Potential Method to Collect Unpaid Dues in Illinois

Here is information for HOA’s in Illinois in case you did not read the article on this site regarding a method to potentially receive unpaid money owed. This was in the following article and which stated:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/ct-home-0318-condo-living-20110318,0,5399136.story

Fullett urged attendees to take advantage of the Illinois forcible detainer law. It allows associations to temporarily evict an owner, take possession of the unit and rent it out until the delinquent balance is paid. "It's the best process out there," he said. "Don't waste your time with wage garnishments or going after other assets. They are too slow and typically a waste of money."

Here is the state statute and which part is stated below:
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=073500050HArt%2E+IX&ActID=2017&ChapterID=56&SeqStart=65575000&SeqEnd=73000000

(735 ILCS 5/) Code of Civil Procedure.
ARTICLE IX
FORCIBLE ENTRY AND DETAINER

Sec. 9 102. When action may be maintained.

(7) When any property is subject to the provisions of the Condominium Property Act, the owner of a unit fails or refuses to pay when due his or her proportionate share of the common expenses of such property, or of any other expenses lawfully agreed upon or any unpaid fine, the Board of Managers or its agents have served the demand set forth in Section 9 104.1 of this Article in the manner provided for in that Section and the unit owner has failed to pay the amount claimed within the time prescribed in the demand; or if the lessor owner of a unit fails to comply with the leasing requirements prescribed by subsection (n) of Section 18 of the Condominium Property Act or by the declaration, by laws, and rules and regulations of the condominium, or if a lessee of an owner is in breach of any covenants, rules, regulations, or by laws of the condominium, and the Board of Managers or its agents have served the demand set forth in Section 9 104.2 of this Article in the manner provided in that Section.
(8) When any property is subject to the of a declaration establishing a common interest community and requiring the unit owner to pay regular or special assessments for the maintenance or repair of common areas owned in common by all of the owners of the common interest community or by the community association and maintained for the use of the unit owners or of any other expenses of the association lawfully agreed upon, and the unit owner fails or refuses to pay when due his or her proportionate share of such assessments or expenses and the board or its agents have served the demand set forth in Section 9 104.1 of this Article in the manner provided for in that Section and the unit owner has failed to pay the amount claimed within the time prescribed in the demand.
(b) The provisions of paragraph (8) of subsection (a) of Section 9 102 and Section 9 104.3 of this Act shall not apply to any common interest community unless (1) the association is a not for profit corporation, (2) unit owners are authorized to attend meetings of the board of directors or board of managers of the association in the same manner as provided for condominiums under the Condominium Property Act, and (3) the board of managers or board of directors of the common interest community association has, subsequent to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1984 voted to have the provisions of this Article apply to such association and has delivered or mailed notice of such action to the unit owners or unless the declaration of the association is recorded after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1985.
(c) For purposes of this Article:
(1) "Common interest community" means real estate other than a condominium or cooperative with respect to which any person by virtue of his or her ownership of a partial interest or unit therein is obligated to pay for maintenance, improvement, insurance premiums, or real estate taxes of other real estate described in a declaration which is administered by an association.
(2) "Declaration" means any duly recorded instruments, however designated, that have created a common interest community and any duly recorded amendments to those instruments.
(3) "Unit" means a physical portion of the common interest community designated by separate ownership or occupancy by boundaries which are described in a declaration.
(4) "Unit owners' association" or "association" means the association of all owners of units in the common interest community acting pursuant to the declaration.
(d) If the board of a common interest community elects to have the provisions of this Article apply to such association or the declaration of the association is recorded after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1985, the provisions of subsections (c) through (h) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act applicable to a Master Association and condominium unit subject to such association under subsections (c) through (h) of Section 18.5 shall be applicable to the community associations and to its unit owners.

Hi Rob:

Interesting question … if potentially an HOA had this information and handed out to everyone within their HOA so they are aware of the option … it could maybe act as a deterrent.

I saw it in the article, looked up the statute, and just posted so those HOA’s in Illinois would be aware of something other than lien against the property. Some HOA’s are losing a lot of money due to non-payments and foreclosures, so I guess if they get desperate they could potentially try this option.

Of course another way to view is which is better this method or foreclosing on neighbors … darn tough times right now for many.

I'm on the board of a homeowners association in Illinois. I've posted on a thread or tow about our association taking this action. However, the circumstances did not call for eviction.

We are a complex of 56 townhomes. At one point, we had one homeowner who had already moved out and was severly behind in paying assessments. We took advantage of this law and in effect evicted the owner, although they had moved out long before we took action.

We were lucky enough to find someone to rent the unit. We agreed as a board to set the rent at a redicously low amount partially because we could not offer a long term lease. With this law, if the bank decides to take ownership of the unit, we could not rent it out.

We rented the unti out for several months and recouped probably 75% of what was owed. The abnk took possession of the unit and we had to tell our renters they had to move. Both the association and the renters benefitted from the situation. Unfortunately, since the bank has taken possession, the unit has been vacant foe another year.

We pretty much knew the townhome was in decent shape and therefore it would not require associatioin costs to bring it the rentable status. We did have to replace a faucet, fix a leaking toilet, and replace a sump pump, all costs incurred by the association. From what I've read and heard, this is minor cost compared to what some come across.

We've not done this with any other unit. It all depends on each individual circumstance. It worked for us...

I live in an association who was just caught doing this unlawfully. We are single family homes and built in the 70s and the Board never notified nor did they pass a resolution to start taking such eviction action (a requirement for common interest communities that have their declarations recorded before 1984). Unfortunately, our attorneys (Fullett) never made sure we met the requirements. We are still not sure if it was the manager that never told the Board or the attorney who never told the manager. Regardless, 53 evictions have been filed with about 5-6 actually going all the way with a physical move-out.

What tends to happen is that when an owner is served with an Eviction Action, they are real quick to pay up. Typically, these are homes not in foreclosure, so there is a motivation for the owners to pay up. However, once the case was filed, the fees that were charged often doubled the debt (i.e. $1200 in legal/court costs added to a $1200 delinquency), making it even harder to the owner to catch up. The other issue that arose was that our community filed this on anyone who owed more than the 1 year dues rate (~$1000), so there were a few cases where an owner was threatened with eviction when she was current on assessments, but had a couple fines that were incurred by her teenage son (a situation where both the association & the police issued violations for the same offense and they were still waiting on the outcome of that court case). Needless to say, its not always black & white and needs some flexibility if used responsibly.

In the end, the Board is going to have to credit/refund over $50,000 for legal/court fees that they assessed/collected in these cases because they were not able to take the action in the first place. So, if you are considering using this action, make sure you have a thorough attorney and be willing to shop around...the goal is to get the debt paid, not bankrupt the homeowner.