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1 | AN ACT concerning condominium property.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Condominium Ombudsperson Act. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds as follows: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | (1) Managing condominium property is a complex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | responsibility. Unit owners and persons charged with | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | managing condominium property may have little or no prior | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | experience in managing real property, operating a | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | not-for-profit association or corporation, complying with | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | the law governing condominium property, and interpreting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | and enforcing restrictions and rules imposed by the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | condominium instruments or other applicable covenants. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Unit owners may not fully understand their rights and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | obligations under the law, condominium instruments, or | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | other applicable covenants. Mistakes and misunderstandings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | are inevitable and may lead to serious, costly, and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | divisive problems.
A Condominium Ombudsperson will seek to | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | educate unit owners, condominium associations, and boards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | of managers as to their legal rights and obligations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | Effective education can prevent or reduce the severity of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | problems within a condominium community. |
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1 | (2) The principal remedy for a violation of condominium | ||||||
2 | property law is private litigation. Litigation is not an | ||||||
3 | ideal remedy for many condominium property disputes, | ||||||
4 | because the disputants are neighbors who must maintain | ||||||
5 | ongoing relationships. The
adversarial nature of | ||||||
6 | litigation can disrupt these relationships, creating | ||||||
7 | animosity that degrades the quality of life within the
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8 | condominium community and makes future disputes more | ||||||
9 | likely to arise. Litigation
imposes costs on a condominium | ||||||
10 | community as a whole,
costs that must be paid by all unit | ||||||
11 | owners through increased assessments.
Many unit owners | ||||||
12 | cannot afford to bring a lawsuit and are effectively
denied | ||||||
13 | the benefit of laws designed for their protection. A | ||||||
14 | Condominium Ombudsperson will provide a neutral, | ||||||
15 | nonjudicial
forum for resolution of condominium property | ||||||
16 | disputes.
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17 | (3) Anecdotal accounts of abuses within condominium | ||||||
18 | communities create continuing public demand for reform of | ||||||
19 | condominium property law. This results in frequent changes | ||||||
20 | to the law, making it more difficult to understand and | ||||||
21 | apply and imposing significant transitional costs on | ||||||
22 | condominium communities
statewide. By collecting empirical | ||||||
23 | data on the nature and incidence
of problems within | ||||||
24 | condominium communities, a Condominium Ombudsperson will | ||||||
25 | provide a sound basis for prioritizing
reform efforts, | ||||||
26 | thereby increasing the stability of condominium property |
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1 | law. | ||||||
2 | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: | ||||||
3 | "Board of managers", "condominium instruments", "master | ||||||
4 | association", "unit", "unit owner", and "unit owners' | ||||||
5 | association" have the meanings ascribed to those terms in the | ||||||
6 | Condominium Property Act. | ||||||
7 | "Condominium association" means a unit owners' association | ||||||
8 | or master association. | ||||||
9 | "Office" means the Office of the Condominium Ombudsperson | ||||||
10 | established under Section 15 of this Act.
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11 | "Ombudsperson" means the Condominium Ombudsperson employed | ||||||
12 | under Section 15 of this Act. | ||||||
13 | "Person" includes a natural person, firm, association, | ||||||
14 | organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, | ||||||
15 | limited liability company, or public entity. | ||||||
16 | Section 15. Office of the Condominium Ombudsperson.
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17 | (a) There is created in the Office of the Attorney General | ||||||
18 | the Office of the Condominium Ombudsperson under the | ||||||
19 | supervision and control of the Attorney General. | ||||||
20 | (b) Commencing July 1, 2014, the Attorney General shall | ||||||
21 | employ a Condominium Ombudsperson and other persons as | ||||||
22 | necessary to discharge the requirements of this Act. The | ||||||
23 | Ombudsperson shall have the powers delegated to him or her by | ||||||
24 | the Attorney General, in addition to the powers set forth in |
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1 | this Act. | ||||||
2 | (c) The Attorney General, following receipt of | ||||||
3 | recommendations from the Ombudsperson, may adopt rules | ||||||
4 | governing practices and
procedures under this Act. Any rule | ||||||
5 | adopted under this Act is subject to the rulemaking provisions | ||||||
6 | of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. | ||||||
7 | (d) Information and advice provided by the Ombudsperson has | ||||||
8 | no binding legal effect and is not subject to the rulemaking | ||||||
9 | provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. | ||||||
10 | (e) The Attorney General may convene an advisory committee | ||||||
11 | to make recommendations on matters within the Ombudsperson's | ||||||
12 | jurisdiction. The members of the advisory committee shall | ||||||
13 | receive a per diem and expenses as determined by the Attorney | ||||||
14 | General. In selecting the members of an advisory committee, the | ||||||
15 | Attorney General shall ensure a fair representation of the | ||||||
16 | interests involved. | ||||||
17 | (f) The costs of the Office of the Condominium Ombudsperson | ||||||
18 | should be borne entirely by condominium unit owners through the | ||||||
19 | imposition of an annual fee. | ||||||
20 | Section 20. Training and education. | ||||||
21 | (a) The Ombudsperson shall offer training and other | ||||||
22 | educational materials and courses to condominium unit owners, | ||||||
23 | condominium associations, and boards of managers in subjects | ||||||
24 | relevant to the operation and management of condominium | ||||||
25 | property and the rights and duties of unit owners, condominium |
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1 | associations, and boards of managers. | ||||||
2 | (b) The Ombudsperson may charge a fee for training and | ||||||
3 | other educational materials and
courses provided under this | ||||||
4 | Section, not to exceed the actual cost of the training or other | ||||||
5 | materials and courses.
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6 | Section 25. Toll-free number; website. | ||||||
7 | (a) The Office shall maintain a statewide toll-free | ||||||
8 | telephone number to provide information or assistance on | ||||||
9 | matters relating to condominium property.
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10 | (b) The Office shall maintain on the Attorney General's | ||||||
11 | website the following information: | ||||||
12 | (1) The text of this Act, the Condominium Property Act, | ||||||
13 | and any other statute or
regulation that the Ombudsperson | ||||||
14 | determines is relevant to the
operation and management of | ||||||
15 | condominium property or the rights and duties
of unit | ||||||
16 | owners, condominium associations, and boards of managers. | ||||||
17 | (2) Information concerning nonjudicial resolution of | ||||||
18 | disputes that may arise within a condominium community, | ||||||
19 | including contacts for locally available dispute | ||||||
20 | resolution programs.
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21 | (3) A description of the services provided by the | ||||||
22 | Ombudsperson and information on how to contact the | ||||||
23 | Ombudsperson for assistance.
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24 | (4) An analysis, prepared each year, of changes in the | ||||||
25 | law affecting condominium property.
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1 | (5) Any other information that the Ombudsperson | ||||||
2 | determines is useful to unit owners, condominium | ||||||
3 | associations, and boards of managers.
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4 | (c) Information described in subsection (b)
shall also be | ||||||
5 | made available in printed form. The Office may
charge a fee for | ||||||
6 | the purchase of printed materials, not to exceed the
actual | ||||||
7 | cost of printing and delivery.
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8 | Section 30. Members of condominium board of managers or | ||||||
9 | master association. | ||||||
10 | (a) Within 60 days after assuming office as a member of a | ||||||
11 | board of managers or a master association, every member shall | ||||||
12 | certify that he or she has read each of
the following: | ||||||
13 | (1) The condominium instruments relating to the | ||||||
14 | condominium property administered by the board of managers | ||||||
15 | or master association.
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16 | (2) This Act or, if the Ombudsperson prepares a | ||||||
17 | detailed summary of the requirements of this Act, that | ||||||
18 | summary. | ||||||
19 | (b) Each member of a board of managers or a master | ||||||
20 | association shall file the certification required by this
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21 | Section with the Ombudsperson.
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22 | Section 35. Dispute resolution assistance. | ||||||
23 | (a) Any interested person may request that the Ombudsperson | ||||||
24 | provide assistance in resolving a dispute between a unit owner |
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1 | and a condominium association or board of managers that | ||||||
2 | involves the law governing condominium property or the | ||||||
3 | condominium instruments relating to a condominium community. | ||||||
4 | (b) On receipt of a request for assistance, the | ||||||
5 | Ombudsperson
shall, within the limits of the available | ||||||
6 | resources, confer with the
interested parties and assist in | ||||||
7 | efforts to resolve the dispute by
mutual agreement of the | ||||||
8 | parties. | ||||||
9 | (c) The Ombudsperson shall not charge a fee for services | ||||||
10 | provided under this Section.
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11 | Section 40. Reports. | ||||||
12 | (a) The Attorney General shall submit an annual written | ||||||
13 | report on the activities of the Office of the Ombudsperson to | ||||||
14 | the General Assembly, no later than October 1 of each year. The | ||||||
15 | report shall include all of the following information: | ||||||
16 | (1) Annual workload and performance data, including | ||||||
17 | the number of requests for assistance received, the manner | ||||||
18 | in which a request was
or was not resolved, and the staff | ||||||
19 | time required to resolve the
inquiry. For each category of | ||||||
20 | data, the report shall provide
subtotals based on the type | ||||||
21 | of question or dispute involved in the
request. | ||||||
22 | (2) Analysis of the most common and serious types of | ||||||
23 | disputes
within condominium communities, along with any | ||||||
24 | recommendations
for statutory reform to reduce the | ||||||
25 | frequency or severity of those
disputes.
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1 | (b) On or before January 1, 2016, the Attorney General, | ||||||
2 | following receipt of recommendations from the Ombudsperson, | ||||||
3 | shall submit
recommendations to the General Assembly on the | ||||||
4 | following topics:
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5 | (1) Whether the Ombudsperson should be authorized to | ||||||
6 | enforce
condominium property law.
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7 | (2) Whether the Ombudsperson should be authorized to | ||||||
8 | oversee unit owners'
association elections.
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9 | (3) Whether the scope of the application of Section 30 | ||||||
10 | of this Act should be narrowed or broadened.
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11 | (4) Whether the Ombudsperson should provide or | ||||||
12 | subsidize mediation of condominium property disputes.
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13 | Section 45. Fees.
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14 | (a) Every condominium unit owners' association shall pay to | ||||||
15 | the Ombudsperson an annual fee as provided in this Section. | ||||||
16 | This fee shall be in addition to any other fees authorized to | ||||||
17 | be charged by the Ombudsperson under this Act. The total fee
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18 | due from an association under this Section in any year shall be | ||||||
19 | the product of
(i) the number of units composing the | ||||||
20 | condominium property administered by the association | ||||||
21 | multiplied by
(ii) the annual fee amount for that year | ||||||
22 | determined under subsection (b). | ||||||
23 | (b) The initial annual fee amount to be used in calculating | ||||||
24 | a unit owners' association's fee under this Section shall be | ||||||
25 | $3.
The Ombudsperson, with the Attorney General's approval, |
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1 | shall increase or decrease the annual fee amount every year to | ||||||
2 | provide only the revenue that he or she estimates will be | ||||||
3 | necessary for the Office's operation expenses during the next | ||||||
4 | year. However, the annual fee amount may not exceed $10. | ||||||
5 | (c) A unit owners' association is excused from paying the | ||||||
6 | fee for a unit if another association has paid the fee for that | ||||||
7 | unit. An association that is excused from paying the fee for a
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8 | unit shall certify, on a form prescribed by the Ombudsperson | ||||||
9 | for that purpose, that another association has paid the fee for | ||||||
10 | that unit. The Attorney General, following receipt of | ||||||
11 | recommendations from the Ombudsperson, may adopt a rule | ||||||
12 | governing which association is required to pay the fee for a | ||||||
13 | unit that is administered by more than one association.
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14 | Section 50. Condominium Ombudsperson Fund. All moneys | ||||||
15 | received by the Ombudsperson as fees under this Act shall be | ||||||
16 | deposited into the Condominium Ombudsperson Fund, which is | ||||||
17 | hereby created as a special fund in the State treasury. All | ||||||
18 | moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the General Assembly, | ||||||
19 | shall be used exclusively for expenditures by the Ombudsperson | ||||||
20 | that are necessary for the proper administration of this Act. | ||||||
21 | Section 85. Repeal. This Act is repealed on July 1, 2017. | ||||||
22 | Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | ||||||
23 | Section 5.855 as follows: |
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1 | (30 ILCS 105/5.855 new) | ||||||
2 | Sec. 5.855. The Condominium Ombudsperson Fund.
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3 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
4 | 2014.
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