these steps do not work to address the issues, then the board should consider prohibiting dogs. This would typically require an amendment to the declaration, approved by the unit owners. If the association amends the declaration to prohibit dogs, the amendment should include a "grandfather clause." A "grandfather clause" would permit dogs residing on the property at the time of the recording of the amendment to remain, as opposed to requiring all dogs to be removed as of the date of recording of the amendment. This will cause existing dogs to be phased out over time, as they die or are otherwise removed from the property.

Q. Many of the units in our condominium association are rented. Is there anything the board needs to do make the rules binding on the tenants?

A. Many condominiums require tenants to sign a lease rider; however, that is not required. This is because the Condominium Property Act provides that it and the association's declaration, bylaws and rules are binding on all tenants, and are deemed incorporated in the lease, automatically. That said, it is a good practice to provide copies of the rules to tenants.

Q. The board of our condominium wants to provide an incentive to owners to pay their assessments early. Can the board discount the amount of the assessment if owners pay early?

A. The Condominium Property Act provides that the association cannot forbear the collection of assessments. This would prevent the board from offering a discount for the early payment of assessments.

Q. Our development is comprised of many small condominiums that are part of a master association. Can these individual associations be merged into a single condominium association?

A. The Condominium Property Act provides a procedure to merge associations, with approval of two thirds of the owners. However, as a practical matter, and because percentages of ownership would be changed, the merger of associations that would be governed by a single declaration requires approval of all owners in all of the associations. Further, the mortgage holder for each owner may also have to consent. Therefore, the merger of condominium associations is very difficult to accomplish.

• 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.