New floor must meet an 'unspecified' standard
Q: I am a board member of our condominium association and have been assigned the task of reviewing our rules for possible update. One of the rules states the underlayment for hard floor surfaces, like wood or ceramics, must meet standards established by the board. However, the board has never established any such standards. Should those standards be in the rules?
A: I have reviewed countless association rules that reference "specifications to be established by the board." This often refers to items like underlayment, or windows or doors. However, all too often such standards are never actually established!
To the extent that the board is establishing standards or specifications for items like underlayment, windows or doors, for example, these standards or specifications need to be set forth in the rules. Because an issue like this can slip through the cracks, these standards or specifications should be set forth when the initial rule is adopted, and not left for some later date and the potential for failure to ever establish such standards or specifications.
Q: I am newly elected to the board of my homeowner's association. The board recently decided the association needs to identify itself as a condominium association on the Illinois Secretary of State annual report form. Nothing here has changed since the initial filing of the articles of incorporation in 1978. There are no condominiums in the community. Rather, we consist of approximately 100 single-family detached homes in Cook County. Has something changed within the laws? I appreciate any information you can provide.
A: No, the law has not recently changed on this issue. Each year, not-for-profit corporations in Illinois must file an annual report with the Secretary of State. The annual report solicits information about the corporation, such as the name and address of the registered agent, the names and addresses of directors, the corporation's principal office address, and a brief statement of the corporation's activity.
For an interesting "it could only happen in Illinois" reason I won't go into here, the annual report form also requires associations to indicate whether they are a condominium established under the Condominium Property Act, or a cooperative housing corporation as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, or a homeowner's association that administers a common interest community association.
It would be very unusual for an association of single-family detached homes to be a condominium association. Nonetheless, I am aware that some do exist in Illinois. However, unless the declaration for your association expressly submitted the property to the Illinois Condominium Property Act, the association is not a condominium association.
Q: Our condominium association obtained an order of possession of a unit owner's unit in a forcible entry and detainer action. I understand the association can lease the unit for 13 months. On what date is the lease considered to start? Is it the date the lease is signed/dated, or when the tenant moves into the unit?
A: This is governed by the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure. When a court enters a judgment of possession of a unit to an association, the court order must stay (postpone) enforcement of the possession order for at least 60 days, and for not more than 180 days, from the date of the judgment. The association's lease of the owner's unit must commence within eight months after the month in which the date of the expiration of the stay of judgment occurs.
The term of the lease may not exceed 13 months from the date of commencement of the lease. Commencement is typically the date that occupancy of the unit can begin under the lease.
• 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.