Blog

Illinois Supreme Court rules in favor of Associations - No excuses to avoid paying assessments The struggling economy and the spike in mortgage foreclosures over the past five years have made collecting funds from unit owners a hot topic with our board members. The process for “treating” a delinquent unit owner has historically been straight forward. Step number one is to issue a demand letter that provides the owner with a period of 30 days in order to pay the entire past due balance. If the debt is not paid within the 30 days the association can proceed with step number...

Special Assessments - An overview for Chicago board members The primary source of income for a condominium association is through the normal monthly assessments paid by the unit owners. These assessments are determined and set one time per year through the adoption of an annual budget. Once the budget has been adopted by the Board, the assessment amounts for each unit are fixed for the year and are not changed. What happens if there are unplanned repairs or other situations where additional funds are needed to support the association? The primary tool at the Board's disposal is a special assessment. A...

Treatment of Delinquent Owners in Chicago Condominium Associations If your condominium association has unit owners that have become past-due in the payment of their monthly assessments the Board must decide how to proceed. As a board member it is your legal duty to protect the financial health of the condo association. While many board members find this uncomfortable, in some cases this means taking legal action against a delinquent unit owner. This involves using the courts to force repayment of the owner's unpaid assessments. If no action is taken the eventual outcome is almost certainly that the other unit owners will...

When a condo association needs a large amount of cash in a short period of time, a loan may be the only option. This is especially true if the owners cannot afford a large special assessment. Association loans often become necessary as an emergency measure due to deferred maintenance and a lack of proper budgeting. These types of loans use the association's existing and future assessment income as collateral to secure the debt. This means that if the association fails to repay the loan, the bank will go after the association's assessments. Prior to this change to the Illinois Condominium Property...

Electricity costs are something that we all want to minimize. No one wants to receive an expensive electricity bill. The good news is that you have more control over the outcome of your bill than you may think. We often forget that it is our own actions (or lack thereof) that, at least in part, determines the final amount listed on the invoice. We’ve all heard of the age-old tips to avoid over-using electricity. “Turn off the lights when you’re not in the room,” “Don’t go to sleep with the TV on,” and “Unplug your appliances,” among others. These tips are...