Chicken restriction is not uncommon, in even rural association
Q. My husband and I just moved into a single-family homeowners association in a rural area of McHenry County from a condominium association in Lake County. McHenry County residents may keep chickens. However, the keeping of chickens is prohibited by our association's governing documents. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can get this changed?
A. A covenant that prohibits the keeping of fowl or poultry is fairly common in a homeowners association. It is imperative that a prospective purchaser of property in an association, governed by covenants, review those covenants before signing a contract to purchase the property. An attorney should be consulted before purchasing if the covenants are unclear. This will avoid moving into a community with covenants that are inconsistent with a person's lifestyle.
All too frequently, people acquire property in an association with lease restrictions, animal restrictions or other restrictions that limit the intended use of a property. This can result in disappointment, controversy and even litigation.
An association's governing documents can be stricter than what is permitted by a county. An amendment to the recorded covenants would be required if the restriction is in the declaration. You would need to review the declaration to determine the amendment procedure.
If the restriction is in the rules, and assuming it is the type restriction that can be adopted by a rule, the board would generally have the authority to rescind the rule without owner approval.
In either scenario, it might be helpful to measure the support for a change among your fellow owners before approaching the board about a change. You would generally be entitled to obtain a list of the names and addresses of members of the association from the board in order to communicate with other owners on this issue.
Q. I have a question regarding an emergency contact information sheet I got from my condominium association property manager. There is a section that asks for "Mandatory Mortgage Information" including my loan number. Am I required to provide this information?
A. This is governed by Section 22.1(c) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act. This section of the act essentially provides that each owner must inform the board of managers of the association of the identity of its mortgage lender, together with a mailing address at which the lender can receive notices from the association. If a unit owner fails or refuses to inform the board, then that unit owner is liable to the association for all costs, expenses and reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the association to obtain that information.
This information is generally required in order for an association to give mortgage holders notice of certain events as required by the declaration, such as the amending of a declaration. Often, mortgagee approval is required to amend certain provisions of the declaration.
Many association governing documents require the notices from the association to identify the owner and the loan, so this would permit the association to request the loan number.
Keep in mind that the mortgage is a public record, available for all to see, so you are not providing the association with any sort of "personal" or "private" information.
• 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.