Q-The directors of individual condominium buildings and the master association in our development have adopted rules and regulations without prior notice to or discussion with unit owners.
Our condominium bylaws state that the board may adopt rules only with the consent of two-thirds of the voting members.
Will failure to consult the owners prevent the board from enforcing the new rules?
The bylaws also require that the directors to supply owners with an accounting of income and expenses for the prior year and that any excess amounts accumulated must be credited to the owners.
Does posting the financial statement on the association bulletin board satisfy the requirement? Should the board give the owners credit for any excess amounts collected?
A-The board of your condo associations cannot adopt rules without first distributing copies of the new rules and holding a meeting with the owners.
However, the board is not required to obtain the owners` approval for the rules because a condo board has the sole authority to adopt rules.
Therefore, the requirement in your bylaws is not consistent with the law and is invalid.
Each year, the condominium and master association boards must distribute an itemized accounting for each association to unit owners. Merely posting the accounting on a bulletin board will not satisfy this requirement.
Some condominium documents, such as yours, provide for a credit to the owners, but only if there is excess income after allocating sufficient funds for reserves. Given the board`s obligation to maintain reasonable reserves, it is unlikely there will be excess funds.
Q-We live in a condominium in Lake County with a five-man board of managers that holds closed-door meetings in a small room. When a group of owners asked to meet with the board, they were held outside until the board was ready to hear them.
In another instance, a group of owners crowded into the small room, then the board adjourned to a larger room, but did not use a microphone and only the president spoke at the meeting.
The board has also ignored recommendations of several commissions relating to the operation of our property.
Is the board breaking any laws by its conduct? Many owners believe the board is working against our interests with their secret meetings.
A-The board is violating the law when it does not permit unit owners to be present in all portions of its meetings except for valid closed sessions.
Meetings in a small room or silence at an open meeting are cute devices to avoid the spirit of the open meeting`s requirement, but not technical violations of the law. The board also is not required to follow the recommendations of owner commissions, which are merely advisory bodies to the directors.
However, it is bad politics to repeatedly ignore the advice of unit owners who volunteer their time to help solve association problems.
I would suggest that the board become more receptive to the owners. While the board`s decisions may be invalid if not adopted at open meetings with unit owners present, greater harm occurs to the association by continuing hostility between the board and owners.
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Mark Pearlstein, a Chicago attorney who specializes in condominium law, writes about condos for the Tribune. Questions to him can be addressed to Condo Log, Real Estate Section, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611. Sorry, he can`t make personal replies.
