by Sheldon Atovsky – Here’s a brief summary of new laws in effect this year.  Just a reminder that we are not legal beagles, so the language will be plainspoken.

Legislation from the State of Illinois

The Illinois Condominium Property Act (765 ILCS 605/1 et. seq. and referred to as “Condo Act”) is the Illinois legislation that governs all things condo. It was originally passed by the General Assembly in 1963 with many subsequent updates. The Common Interest Community Association Act went into effect in 2010. Both documents supersede existing condominium association declarations and by-laws, but the two are still in need of reconciliation and therein lie potential problems. Full text of the two acts may be found through internet searches and at the websites of  ACTHA and CAI-Illinois.

(Sen. Haine) EXECUTIVE SESSION/CLOSED PORTION OF MEETINGS.

This act details that boards may discuss, in private and without prior notice to association members, engagement of new employees, interviewing and dismissal of employees, independent contractors, agents or providers of goods and services, and meet with their legal counsel. While these discussions may be held in private, boards must still vote on these matters in an announced, open meeting. The effective date was January 1, 2017.

Public Act 099-0612 (Rep. Cassidy) AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF ACCEPTABLE TECHNOLOGY.

This act amends the definition of “acceptable technological means” to include “any generally available technology that, by rule of the association, is deemed to provide reasonable reliability, identification and verifiability.” This Public Act thus allows closed meetings of the board to be conducted by phone, email, face-to-face private gatherings, or board workshops. The effective date was January 1, 2017.

Public Act 099-0627 (Sen. Haine) ERRORS AND OMISSIONS CORRECTIONS UNDER CICAA.

This act amends the Common Interest Community Association Act (the Act) so that if a provision of an association’s governing documents does not conform to the act or to another applicable law because of an error, omission, or inconsistency in the document of the association, then the association may correct the error, omission, or inconsistency to conform to the community instruments to the act or to another applicable law by an amendment adopted by vote of two-thirds of the board of directors, without a membership vote. The effective date was January 1, 2017.

Chicago Gets Into The Act

Recycling in Chicago Condo Buildings

The City of Chicago passed a new recycling act earlier this year. This act requires that materials to be recycled must be deposited separately from waste,  as we already do at Park Tower. Recycling bins must be marked as such, have a description of what is accepted for recycling, be emptied on a regular basis, and be free from odor.

The act defines a required education program and includes very hefty fines for disobeying the ordinance. To avoid such fines, other cities with similar ordinances have hired trash inspectors to look for items wrongly added to regular trash.

Here at Park Tower, those fines will be passed on to the offending residents if they can be identified.