Q. Is it illegal for a president of a condo association to work for the property management company under contract to the association and for that person to sign a new contract? Or is it just unethical and in poor taste creating a divided community?

—Finding the Right Answer to This

A. “It is not ‘illegal’ per se for the president of a condominium association to work for the property management company under contract to the association,” says attorney Matthew Goldberg of the BRG Law Group, which has offices in Chicago and St. Charles, Illinois. “However, if the president or their immediate family member holds a 25% or greater interest in the ownership of the property management company, Section 18(a)(16) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act requires that potential conflict be disclosed to the unit ownership within 20 days after the board has decided to enter into the contract. Thereafter, the unit owners have 30 days in which to deliver a petition to the board, signed by 20% of the unit ownership, seeking to approve or disapprove of the contract. If the petition is delivered, a unit owner meeting must be called within 30 days to vote upon the contract.

“It is also not ‘illegal’ for the president to sign said contract, but I am assuming the board authorized the president to do so. The president may not, unilaterally, sign a contract on behalf of the association without having first been authorized to do so by the board at a properly noticed, open meeting. While it may not be ‘illegal’ for the president to sign, common sense would indicate if the board did approve the contract, someone other than the president should sign it to signify it was a board decision and not the unilateral action of one board member.”