Condo Association with less than 10 homes

Started by KimF4 • 7 replies • 1310 views

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KimF4 (Illinois)
Posts: 6

Posted:

I have less than 10 homes in my condominium association in IL. Our board consist of a husband and wife that are President and Treasurer and another husband and wife that are Vice President and Secretary. Voting has become one sided, with the board and a neighbor voting for everything the board wants. Our developer used another apartment complex's bylaws for our bylaws, cut and pasted in our association name where needed, and on the last page missed a paragraph and left in the apartment complex name he copied the bylaws from. We started out with 5 homes and recently added 2 more. Even though our board has been showed by an attorney how wrong our bylaws are for our area, they continue to pick and choose which rules within our bylaws to follow.They fail to follow the IL Condominium Act. I was the first home built, the title company has reviewed my documents and the deed to my home states I own a lot, not a unit, and it states I live in a subdivision. The title company has stated in a letter all of the errors that the developer did in filing documents to set up the condominium association. I have provided all of the documentation to back up the letter from the title company, including statutes from the IL Condominium Act and documents filed by the developer, but I am being ignored by the board. Their idea is to ignore the issue and it will go away. I presented to them over a year ago of how we could efficiently be a home owner's association instead of a condominium association, including the pros and cons of both, but again the vote sided with the board.

I have since given a 60 day notice I will no longer be paying my condo fees due to what my title company has revealed. Our fees cover lawn service and an insurance policy that covers from the studs out on our home. We also gave notice not to use either of the services. Do I have a right to refuse to pay fees since our bylaws do not apply to our area, I am not titled as a condominium, and our board has failed to comply with the association bylaws and the IL statues? I love my home, I have been here for 6 years, but the situation in the past 1.5 years is beginning to become difficult especially with the members of the board. I have spent a lot of money already with an attorney and the board continued to ignore all communication, and I do not want to spend the money to file a lawsuit against the board at this time. I am seriously thinking of moving, but that is my last resort. Any suggestions how I can proceed further?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

You'll get in more trouble if you refuse to pay your fees - your obligation to pay fees continues regardless of what your board is doing. You're better off talking to an attorney about what your options might be.

If there are 10 homes, you should be able to vote these people out, depending on how the rest of the homeowners feel. Why not talk to them and see how they feel? Especially with two married couples making up most of the board - seems to me your documents should say something about not having co-owners serving on the board at the same time.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Kim,

Refusing to pay the fees will only cause you more aggravation, potential legal fees and possibly the loss of your home.

If you wish to correct the issue, contact a local attorney and find out what legal options you have, the likelyhood of those options working and the potential cost for each option. Then take the issue to court.

KimF4 (Illinois)
Posts: 6

Posted:

Thank you so much for your assistance.

Kim

KimF4 (Illinois)
Posts: 6

Posted:

Thank you so much for your assistance.

Kim

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

Kim,

As others have said, do not refuse to pay your assessments.

I am not familiar with the Illinois Condominium Act, so take this with a grain of salt. In a traditional condo each owner has exclusive ownership of a building (or part of one) but the real estate on which the building is situated is owned in common by all the owners. Since you have a deed for a particular plot of ground, your situation does not fit the mold of a condominium. It also sounds like your title company has advised you of numerous problems with the developer's documents.

When you presented your title reports to the board you apparently got just the response I would expect from a group of untrained and inexperienced homeowners trying to manage an HOA. Do not let the matter end there with their non-response. An HOA board is no place for making legal arguments regarding title to property.

You need to take your issue to court, which is the proper forum for resolving the legal issues that your developer created. Consult with an attorney and follow his advice. Delay is your worst enemy, so get moving.

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046

Posted:

As Tim mentioned, not paying dues could lead to the association filing a lien, and even foreclosing on your unit. Unless your attorney is in agreement and feels he can successfully defend against these actions, not paying could end up being very expensive for you. Of course, even with your attorney's agreement, this could get expensive to defend.

Larry's advice is also excellent, I know you said upthread that you didn't want to sue, but either you suing or waiting for the association to sue you (for foreclosure over non-payment) seem to be the options other than just keeping the status quo.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DouglasK1 on 07/05/2016 12:49 PM
As Tim mentioned, not paying dues could lead to the association filing a lien, and even foreclosing on your unit. Unless your attorney is in agreement and feels he can successfully defend against these actions, not paying could end up being very expensive for you. Of course, even with your attorney's agreement, this could get expensive to defend.

Larry's advice is also excellent, I know you said upthread that you didn't want to sue, but either you suing or waiting for the association to sue you (for foreclosure over non-payment) seem to be the options other than just keeping the status quo.

I missed the part about not wanting to sue. Your choices are to sue or to sit down and shut up because you've accepted the consequences of not asserting your claim in a proper forum.

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