Written guides exist to help govern building associations
Q. Are there reference books or journals that a condominium or townhouse board can use to guide conduct?
A. Community Associations Institute ("CAI") has a vast library of resource materials available on its website under the "Bookstore" tab. CAI's web address is www.caionline.org.
The Illinois chapter of CAI publishes a magazine that provides timely information on community associations, condominiums and townhouses. CAI-IL's web address is www.cai-illinois.org.
CAI and CAI-IL, as well as the Association of Condominium, Townhouse & Homeowners Associations ("ACTHA"), whose web address is www.actha.org, also offer seminars and events that provide education to board members. Membership in these organizations (in which I have been a member and actively involved for decades) is valuable for associations and their board members.
The Real Estate Division of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which oversees the Condominium and Common Interest Community Association Ombudsperson Act, also has resources at its website: www.idfpr.com/CCICO.
Q. Can a corporation or other legal entity own a condominium unit, or can a condominium unit only be owned by an actual living, breathing human?
A. Section 2.1(f) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act defines "person" as "a natural individual, corporation, partnership, trustee or other legal entity capable of holding title to real property." The typical definition of "person" in a condominium declaration reads similarly.
Therefore, the owner of a condominium unit does not have to be a living, breathing person and title to a unit can be held by another type of legal entity. It is not uncommon for a unit to be owned by a trust, corporation or limited liability company.
Q. Several years ago, an amendment to the declaration of covenants for our association was signed by the minimum number of owners required for an amendment. The original of the amendment was found in a drawer in our on-site office, and research indicates it was never recorded with the county recorder of deeds. Several owners who signed the amendment years go are no longer owners in the association. Can we record it now?
A. In general, the people signing the amendment must be owners both at the time the amendment is signed and at the time the amendment is recorded. Because the amendment no longer bears the signatures of the necessary minimum number of owners for an amendment, it could not be recorded at this time, and it would not be valid.
The board should seek to obtain additional owner signatures for the amendment to replace the signatures of owners who no longer own in the association. At the same time, and in an abundance of caution, the board should confirm that owners who previously signed the unrecorded amendment years ago still approve of the amendment.
If the necessary number of owner signatures are obtained, the amendment needs to be recorded in the office of the county recorder of deeds to be effective.
Q. Our association is considering an amendment to the declaration to establish certain use and occupancy restrictions regarding the individual units. We think the amendments will have a greater chance of receiving the necessary owner approval if the changes can be effective on a future date, rather than immediately when recorded. Can this be done?
A. An amendment of the declaration or bylaws is deemed effective upon recording in the office of the recorder of the county wherein the property is located, unless the amendment sets forth a different effective date. Therefore, the amendment when recorded could state a future date upon which it will become effective. For example, the amendment states that it is effective "x" number of days after the date of recording, or it could recite a specific future date upon which it is effective; either approach would work.
• 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.