Assessment for sidewalk work required owner vote

Q. Our condominium property does not include many sidewalks. The board would like to install additional sidewalks this year; however, this is not a budgeted expenditure. The board levied a special assessment to pay for the additional sidewalks. Was unit owner approval required?

A. Pursuant to Section 18(a)(8) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act, assessments for additions and alterations to the common elements not included in the adopted annual budget must be separately assessed. Further, such an assessment is subject to approval of two-thirds (based on percentage of ownership) of the total votes of all unit owners.

The additional sidewalks are an addition or alteration to the common elements. The board did not have the authority to adopt the special assessment here without owner approval. Approval of two-thirds of the owners was required to levy this special assessment for an addition or alteration to the common elements that was not included in the adopted budget.

Q. The balconies in our condominium building are deteriorating quickly. The board of managers of our condominium association intends to levy a special assessment to address this issue. The amount of the special assessment for a one-bedroom unit may be in excess of $15,000. What remedies are available to the board if an owner does not pay the special assessment?

A. A delinquent special assessment can be collected by the association in the same manner as a delinquent regular assessment.

Illinois allows associations to evict an owner who does not pay assessments (regular or special), similar to how a landlord can evict a tenant for nonpayment of rent. The legal proceeding, known as forcible entry and detainer, permits the association to take possession (not ownership) of a delinquent owner's unit. The process is initiated by sending a statutorily required notice and demand to the owner. If the owner does not pay, 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. It's an effective remedy, but implementation should not be delayed. Collection should be implemented whenever an owner is delinquent for 60 days, in order to avoid the potential impact of a mortgage foreclosure.

Q. I am a member of a condominium association and a candidate for the board. The association's annual meeting to elect members to the board is coming up soon. In advance of the annual meeting and election, I made a written request to the board for the names, addresses and weighted vote of each unit owner entitled to vote at such meeting. My written request stated I want the information so I can solicit proxies from other owners. The board responded that it has 30 days to provide me the information, even though our election is in only a couple of weeks! The information will be useless to me then. Is the board correct here?

A. The board is not correct. The board is probably confused with the more general books and records language of Section 18(a)(7) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act that requires the board to provide this information within 30 days if an owner states a proper purpose. However, Section 18.2(b)(I) of the act controls here.

Section 18.2(b)(I) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act states that any owner is entitled to the names, addresses and weighted vote of each unit owner entitled to vote at each meeting to elect members of the board of managers, and that the information must be provided by the association within 10 days of receipt of the request.

• 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.