98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB4204

 

Introduced , by Rep. Elaine Nekritz

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
30 ILCS 105/5.855 new

    Creates the Condominium Ombudsperson Act and amends the State Finance Act. Contains legislative findings and defines terms. Within and under the control of the office of the Attorney General, creates the Office of the Condominium Ombudsperson. Provides that the Ombudsperson shall offer training and educational materials and courses to condominium unit owners, condominium associations, and boards of managers in subjects relevant to the operation and management of condominium property and the rights and duties of a unit owner or unit owners' association. Requires the Ombudsperson to maintain a statewide toll-free telephone number, maintain certain information on the Attorney General's website, and provide information or assistance on matters relating to condominium property. Requires the Attorney General, based upon Ombudsperson recommendations, to report annually to the General Assembly. Provides that every condominium unit owners' association shall pay an annual fee to the Ombudsperson to cover the administration of the Act. Creates the Condominium Ombudsperson Fund as a special fund in the State treasury, to consist of fees received by the Ombudsperson, to be used exclusively for expenditures necessary for the proper administration of the Act. Repeals the Act on July 1, 2017. Effective July 1, 2014.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning condominium property.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Condominium Ombudsperson Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds as follows:
7        (1) Managing condominium property is a complex
8    responsibility. Unit owners and persons charged with
9    managing condominium property may have little or no prior
10    experience in managing real property, operating a
11    not-for-profit association or corporation, complying with
12    the law governing condominium property, and interpreting
13    and enforcing restrictions and rules imposed by the
14    condominium instruments or other applicable covenants.
15    Unit owners may not fully understand their rights and
16    obligations under the law, condominium instruments, or
17    other applicable covenants. Mistakes and misunderstandings
18    are inevitable and may lead to serious, costly, and
19    divisive problems. A Condominium Ombudsperson will seek to
20    educate unit owners, condominium associations, and boards
21    of managers as to their legal rights and obligations.
22    Effective education can prevent or reduce the severity of
23    problems within a condominium community.

 

 

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1        (2) The principal remedy for a violation of condominium
2    property law is private litigation. Litigation is not an
3    ideal remedy for many condominium property disputes,
4    because the disputants are neighbors who must maintain
5    ongoing relationships. The adversarial nature of
6    litigation can disrupt these relationships, creating
7    animosity that degrades the quality of life within the
8    condominium community and makes future disputes more
9    likely to arise. Litigation imposes costs on a condominium
10    community as a whole, costs that must be paid by all unit
11    owners through increased assessments. Many unit owners
12    cannot afford to bring a lawsuit and are effectively denied
13    the benefit of laws designed for their protection. A
14    Condominium Ombudsperson will provide a neutral,
15    nonjudicial forum for resolution of condominium property
16    disputes.
17        (3) Anecdotal accounts of abuses within condominium
18    communities create continuing public demand for reform of
19    condominium property law. This results in frequent changes
20    to the law, making it more difficult to understand and
21    apply and imposing significant transitional costs on
22    condominium communities statewide. By collecting empirical
23    data on the nature and incidence of problems within
24    condominium communities, a Condominium Ombudsperson will
25    provide a sound basis for prioritizing reform efforts,
26    thereby increasing the stability of condominium property

 

 

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1    law.
 
2    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
3    "Board of managers", "condominium instruments", "master
4association", "unit", "unit owner", and "unit owners'
5association" have the meanings ascribed to those terms in the
6Condominium Property Act.
7    "Condominium association" means a unit owners' association
8or master association.
9    "Office" means the Office of the Condominium Ombudsperson
10established under Section 15 of this Act.
11    "Ombudsperson" means the Condominium Ombudsperson employed
12under Section 15 of this Act.
13    "Person" includes a natural person, firm, association,
14organization, partnership, business trust, corporation,
15limited liability company, or public entity.
 
16    Section 15. Office of the Condominium Ombudsperson.
17    (a) There is created in the Office of the Attorney General
18the Office of the Condominium Ombudsperson under the
19supervision and control of the Attorney General.
20    (b) Commencing July 1, 2014, the Attorney General shall
21employ a Condominium Ombudsperson and other persons as
22necessary to discharge the requirements of this Act. The
23Ombudsperson shall have the powers delegated to him or her by
24the Attorney General, in addition to the powers set forth in

 

 

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1this Act.
2    (c) The Attorney General, following receipt of
3recommendations from the Ombudsperson, may adopt rules
4governing practices and procedures under this Act. Any rule
5adopted under this Act is subject to the rulemaking provisions
6of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
7    (d) Information and advice provided by the Ombudsperson has
8no binding legal effect and is not subject to the rulemaking
9provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
10    (e) The Attorney General may convene an advisory committee
11to make recommendations on matters within the Ombudsperson's
12jurisdiction. The members of the advisory committee shall
13receive a per diem and expenses as determined by the Attorney
14General. In selecting the members of an advisory committee, the
15Attorney General shall ensure a fair representation of the
16interests involved.
17    (f) The costs of the Office of the Condominium Ombudsperson
18should be borne entirely by condominium unit owners through the
19imposition of an annual fee.
 
20    Section 20. Training and education.
21    (a) The Ombudsperson shall offer training and other
22educational materials and courses to condominium unit owners,
23condominium associations, and boards of managers in subjects
24relevant to the operation and management of condominium
25property and the rights and duties of unit owners, condominium

 

 

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1associations, and boards of managers.
2    (b) The Ombudsperson may charge a fee for training and
3other educational materials and courses provided under this
4Section, not to exceed the actual cost of the training or other
5materials and courses.
 
6    Section 25. Toll-free number; website.
7    (a) The Office shall maintain a statewide toll-free
8telephone number to provide information or assistance on
9matters relating to condominium property.
10    (b) The Office shall maintain on the Attorney General's
11website the following information:
12        (1) The text of this Act, the Condominium Property Act,
13    and any other statute or regulation that the Ombudsperson
14    determines is relevant to the operation and management of
15    condominium property or the rights and duties of unit
16    owners, condominium associations, and boards of managers.
17        (2) Information concerning nonjudicial resolution of
18    disputes that may arise within a condominium community,
19    including contacts for locally available dispute
20    resolution programs.
21        (3) A description of the services provided by the
22    Ombudsperson and information on how to contact the
23    Ombudsperson for assistance.
24        (4) An analysis, prepared each year, of changes in the
25    law affecting condominium property.

 

 

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1        (5) Any other information that the Ombudsperson
2    determines is useful to unit owners, condominium
3    associations, and boards of managers.
4    (c) Information described in subsection (b) shall also be
5made available in printed form. The Office may charge a fee for
6the purchase of printed materials, not to exceed the actual
7cost of printing and delivery.
 
8    Section 30. Members of condominium board of managers or
9master association.
10    (a) Within 60 days after assuming office as a member of a
11board of managers or a master association, every member shall
12certify that he or she has read each of the following:
13        (1) The condominium instruments relating to the
14    condominium property administered by the board of managers
15    or master association.
16        (2) This Act or, if the Ombudsperson prepares a
17    detailed summary of the requirements of this Act, that
18    summary.
19    (b) Each member of a board of managers or a master
20association shall file the certification required by this
21Section with the Ombudsperson.
 
22    Section 35. Dispute resolution assistance.
23    (a) Any interested person may request that the Ombudsperson
24provide assistance in resolving a dispute between a unit owner

 

 

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1and a condominium association or board of managers that
2involves the law governing condominium property or the
3condominium instruments relating to a condominium community.
4    (b) On receipt of a request for assistance, the
5Ombudsperson shall, within the limits of the available
6resources, confer with the interested parties and assist in
7efforts to resolve the dispute by mutual agreement of the
8parties.
9    (c) The Ombudsperson shall not charge a fee for services
10provided under this Section.
 
11    Section 40. Reports.
12    (a) The Attorney General shall submit an annual written
13report on the activities of the Office of the Ombudsperson to
14the General Assembly, no later than October 1 of each year. The
15report shall include all of the following information:
16        (1) Annual workload and performance data, including
17    the number of requests for assistance received, the manner
18    in which a request was or was not resolved, and the staff
19    time required to resolve the inquiry. For each category of
20    data, the report shall provide subtotals based on the type
21    of question or dispute involved in the request.
22        (2) Analysis of the most common and serious types of
23    disputes within condominium communities, along with any
24    recommendations for statutory reform to reduce the
25    frequency or severity of those disputes.

 

 

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1    (b) On or before January 1, 2016, the Attorney General,
2following receipt of recommendations from the Ombudsperson,
3shall submit recommendations to the General Assembly on the
4following topics:
5        (1) Whether the Ombudsperson should be authorized to
6    enforce condominium property law.
7        (2) Whether the Ombudsperson should be authorized to
8    oversee unit owners' association elections.
9        (3) Whether the scope of the application of Section 30
10    of this Act should be narrowed or broadened.
11        (4) Whether the Ombudsperson should provide or
12    subsidize mediation of condominium property disputes.
 
13    Section 45. Fees.
14    (a) Every condominium unit owners' association shall pay to
15the Ombudsperson an annual fee as provided in this Section.
16This fee shall be in addition to any other fees authorized to
17be charged by the Ombudsperson under this Act. The total fee
18due from an association under this Section in any year shall be
19the product of (i) the number of units composing the
20condominium property administered by the association
21multiplied by (ii) the annual fee amount for that year
22determined under subsection (b).
23    (b) The initial annual fee amount to be used in calculating
24a unit owners' association's fee under this Section shall be
25$3. The Ombudsperson, with the Attorney General's approval,

 

 

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1shall increase or decrease the annual fee amount every year to
2provide only the revenue that he or she estimates will be
3necessary for the Office's operation expenses during the next
4year. However, the annual fee amount may not exceed $10.
5    (c) A unit owners' association is excused from paying the
6fee for a unit if another association has paid the fee for that
7unit. An association that is excused from paying the fee for a
8unit shall certify, on a form prescribed by the Ombudsperson
9for that purpose, that another association has paid the fee for
10that unit. The Attorney General, following receipt of
11recommendations from the Ombudsperson, may adopt a rule
12governing which association is required to pay the fee for a
13unit that is administered by more than one association.
 
14    Section 50. Condominium Ombudsperson Fund. All moneys
15received by the Ombudsperson as fees under this Act shall be
16deposited into the Condominium Ombudsperson Fund, which is
17hereby created as a special fund in the State treasury. All
18moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the General Assembly,
19shall be used exclusively for expenditures by the Ombudsperson
20that are necessary for the proper administration of this Act.
 
21    Section 85. Repeal. This Act is repealed on July 1, 2017.
 
22    Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
23Section 5.855 as follows:
 

 

 

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1    (30 ILCS 105/5.855 new)
2    Sec. 5.855. The Condominium Ombudsperson Fund.
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
42014.