EXTERIOR MAINTENANCE

Hi Renee,

This would depend on what you are (condo, single family home...) and what your governing docs state.

We are an IL HOA (townhouse style condos) and covered by the IL Condo Act.

Link:
http://www.ksnlaw.com/?p=1720

In our case, under the Condo Act, the HO basically owns from paint in and HOA out (this is generalized and there are exceptions as per the Condo Act).

We have replaced sections of siding due to wind damage. In these areas, we did not have any Tyvek covering (is this what you meant by insulation?). It is my understanding that such Tyvek wrap is now part of our Village building code (wasn’t required when we were built). We added the Tyvek wrap covering in those sections where siding has been replaced. This has been done at HOA expense, not the HO’s.

We will be looking at siding replacement within the next few years (we are ~15 years old) and would include the Tyvek wrap, paid by the HOA, not the HO.

Hope this helps,
Bonnie

Hi Renee,

OK, now I think I understand what you are asking. You are referring to added insulation (cavity insulation) into the dead space between the interior drywall and exterior plywood.

Who is responsible for the drywall itself? Our docs are very clear that the drywall is the responsibility of the HOA. The cavity insulation in our exterior walls that was placed there by the builder would then be the responsibility of the HOA (assuming we have such insulation). :-)

I do know that our attached garages and the attics above the garages are not insulated as their interiors are not finished. We have had homeowners finish their attics and garages and they have added cavity insulation. The homeowners paid for it as it was not there originally by the builder.

In your situation, am I to understand that you do not have builder installed cavity insulation? If not, then based on what your docs state, the homeowner is likely responsible for the cost of the added cavity insulation (IMHO), should they choose to add it.

Although, were I on the Board, I would have recommended that the cavity insulation be included with the siding replacement project and therefore a HOA expense.

Bonnie

Check this site out for Jeffery Goldberg.

He writes some good stuff.

http://condolawyers.com/

Hi Robert,

Thank you for the link to condo lawers and the (local) law firm. It will be useful to have another IL source of info.

Yes, we are legally defined as condos (although we look like townhouses, 4-6 units per building).

I am familiar with another firm (Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit), whose links I have posted many times for their articles, links to IL laws, etc. They amended our Declaration & By-Laws following developer turnover and have prepared a maintenance responsibility chart which the Board distributed to the owners. Our gov docs have generally used the language taken from the IL Condo Act defining common elements, limited common elements, exclusive use limited common elements, dwelling unit, etc., and, defining who is responsible for what (maintenance, repair and replacement).

Our gov docs are paper version and I do not have a scanner to send a copy, but reference to the IL Condo Act below will provide basically the same language.

http://www.ksnlaw.com/E02E82/assets/files/Documents/IllinoisCondominiumPropertyActJune2008.pdf

Sec. 4.1. CONSTRUCTION, INTERPRETATION, AND VALIDITY OF
CONDOMINIUM INSTRUMENTS.

(a) Except to the extent otherwise provided by the declaration or other condominium
instruments:

(1) The terms defined in Section 2 of this Act shall be deemed to have the meaning
specified therein unless the context otherwise requires.

(2) To the extent that perimeter and partition walls, floors or ceilings are designated
as the boundaries of the units or of any specified units, all decorating, wall and floor coverings,
paneling, molding, tiles, wallpaper, paint, finished flooring and any other materials constituting any part of the finished surfaces thereof, shall be deemed a part of such units, while all other portions of such walls, floors or ceilings and all portions of perimeter doors and all portions of windows in perimeter walls shall be deemed part of the common elements.

(3) If any chutes, flues, ducts, conduits, wires, bearing walls, bearing columns, or any
other apparatus lies partially within and partially outside of the designated boundaries of a unit, any portions thereof serving only that unit shall be deemed a part of that unit, while any portions thereof serving more than one unit or any portion of the common elements shall be deemed a part of the common elements.

(4) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of subsection (a), all space and other
fixtures and improvements within the boundaries of a unit shall be deemed a part of that unit.

(5) Any shutters, awnings, window boxes, doorsteps, porches, balconies, patios,
perimeter doors, windows in perimeter walls, and any other apparatus designed to serve a single unit shall be deemed a limited common element appertaining to that unit exclusively.

(6) All provisions of the declaration, bylaws and other condominium instruments are
severable.

(b) Except to the extent otherwise provided by the declaration or by other condominium
instruments recorded prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1984, in the event of a conflict between the provisions of the declaration and the bylaws or other condominium instruments, the declaration prevails except to the extent the declaration is inconsistent with this Act.

(c) A provision in the initial declaration limiting ownership, rental or occupancy of a
condominium unit to a person 55 years of age or older shall be valid and deemed not to be in violation of Article 3 of the Illinois Human Rights Act provided that the person or the immediate family of a person owning, renting or lawfully occupying such unit prior to the recording of the initial declaration shall not be deemed to be in violation of such age restriction so long as they continue to own or reside in such unit.

From condo lawers web site you provided, I found this from one of their articles – may be what you are referring to: “What is the difference between a condominium, homeowners’ association, and a residential co-operative?”

http://condolawyers.com/articles/differences.htm

“A condominium is a relatively new form of property ownership created by statute which allows persons to buy and sell apartments within a building. This form of ownership can take almost any architectural form. The declaration of condominium sets forth the boundaries of a number of units and of the common elements of the association. Typically, a unit consists of the air space bounded by the surfaces of the walls, floor, and ceiling. The property other than the units is the common elements, which typically includes the actual real estate, the buildings themselves, all structural components, the grounds, and exterior areas. In addition to owning the air space that consists of a unit, each unit owner also owns a percentage of the common elements (as tenants in common with all other unit owners) according to the percentages set forth in the declaration. …..”

Hopefully this info will also be useful to Renee!

Thank you,
Bonnie

Robert,

you said:

“As you can see from the information you posted, there as gray areas that may have to be addressed. This reference to an owner responsibility for load bearing walls would never fly in my condos as we are multi-storied, so all load bearing walls are Regime responsibility, as are any supporting structures. I am sure there is enough legalese in all this stuff that the lawyers get to lawyer (contest) damn near anything, at huge cost to owners.”

My understanding of the IL Condo law and our gov docs is that load bearing walls are the responsibility of the Association.

According to our maintenance responsibility chart, the structural components & columns of the building & property whether located within or outside of the (dwelling) unit are the Association’s responsibility (references article 1.11 of our docs).

Our Declaration, Article 1.11 (definition of dwelling unit) states in part that the dwelling unit does not include any structural components.

Although, I am unable to find a definition of “structural components”.

I should add a note that some of our end units are actually ranch style units, meaning one sits above the other (although most are 2-story style).

I agree there are gray areas with regard to who is responsible. That was the purpose of having the attorney develop the maintenance responsibility chart. But, even so, I can still come up with questions as to who is responsible.

Bonnie