Q May the unit owner provide a written delegation to the resident of his or her unit to act on his or her behalf with respect to the association, including serving on committees or being elected to office?

—Concerned Unit Owner

A “Under most circumstances,” says Gerald A. Cassioppi, partner of the Naperville-based law firm of Nyberg and Cassioppi, LLC, “such a delegated individual may have general day-to-day authorized occupancy and use with respect to the unit and common spaces, so long as the legal documents, the declaration and rules and regulations permit such a “non-owner resident” within the unit. In certain instances of governance, the unit owner may be permitted a “proxy”, or even some forms of power of attorney, to vote on behalf of the unit owner or take certain actions, again if specified and permitted under the association’s governing documents.

“However, the holding of an office is almost always considered personal to the actual unit owner. Any resident would not be eligible to hold office, no matter what broad authority the unit owner was willing to provide.”