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Board's out-of-state meetings questioned

Q: Our condominium is located in Lake County. One of the board members owns a cabin in Wisconsin, and the board members occasionally conduct board meetings there. Is this proper?

A: The Condominium Property Act does not address this issue. The Illinois General Not for Profit Corporation Act, applicable to all condominiums in Illinois whether or not incorporated, provides that the regular or special meetings of the board of directors may be held either within or without this state.

That said, a condominium association's declaration or bylaws frequently provides guidance as to the location of association meetings. Typically, the declaration or bylaws will provide that meetings of the association are to be held at the property or any other location within the county in which the association is located. You should review the governing documents for your association, as I suspect they would not provide for these out of state board meetings.

Q: The plat of survey attached to the declaration of condominium for our association does not accurately depict the location and numbering of the parking space units as striped in our garage. What should we do here?

A: The situation you describe does happen from time to time. Oversimplifying, there are essentially two options to address this problem.

First, the parking spaces can be re-striped and numbered so the unit locations, designations and boundaries are as depicted on the plat of survey. That would require owners to move to the correct parking space unit locations.

Second, the declaration of condominium can be amended to revise the plat of survey to reflect the current location and numbering of the parking spaces in the garage. This amendment would require approval of all of the owners in the association. Depending on the language in the association's declaration, such an amendment may also require approval of each unit owner's mortgage lender.

Q: The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the conduct of association business by the board. As a result, the board has not yet adopted a budget for 2021, even though it was supposed to have been done in late 2020. Owners continue to pay assessments at the 2020 levels. What is the impact of the board's failure to have adopted the annual budget before the start of 2021.

A: Most governing documents for associations address this situation. The typical provision of an association's declaration or bylaws provides that if the budget is not adopted by the beginning of the new year, the monthly assessments would continue at the then existing amount until the budget for the new fiscal year is adopted. Once a new budget is adopted, any change in assessments for the full year would be spread over the remaining months of the new fiscal year.

The practical impact of all of this is dependent, too, on the increase, if any, in the amount of the annual assessments.

Q: We have been conducting an increasing number of board meetings by phone conference call or video conferencing. Some board members are present at the meeting room, while others only participate through these alternatives. Are they counted toward a quorum?

A: Board members may participate in and vote at any meeting through the use of a conference telephone or other communications equipment that allows all people participating in the meeting to communicate with each other. Participation in such a manner constitutes attendance and presence in person at the meeting, and counts toward a quorum.

• 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.

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