IL HOA and skylight reclassification.

My townhome association had a policy where skylights were considered structurally part of the roof, and were maintained by the association. The association has paid for skylight repair and replacement in the past. However, the association has now deemed skylights as "windows", and turned the responsibility of the skylights over to the homeowners, without having given prior notification of policy change. I complained about a roof leak in 2011, because I had a water stain appear in a bedroom. The association contractor inspected the roof, and traced the leak back to my skylight about 10 feet away. I made this complaint in 2011. The failure in the skylight isn't the glass or plastic, but perhaps something with the flashing or sealants.

My bylaws expressly places repair of doors and "glass surfaces" onto the homeowner. This left a murky area regarding apparatuses that encapsulate "glass surfaces", such as windows and skylights. In 2004, my townhome association had a policy vote regarding windows. As part of that vote, the policy is that the homeowners assume the replacement costs of windows, with exceptions. The association covers windows in the following cases:

"The Association is responsible for the replacement or repair of the building structure, including windows, if the damage is caused by high winds, ice build-up, a tree hitting the building, a failure in the building structure or similar events"

This policy also requires homeowners to notify the association if any leaks occur. The source of these leaks could be possible siding or J-channel issues, possible roof issues, etc.

I learned in July 2011 that the association would not pursue the skylight fix. The association claimed that a 2009 Illinois law changed the status of skylights from roofing material to windows. I had a couple of attorneys look for such a law, but they could not find such documentation. I attended a few board meetings to get more information about this. The association then re-clarified and mentioned that the townhome property act clarified skylights as windows. Illinois does not have a "townhome property act". The association then consulted their attorneys regarding coverage and responsibility of common areas.
The legal opinion now claims that the change of skylights to windows did not come from state law or the "townhome property act", but from case law, without having specified the case. In addition, the provided legal opinion gave the association fewer responsibilities for the upkeep of common areas. The opinion states that the association has the responsibility of maintaining siding and roofing as prescribed by law. Other items not mentioned in law is the responsibility of the homeowners. Homeowners may be responsible for other maintenance, such as caulking, since it is not an association duty explicitly prescribed by law. The association would need to provide line items in the budget to cover other maintenance duties (such as chimney inspection). As such, this legal opinion would seem to transfer the exterior maintenance of windows and skylights, such as caulking, to the owner. This would seem to defeat the purpose of having an association to maintain exterior elements.

I plan to write a letter to the association to get a further explanation of the "case law" regarding this transfer of maintenance. I will mail the letter once an attorney looks at it first.

Questions:

1. Do you know of IL case law that reclassifies skylights as windows?

2. I have found this web page, which discusses "limited common elements", of which skylights should be included.
http://www.dicklerlaw.com/Newsletters/Limited-Common-Elements.shtml
If skylights are not reclassified, I assume that the skylight is still the responsibility of the association?

3. Although not explicit in the bylaws, I would assume that "exterior maintenance" shall also include any kind of caulking, sealing, or wrapping as necessary to prevent weather to enter the unit, thus making it an association duty? Would a failure in caulk, tar, flashing, etc constitute a "failure in the building structure" as defined in the window policy?

4. At the most recent board meeting, one homeowner complained of rain water entering the chimney box. The association determined that the chimney box should be covered by the association because the chimney box is shared between 2 units. Thus, a line item was added into the budget for chimney inspections. Regarding the legal opinion provided by the association, for the past several years, no line items are in the budget for skylight and roof inspection (there is a line item for "roof repair"). Considering that no inspections have been made, I assume that any skylight failure is considered "negligence" on the association, and they would also have to pay the full costs of any skylight replacement?

5. Should the association fail to resolve my situation, what other recourse(s) do I have?