Q. I live in a condominium association, and our board president is delinquent in his assessments totaling thousands of dollars. The annual meeting for elections is in November, and he is already campaigning for votes. Is it true that if a board president is significantly behind in his assessments that this is a disqualifier for re-running for the board?
A. An assessment delinquency is not a disqualifier from serving or running for the board. Pursuant to Section 18 of the Condominium Act, the only criterion for being eligible to serve on the board is unit ownership. If a candidate is delinquent on assessments, that unit owner is subject to the association’s remedies to collect delinquent assessments.
Section 18(b)(1) of the Condominium Act states that unit owners who are in arrears of assessments more than 60 days should not be counted for purposes of determining a quorum relating to a vote on an amendment to the association’s bylaws.
Q. I live in a community association in which each owner mails or delivers a check for the monthly assessments with a due date on the first of the month. A late fee is assessed if payment is received after the 10th of the month. We are changing our banking partner soon and will be creating an automatic payment option for owners to pay their assessments. Can the board mandate owners sign up for automatic payments to pay their assessments?
A. While a board has broad powers to adopt rules and regulations relating to the administration of the association, there is no basis in the law for the board to mandate a specific method of payment for assessments. It simply is too draconian and would likely be held unenforceable by a court.
In today’s world, with various technology, there are a variety of methods to pay assessments, which include checks, debit systems, electronic transfer payments, credit cards and even cash. Mandating that only one method can be used and subjecting owners to remedies for a violation of such a rule is not recommended.
Still, an association is free to strongly encourage owners to use an automatic method of payment and advise owners of the benefits.
Q. About a month ago, I requested seven years’ worth of board meeting minutes pursuant to the Common Interest Community Association Act. The property manager has delayed delivering the minutes, stating the minutes must be redacted of sensitive information and has also stated that as a unit owner I am responsible for the cost of retrieval of the board meeting minutes. Can management do that?
A. Section 1-30 of the Common Interest Community Association Act governs board obligations relating to records in addition to the association’s governing documents. Owners are entitled, among other documents, to seven years’ worth of minutes of meetings of the board. The association may charge a reasonable fee for the cost of retrieving and copying records properly requested.
As far as redacting portions of the minutes, there is no legal basis for the manager to redact any portion of board meeting minutes approved by the board. Owners are entitled to a copy of the approved board meeting minutes, period. If there is information that is so sensitive that would warrant not being disclosed to the owners, it should not have been approved as part of the board minutes.
