New rules cause privacy issues

Q. I read your article outlining some of the changes included in the Illinois Condominium Property Act for 2018. I am hoping you can provide some further insight into the requirements.

I just received letter from my condominium association indicating that I needed to provide my email address and phone number under section 19 (a) (7) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act. I would prefer not to share that information, especially since the law was changed to allow this information to be shared with another owner upon request, without any reason.

While I understand that the law provides that condominium associations are required to maintain and provide owner contact information upon request, does the law also require owners to provide their phone numbers and email addresses?

A. Let me take a moment to get back on my soap box. The change to the Illinois Condominium Property Act that requires associations to maintain owner email addresses and telephone numbers for examination and copying by another owner is a tremendous invasion of privacy. This is particularly true since the Act already requires associations to maintain owner mailing addresses, and to make them available to another owner to examine and copy. So, owners already have the means to communicate with other owners about association related matters, and there is no legitimate need, in my view, to make owner email addresses and telephone numbers available to other owners.

The fear is that an owner who obtains this information may subject other owners to unwanted and frequent emails and phone calls. And that is stating it diplomatically.

But to answer your question, implicit in a law that requires the association to maintain a list of the email addresses and telephone numbers of all members for examination and copying by unit owners is a requirement that owners provide that information when solicited by the association. That said, it remains to be seen as to how aggressive associations will be to deal with owners who fail or refuse to provide the information.

Q. The board of our association is considering changing our property management company, after a long relationship with our current property management company. Our current property management company wants to direct us rather than listen to our board. What are the pitfalls in making such a change? Is our current management company obligated to transfer financial information, bank accounts and other records to the new property management company?

A. The decision to change the management company is certainly not one that the board should take lightly, as the proverbial "grass is not always greener." If the problem the board is having is with a particular manager, the board should speak with leadership of the management company about changing the manager assigned to your association. But issues in general that the board is having with management should be communicated to management so that management can work with the board to remedy them.

That said, if the relationship is irreconcilably broken, it may be time to move on. A potential pitfall in changing management companies is the time that it may take for the new management company to get up to speed. There will be a learning curve, for both the board and management, so the board should not necessarily expect a seamless transition.

The typical management agreement does require management to turn over funds, books, records and property to the association following termination. If an attorney for the association reviewed the contract before it was signed, it should absolutely include such a requirement. Further, failure to return financial information, bank accounts and other records after termination or expiration of the management agreement could be grounds for discipline under the Illinois Community Association Licensing and Disciplinary Act.

• 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.