Four meetings per year required for associations

Q. Our association is just five units. In the past, the board has taken care of the business of the association in just two meetings a year. One of the new owners, who was on the board of her prior association, said there is a minimum number of times that the board of our association must meet each year. What is that number of meetings?

A. The requirements for an Illinois condominium and a common interest community association are the same. The board must meet at least four times a year. Association boards that meet only four times a year typically meet quarterly. Many association boards meet more frequently, often monthly. The actual number of meetings held each year, over and above the required minimum, should depend on the business that needs to be conducted by the board.

Q. I am 20 years old and am interested in becoming a community association manager in Illinois. I was looking at the Condominium Property Act, and it says a community association manager must be 21 years old. I was looking online, and a couple of websites indicate that the minimum age is 18. What is correct?

A. The correct age is 18. Well before there was an Illinois Community Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act, the legislature established “standards for community association managers” in Section 18.7 of the Illinois Condominium Property Act. That Section provides that a community association manager must have “attained the age of 21.”

Fast forward to 2010, the Illinois Community Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act went into effect. Section 40(a)(1) of the Illinois Community Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act provides that a community association manager must be “at least 18 years of age.”

Under the rules of statutory construction, the more specific statute will control over the more general statute. Here, the Illinois Community Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act is a specific statute to address licensing of community association managers; while the Illinois Condominium Property Act is a more general statute that happens to include a section on “standards for community association managers.”

As such, the language of the Illinois Community Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act that provides that a community association manager must be “at least 18 years of age” is controlling. Section 18.7 of the Illinois Condominium Property Act should be removed by the legislature.

Q. The board is working on a rule to address the flying of flags on the property. We understand we must (and we want to) allow display of the “American Flag” and “Military Flag” on the limited common element balconies. Are there definitions for these flags anywhere?

A. Both the Illinois Condominium Property Act and the Illinois Common Interest Community Association Act define “American Flag” and “Military Flag.”

"’American flag’ means the flag of the United States (as defined in Section 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the United States Code and the Executive Orders entered in connection with that Section) made of fabric, cloth, or paper displayed from a staff or flagpole or in a window, but "American flag" does not include a depiction or emblem of the American flag made of lights, paint, roofing, siding, paving materials, flora, or balloons, or any other similar building, landscaping, or decorative component.”

"’Military flag’ means a flag of any branch of the United States armed forces or the Illinois National Guard made of fabric, cloth, or paper displayed from a staff or flagpole or in a window, but "military flag" does not include a depiction or emblem of a military flag made of lights, paint, roofing, siding, paving materials, flora, or balloons, or any other similar building, landscaping, or decorative component.”

• 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.