Lack of mortgagee information could delay amendment effective date

Q. Our association has received all the necessary board and owner approvals for an amendment to the declaration. Now we need to send the amendment to mortgage holders and then, 10 days later, the secretary needs to sign an affidavit that the mailing was done.

Unfortunately, we don’t have all the mortgagee information, so that is going to delay this process by a couple of weeks. My question to you is when is the amendment effective? Is it when the board and owners approved it or when the notice is sent to the mortgage holders?

A. An amendment to the declaration is effective, at the earliest, when it is actually recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county where the property is located. This requires that all of the steps spelled out in the declaration for an amendment are completed. In your situation, the amendment could not be recorded until the mailing to mortgagees is done and the secretary signs the affidavit that the mailing was accomplished.

Note too that an amendment can include language that provides that the amendment is effective at some future date. This is not done too often; however, occasionally an association may want to delay the start date of a particular amendment.

Q. A portion of our condominium association is located in Lake County, and a portion is located in Cook County. Where would an amendment to the declaration be recorded?

A. The amendment to the declaration must be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county where the property is located. Since the property for your condominium is located in two counties, the amendment would be recorded in both counties.

Q. Must the board of directors of the association provide an email address for owners to communicate with the board?

A. There is no requirement that an association maintain an email address to accept owner communications, or that an association accept email communications. If an owner wants to communicate with the board they can do so by U.S. mail. That said, an association can, if it is so inclined, set up an email address for owners to use to communicate with the board.

As an aside, many board members use their personal email address for association related emails. I suggest that board members set up a dedicated email address for association related matters.

Q. A rules commission was established by the board of directors of our condominium to prepare revisions to specific portion of our rules. The notice of an upcoming board meeting indicates that one of the purposes is to adopt revised rules. The revisions have not been sent to the owners before the board meeting. Should they be?

A. The rules adoption process requires more steps than are being followed by the board here. The board does have the power to adopt and amend rules and regulations, at a board meeting, covering the details of the operation and use of the property.

However, before the board holds a meeting to adopt the rules revisions, there must be a meeting of the unit owners called for the specific purpose of discussing the proposed rules and regulations. Notice of the owner meeting must contain the full text of the proposed rules and regulations. Note that no quorum is required at the meeting of the unit owners, and owners do not vote on the rules. Both the meeting of the unit owners to discuss the proposed revised rules, and the meeting of the board to approve the revised rules, can occur back-to-back on same day.

• 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.