Records Requests and Accountings When the commercial property is part of an association with residential property, the commercial property unit owners have the right to request records under Section 22.1 of the Condo Act (for condos), Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act (for master associations and non-condos recorded after 1985) and Section 1-30 of the Common Interest Community Association Act (for associations subject to that act). This would give the commercial owners the right to request records of the receipts and expenditures as well as minutes pertaining to the common property. However, where there is a cost- sharing agreement or covenants between the residential association and the commercial area, the commercial unit owners are only permitted to request records if the agreement or covenants specifically state that it is. That being said, the commercial unit owners would always have the right to request an accounting, which provides backup documentation of what is owed. If they are not provided an accounting, the commercial owners can sue the residential owners association demanding one.

Conclusion

Regardless of the type of legal relationship between residential and commercial areas, residential boards and owners will undoubtedly think that the commercial areas do not pay their fair share and the owners of the

commercial areas will undoubtedly think they pay more than their fair share. Paris and London were two cities worthy of a tale at the onset of the French Revolution, with both cities sharing some unflattering parallels. This doesn’t have to be the fate of residential and commercial associations in the best and worst of times. Prompt and open communication concerning expenditures and obligations is vital to building and, when bad times come, salvaging the relationship.

50 | COMMON INTEREST®

A Publication of CAI-Illinois Chapter