Association employee must have a day off
Q. Can an association employee work seven days a week?
A. It is my general understanding that an employee cannot be required to work seven days a week. However, an employee can volunteer to work seven days a week. That is, an employee has to be given 24 (continuous) hours off each week, unless the employee volunteers to work seven days a week. However, the association must first obtain the necessary permit through the Illinois Department of Labor.
Q. My friend says his condominium association is converting to apartments, and he has to leave his home. How can this be? Could this happen to me at a different community if the association wanted to do this?
A. Your friend is probably referring to a sale of the entire condominium property under Section 15 of the Condominium Property Act. This can be done and requires a vote of and approval by the owners, and is not a decision that is made unilaterally by the board.
The Section 15 provision of the Act provides that, when the property contains four or more units, owners may elect to sell the property by affirmative vote at a meeting duly called for such purpose, by a vote of not less than 75 percent of owners (unless a greater percentage is provided for in the declaration or bylaws). A sale requires a majority of the unit owners when the property contains two units, or not less than 66⅔ percent where the property contains three units.
Once the sale is so approved, such action shall be binding upon all unit owners, and it then becomes the duty of every unit owner to execute and deliver documents and to perform all acts necessary to complete the sale.
Many purchasers of an entire condominium will permit former owners to lease their unit back from the buyer for some limited period of time, and often at below market rate rent.
The purchaser of the entire condominium often removes the property from the provisions of the Condominium Property Act and "de-converts" the property to apartments. The owner vote under Section 15 described above does not result in a removal of the property from the Act. That is a separate process.
Q. I live in a "55 and older" townhouse association. I have been told that up to 20 percent of the units may be sold to people who are younger than this. Could you explain if there are any laws or rules that govern this policy?
A. The Housing for Older Persons Exemption under the Federal Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988 permits the creation of "over 55" age-restricted communities. In a nutshell, the law provides that at least 80 percent of the occupied units must be occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age or older.
So, yes, 20 percent of the units can be owned and occupied by people who are younger than 55 years of age, and the association would still meet the requirements to be housing for older people.
Q. I live in a homeowners association of single-family homes. Is there a statute that governs such associations, like there is for a condominium association?
A. The latest entry into the Illinois homeowner association arena that has its own statue is the common interest community association. Common interest community associations are governed by the Common Interest Community Association Act. A common interest community association is essentially an association governed by covenants other than a condominium or cooperative, with more than 10 units or annual budgeted assessments of more than $100,000.
Common interest communities may include attached or detached townhouses, villas or single-family homes. Certain small common interest community associations can chose to be governed by the Common Interest Community Association Act by a vote of its board of directors.
• 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.