Association board must meet at least 4 times yearly

Q. Is there a minimum number of times that the board of our association must meet?

A. The requirements for a condominium and a common interest community association are the same. The board must meet at least four times a year. 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. There are a lot of associations that schedule monthly board meetings, whether or not there are any issues pending that need to be decided. That’s not necessarily the most efficient use of a board member’s time.

Q. Unpaid unit owner assessments have become an issue for our association. We have instituted an aggressive collection policy and have had to start the eviction process against delinquent owners. Our attorney uses terms like “personal judgment” and “in rem” judgment. What is the difference?

A. There are two types of judgments that can be obtained in an assessment collection lawsuit. The first is a “personal judgment” against the unit owner. The second type of judgment is called an “in rem” judgment against the dwelling unit itself (“in rem” is an old Latin term that means “against a thing”). When an association asks us to collect delinquent assessments for them, we always pursue both types of judgments against the delinquent owner.

In order to obtain a personal judgment against the unit owner, the complaint and court summons must be physically served on the unit owner by the sheriff or a special process serve. A personal judgment allows the association to obtain possession of a unit, rent the unit, and apply the rents received from leasing the unit to amounts owed by the owner. Importantly, a personal judgment also allows the association to collect from the unit owner. This would permit the association to garnish wages or bank accounts of the owner for example. A personal judgment is valuable if the association’s possession of a unit is terminated before all monies that are due and owing to the association are collected. This can happen when a unit that is in foreclosure by the owner’s lender is sold at the judicial sale. The judicial sale terminates the association’s right of possession of the unit. The association could still take action to collect the personal judgment from the owner.

The “in rem” judgment allows the association to obtain possession of a unit, rent the unit, and apply the rents received to the amounts owed by the owner. However, an in rem judgment does not permit the association to collect monies from the unit owner’s money assets, bank accounts or wages.

In an in rem case, an owner is often served by what is known as “posting” whereby the complaint and summons are posted at the courthouse or other legally allowed method. An in rem judgment is often sought when an owner cannot be personally served because his whereabouts is unknown, or is otherwise difficult to find and serve.

If an association obtains an in rem judgment, and if a judicial sale “cuts off” the association’s right of possession and there are still monies unpaid, the association could not pursue the unpaid balance from the unit owner with that judgment. While a personal judgment against an owner is favored, an in rem judgment can be as effective in collecting monies if the association’s right of possession of a unit isn’t cut off by a judicial sale in a foreclosure.

Q. What is the quorum for a common interest community association membership meeting?

A. Twenty percent of the membership constitutes a quorum, unless the association’s declaration provides for a lesser amount.

• Matthew Moodhe 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.