Requiring outdoor garage lights within scope of board
Q. Can the board of directors of a homeowners’ association adopt a rule that requires, for security and safety reasons, that owners leave their outdoor garage lights on from dusk to dawn?
A. In Illinois, the appellate court has stated that a rule must be “reasonable” to be valid. There are studies that show that nighttime lighting can reduce crime. As such, a rule that requires owners to leave their outdoor garage lights on from dusk to dawn does not appear on its face to be unreasonable.
Moreover, the cost to operate today’s high efficiency LED bulbs is generally nominal. So, the increased cost to an owner to keep those lights on should not be a significant issue.
Associations are employing various tactics to deal with increases in crime. Lighting is one of them.
Q. I missed the deadline for returning my board candidate form to my condominium association. As a result, I was told that I won’t be included on the association’s proxy or ballot for the annual meeting, but that I can run as a “write-in” candidate. I do still want to run for the board of my association. Can I obtain a list of the unit owners so that I can solicit their votes and/or proxies?
A. Yes. Upon the request of any unit owner, in connection with each annual meeting, the association must provide the unit owner with the names and addresses and percentage ownership of each unit owner entitled to vote at a meeting of the association. That information must be provided within 10 days of a written request.
Q. Year after year, the board of our association enters into a snowplow contract that provide a flat fee for the season, as opposed to a fee on a “per push” basis. Looking back, it would have been less expensive over the past several years to have paid for snowplowing on a “per push” basis rather than a flat fee for the entire season. Is this considered a breach of the board’s fiduciary duty?
A. Courts are unlikely to substitute their judgment for that of a board, if a board can demonstrate that it exercised some business judgment in making a decision, even if the decision turns out to be wrong. As long as the board exercised some business judgment in deciding to opt for a per season snowplow fee, as opposed to “per push” snowplow services, it is unlikely that a court would find that the board is in breach of its fiduciary duty here. Who can predict the winter weather in Chicagoland anyway!
Q. The governing documents for our association do not address the parking of recreational vehicles within the association. However, an owner in our association is in violation of an ordinance imposed by the local municipality in which the association is located. The ordinance prohibits the parking of recreational vehicles in driveways. Does the board have the ability to fine the unit owner for this?
A. The typical declaration for an association includes language that owners shall not do anything on the property which would be in violation of any law.” A violation by an owner of a local ordinance regarding the parking of recreational vehicles would be a violation of this sort of language The board of directors could levy a fine, after providing the owner here with notice of the violation and an opportunity for a hearing.
Note too that the association could reach out to the municipality’s code enforcement department, as they might take enforcement action due to this violation.
• 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.