Page 7 - CooperatorNews Chicagoland Summer 2021

CHICAGO.COOPERATORNEWS.COM COOPERATORNEWS CHICAGOLAND — SUMMER 2021 7 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Subject to credit approval. inlandbank.com No Prepayment Penalties • Fast Loan Approvals • Expertise • Flexible Terms and Conditions If your association is in need of improvements, please contact Tim Haviland 630.908.6708 or thaviland@inlandbank.com at LOW COST CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION LOANS Voting vs. Privacy Q I live in Illinois. We are hav- ing our annual meeting to elect balloting, a ballot must be signed to be board members. Ballots were proper. While voting by mail (i.e., absentee sent to each unit to vote. Our manage- ment company wants our voted ballots to attending an annual meeting if an absentee out for a long run. Th ere are only two en- be signed and returned by mail before our ballot rule is in eff ect per Section 18(b)9) annual meeting. I feel my vote is private. (B) of the ICPA, of course, a unit owner door and walking around the building to ants. In doing so, however, the association I plan on attending the meeting, but I do can attend the annual meeting in person the garage. He walked in the front door in remains subject to the same restrictions not want to sign. Can I be made to sign if and vote at that time. I want to vote? —Can’t Be Bothered A “Whether voting by mail ters voted on by the members of the asso- or at the annual meeting ciation during the immediately preceding the condo. However, they received a let- in person,” says attorney 12 months, including but not limited to ter from the management company that association must give due process—i.e., Adam Kahn of Chicago-based fi rm Lev- enfeld Pearlstein, LLC, “unit owners must managers,’ \\\[must be kept and maintained not being properly attired. Th ere are other for the owner to be heard on the matter. sign their ballot for it to be valid. Th e ex- ception to this rule is if a condominium as- sociation’s board had adopted a rule allow- ing for secret balloting pursuant to Section other unit owners.” 18(b)(10) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act (‘ICPA’), ‘whereby the voting ballot is marked only with the percentage interest for the unit and the vote itself\\\[.\\\]’ Absent the adoption of a rule for secret ballot) allows a unit owner to vote without hot, and being an athletic person he went cognizant that a condominium associa- “Contrary to many unit owners’ under- standing, votes are not confi dential in that management company operates surveil- Section 19 of ICPA provides that ‘ballots lance cameras throughout the building. the owner. In other words, in Illinois, the and proxies related to ballots for all mat- the election of members of the board of they would be fi ned because of their tenant notice of the violation, and an opportunity for examination,\\\] which means that un- less secret ballot rules are in eff ect, annual in our own hallways; three fl oors and eight particular rule enforcement action is valid election ballots are subject to inspection by units per fl oor. What is going on? Condo Fashion Police Q My neighbor, who is a global VP of a large company, is not home a lot. Th is summer, it was quite Law, LLC, “owners must always remain trances to our condo building: the front for rule violations committed by their ten- his running shorts (to his knees) and run- ning shoes, and had taken off his shirt. Th e when enforcing the rules of the association Th is gentleman leases the condo from a rules must be reasonable, consistent with married couple who have never lived in the Illinois Condominium Property Act, rules regarding types of clothing allowed —Is He Decent? A “As a starting point,” says attorney James A. Erwin of the Chicago fi rm Erwin tion has every right to hold owners liable and limitations and duties which apply in the case of a violation committed by and uniformly enforced. Additionally, the “While the determination of whether a or not comes down to a case-by-case anal- ysis of the facts, the condominium associa- tion in your simple fact summary would continued on page 11 Legal Q A&