Amending Bylaws to Prohibit Renting

The latest discussion that I can see on this is 2007, so I am posting this question. We are a small association of 9 owners in Illinois. Currently there is one rental...a long time rental and we have no problem with this. We want to amend our bylaws to prohibit any future rentals. Our problem is that one unit is going into foreclosure, so we would like to speed this up. Obviously, it the unit goes to auction it will be picked up by an investor and we don't want that. Getting a majority of voters will not be a problem...6 of the 9 are a definite vote for this.

What we don't know is what we do/how to accomplish this. We don't have funds to hire an attorney to write it. Is there any verbage available that we could use, then just hire the attorney to "formalize it"???

Thanks very much..

We are just concerned that if any future rentals come in that we don't have any "rules" in place that would limit # of people allowed to live there, parties, and that sort of thing. We are all (with the exception of 2 units, one being the one going into foreclosure) retirement age and above. The current renters are also in that age group of "retirees" and aren't wanting to have wild people living there. Which could happen if an investor purchases this property. Willing to hear any suggestions you might have in addition to the ones already given!! Thanks!

Good point! As far as doing this, do we just make up a wording of our choice and have the members vote on it, and then how does it become a part of our condo docs as a "bylaw"??

To insure anything is more enforceable you would potentially want to amend your Declaration of CCR’s. You will need to follow your current CCR’s regarding amending and your state statutes.

Here is a link for the Illinois Condominium Property Act:
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2200&ChapterID=62

You should read through the statute and become familiar. Also, it will let you know if your current documents are up to date and if your HOA is properly following the state statutes.

Here is the section regarding amendments:

(765 ILCS 605/17) (from Ch. 30, par. 317)
Sec. 17. Amendments to the declaration or bylaws. (a) The administration of every property shall be governed by bylaws, which may either be embodied in the declaration or in a separate instrument, a true copy of which shall be appended to and recorded with the declaration. No modification or amendment of the declaration or bylaws shall be valid unless the same is set forth in an amendment thereof and such amendment is duly recorded. An amendment of the declaration or bylaws shall be deemed effective upon recordation unless the amendment sets forth a different effective date.

(b) Unless otherwise provided by this Act, amendments to condominium instruments authorized to be recorded shall be executed and recorded by the president of the association or such other officer authorized by the board of managers.
(Source: P.A. 83 833.)

The amended document must be properly recorded … this is generally done through the local county records in most states.

Depending on your HOA members legal knowledge you might call a local attorney and ask what wording they recommend. An attorney can also insure the choice you make on the issue is absolutely legal. Other than this the HOA can easily file the amended document themselves, which might include a filing fee. You can call your local county records office to verify the filing fee cost. Alternately the attorney can also file for you as part of their service on this issue.