Q–Our developer will be turning over control to a board of directors of the unit owners. The unit owners will be electing a 5-member board. Is the voting to be done by a secret ballot? Must a unit owner be present to be nominated to run for the board? Can a unit owner nominate himself?
When there are two unit owners for one unit, and both will not be present for the meeting, can one owner sign the proxy or must both sign the document?
Nobody in our complex appears to be willing to serve as secretary of the association. Can a meeting be recorded and then given to a secretarial service for transcribing?
A–Voting at the meeting to elect the first unit owner board will not be done by secret ballot. For any future election, the board of directors may adopt rules to hold elections by secret ballot.
Section 18(b)(10) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act states that the association board may adopt rules for a secret ballot election. The rules will provide that the ballot is marked only with the percentage interest for the unit and the vote, without identifying the unit number or the owner.
A unit owner does not have to be present to run for the board of directors. A member of the association may nominate an absentee unit owner. A unit owner may also nominate him or herself. Owners may draw their own conclusions about voting for a candidate who does not attend the annual meeting.
When a unit is owned by more than one person, one joint owner may sign the proxy if neither party will be present at the meeting.
Section 18(b)(8) of the condominium act provides that if there is more than one owner of a unit, and only one joint owner is present at the meeting, he or she may cast the votes for that unit. Accordingly, if one of the owners may vote for the unit, that owner may also execute a proxy.
Under Section 18(d) of the condo law, the secretary of the association must be chosen from the board of directors.
To assist the board in keeping minutes, the directors may hire a secretarial service to keep and transcribe minutes. However, the official secretary of the association must sign and keep the minutes as part of the condominium records.
Q–I am a retired condominium owner from Minnesota who owns a unit in Florida. Last May, I discovered a terrible noise in my unit which is coming from the air conditioning unit of my upstairs neighbor.
The association president advised me that the board cannot do anything in this matter and he suggested that I hire an attorney. I don’t want to start legal action against my neighbor, but it appears that she does not want to cooperate. The noise is unbearable.
A–If your condominium were located in Illinois, a standard declaration would make the problem the responsibility of the board. Most Illinois declarations state that a unit owner shall not engage in conduct which is a nuisance or an annoyance to others. Such conduct includes the operation of equipment or appliances that cause a nuisance.
The board should make the owner fix or replace the air conditioning unit. Review the language of your declaration to determine whether the board can regulate this matter as part of its duties under your governing document.
Short of a lawsuit, the only other possibility is to contact a local government agency which might examine the problem as a building or fire code violation.
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Mark Pearlstein is a Chicago lawyer who specializes in condominium law. Write to him c/o Condominiums, Real Estate Section, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611. Sorry, he can’t make personal replies.
