Can an association police your car's plate registration?

Q. Residents in our condominium association park vehicles in a common element parking lot. There is no assigned parking. The new rules for our association permit the board to levy a fine if a vehicle's license plate is expired. I drive a newer car that I keep in great condition, so what business is it of the association if my license plate is expired?

A. To be enforceable, a rule adopted by the board needs to be "reasonable." The issue of whether a vehicle license plate is expired is a matter between the vehicle owner and the state of Illinois. The rule in question is of questionable enforceability.

Q. I have leased a unit in a condominium for many years. One day, I hope to purchase a unit in this condominium, and I like to keep up on the goings on at the association. Is the board of a condominium required to provide a tenant of a leased unit with the monthly statement of revenue and expenses?

A. The tenant of a leased unit does not have any rights to examine or copy books and records of the condominium. The governing statues for Illinois condominium associations, common interest community associations, and master associations grant owners of a unit rights to examine and copy books and records of the association.

Do note that if you do actually purchase a unit, prospective purchasers are entitled to certain records of the association.

Q. I live in a common interest community of townhouses. Each townhouse includes a one car attached garage. There are additional parking spaces at the property that are available to rent to the association members. Several parking spaces have been rented to the same member for years.

The board recently decided to double the rent for these parking spaces. Can the board increase the rent for those spots "at will" or is there a procedure that the board needs to follow?

A. I trust that the use of these parking spaces is addressed by a written lease between the association member and the association. The rent payable for the parking space would be governed by the lease. Unless such lease provides for an increase in rent from time to time, the rent would be the same through the term of the lease. The board could establish an increase in rent for new leases, or for the extension of an existing lease.

As an aside, there should be a mechanism in place to provide all association members an opportunity to lease the parking spaces from time to time. That is, owners should not necessarily be granted a continued "monopoly" and right to lease one of these spaces if other owners have an interest in leasing a parking space. Rules would be an appropriate way to address leasing of these parking spaces.

Q. In the last few years, units in our association have been purchased by investors to use as rental property. The owners in our association recognize issues created by having a high percentage of leased units. Fearing that they may need to lease their unit sometime in the future, many owners have been reluctant to approve an amendment that would cap the number of units that can be leased. As such, efforts to amend the declaration have failed to date. Do you have any suggestions?

A. Rather than capping the number of units that can be leased, many associations are amending the declaration to require an owner to own and occupy a unit for some minimum period of time (e.g., one year) before their unit can be leased. This will typically discourage purchase of units by investors who intend to lease their units.

• 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.