in compliance with the applicable Illinois statute (either the Condo Act or CICAA) at the time they are prepared, these statutes are not set in stone. Therefore, even shortly after an association’s governing documents are prepared, the governing documents may no longer comply with the applicable statute if that statute was amended after the governing documents were prepared. This is where regularly updating an association’s governing documents to comply with current law can be of great benefit to an association board and help provide some peace of mind that the board is operating the association in compliance with current law.
While the Condo Act and CICAA are both lengthy statutes covering a number of different issues, some of the areas these statutes cover which are also typically addressed within association governing documents are: filling vacancies on the board; voting methods for election of board members; open board meeting requirements; association books and records availability to owners;
adoption of assessments; financial reporting requirements to owners; and the use of technology in conducting association business. While not an exhaustive list of what is covered by the Condo Act and CICAA, these items are some of the areas where association governing documents may differ from what the applicable statute provides.
need to be updated. There are a few different questions and factors to consider when performing this review. One item to consider is the age of the association. If an association’s governing documents are 40 or 50 years old and have never been updated, for example, there is a very good chance that the governing documents do not comply in some aspects with the Condo Act (for condominium associations) considering the numerous times that the Condo Act has been amended over the past 40 to 50 years or with CICAA (for common interest community associations) considering CICAA did not exist until 2010.
Another factor to consider is whether or not the association’s governing documents were updated previously. If an association’s governing documents were updated a few years ago, there may not be many, if any, further updates needed at this time. On the other hand, if the governing documents were updated a decade or two ago, then there could be a number of further updates needed given the frequency with which the Condo Act and CICAA have been amended and the fact that CICAA is only 15 years old.
Fortunately, both the Condo Act and CICAA contain provisions that allow association boards to take the necessary steps to bring association governing documents up to date with current law. Section 27 of the Condo Act and Section 1-60 of CICAA provide that an association board may, by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the board members and without a requirement for an owner vote, amend the association governing documents as necessary to correct an omission, error or inconsistency within the governing documents in order to bring the governing documents into conformance with the Condo Act/CICAA, as applicable, or other applicable statute. While detailing all of the steps that may be required to update a set of governing documents via these provisions in the Condo Act/CICAA is beyond the scope of this article, the foresight on the part of the drafters of the Condo Act and CICAA in including these provisions in the statutes gives association boards a straight-forward mechanism to help make sure that their association’s governing documents stay up to date with current law.
The question of how often or when to update an association’s governing documents is one that regularly comes up. A good rule of thumb for an association board is to annually review whether or not their association’s governing documents
A good rule of thumb for an association board is to annually review whether or not their association’s governing documents need to be updated.
If a board is satisfied that its association’s governing documents are up to date with current law, then the starting point of reviewing this on an annual basis might be to check with the association’s legal counsel to determine if there were any updates made over the past year to the Illinois statute applicable to the association. During some years, no changes to the Condo Act or CICAA might be made, while during other years multiple changes to one or both statutes might be made. Performing an annual review on this matter can therefore be a good way to stay up to date on what, if any, statutory changes may have been made each year.
In summary, updating an association’s governing documents to current law can provide a great benefit to a board and association. But this should not be considered a one-time only project. Regularly reviewing the governing documents and any changes in the Condo Act/CICAA that might take place, preferably on an annual basis, is a prudent approach for association board members to take in light of their fiduciary duties.
24 | COMMON INTEREST®
• Winter 2025 • A Publication of CAI-Illinois Chapter
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