Every year more people are purchasing units in condominium associations. If it is your first home, an investment property, or a downsize, purchasing a unit in an association has many benefits. For example, the association will maintain the common elements and you may have access to many amenities. However, when buying a unit, one thing that owners often overlook is purchasing additional insurance for their unit.

Almost every Declaration in the state of Illinois requires homeowners to take out some form of insurance policy for the interior of their units. These insurance policies do not cover displacement, lost rent, or…
Continue Reading Are You Adequately Insured Against Catastrophic Damage?

On June 9, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed Senate Bill 40 into law. This new law states that beginning on January 1, 2024, if a single-family home or multi-unit residential building constructs a new parking lot, every parking space must be equipped to install an electric vehicle charger. Further, there must be at least one parking space that has an electric vehicle charger. This new law does not apply if a developer needs to excavate an existing surface lot or another parking facility to retrofit the parking lot with the necessary conduit and wiring. This means that if an Association decides…
Continue Reading New Law: Mandate for Installation of Electric Vehicle Chargers in Common Area Parking Lots 

By Adriana Bosco and Katerina Tsoukalas-Heitkemper

Landlords are responsible for providing a safe, clean and healthy living environment for tenants. Thus, there are certain disclosure obligations landlords must abide by to their current and potential new tenants regarding environmental toxins and other dangerous conditions.

Landlords must comply with federally mandated lead disclosures. In 1992, the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act, commonly known as Title X, was passed. This federal law aims to reduce the number of lead poisoning victims in the United States and is enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA enforces regulations related to Title…
Continue Reading To Disclose or Not to Disclose? Landlord Disclosure Obligations

Over the next few weeks, many Homeowner Associations will begin to reopen their swimming pools. Prior to opening the Association’s pool, it is important for the Board to review the Association’s Rules and Regulations to make sure that they adequately protect the Association from any potential liability. More specifically, the Board should review the Rules and Regulations to confirm that they do not create restrictions to certain protected classes regarding the use of the pool, as this could be a violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act.

In Illinois, it is a civil rights violation…
Continue Reading No More Adult Swim? Are Your Association Pool Rules Compliant with the Law?

By Adriana Bosco and Matthew O’Malley

Community associations operate through Boards of Directors (the “Board”). Such Boards are tasked with certain duties and responsibilities that they must perform to ensure the success of the community. When dealing with bullies, carrying out these responsibilities and achieving their goals becomes exceptionally difficult. According to the American Psychological Association, bullies act in manners that include “aggressive behavior” and “intentionally and repeatedly caus[ing] another person injury or discomfort.”  Bullying can take the form of physical contact, words or subtle aggressions. Bullying, American Psychological Association, (March 2, 2023, 2:43 PM) www.apa.org/topics/bullying. In order to not…
Continue Reading How to Handle the Proverbial Association Bully

We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming virtual Tressler Talk:What the Fed? Understanding Financials in HOA LawThursday, February 16, 20231:00-2:00pm CT WebinarJoin us for this complimentary webinar to learn about association financials, recent changes in the law and the impact on the condominium and common-interest community association industry. Tressler’s experienced Illinois HOA and Condo Law attorneys will be joined by local CIBC banking professionals for this special presentation.

One hour of CAMICB Continuing Education Credit is currently pending. All are welcome. We hope to see you then!

Register Now: https://cvent.me/MzbkqQ

View Event Website: https://cvent.me/80MmnR

Meet Our Speakers:…
Continue Reading Tressler Talks: What the Fed? Understanding Financials in HOA Law

In 2017, the Illinois General Assembly passed Public Act 100-0200 to update the Illinois Smoke Detector Act. Public Act 100-0200 requires all Illinois single and multi-family homes to have a smoke alarm with a sealed 10-year battery by January 1, 2023. The legislator provided several exceptions to this law—please review to see if your community is exempt. First, any building built after 1988 is not required to have 10-year sealed batteries installed. Second, any dwelling with a wireless integrated alarm system that uses low-power radio frequency communications does not need to install a 10-year sealed battery. Finally, any dwelling with…
Continue Reading Sound the Alarm: New Illinois Law Requires 10-Year Battery Smoke Alarms to Be Installed in Homes

Happy New Year from our families to yours! It has been a great year and we are proud to have wonderful clients, attorneys, staff and colleagues. We are honored that you have put your trust in our team and are thrilled by the excellent results we’ve achieved for our clients this year!

Tressler values the importance of having a healthy work-life balance and spending time with friends and family, especially during the holidays. To end 2022, the HOA/Condo Law Practice Group celebrated the holiday season with a painting class with our families. Check out the fun pictures below!

Cheers to…
Continue Reading Happy New Year from Tressler’s HOA/Condo Law Practice Group!

During the winter months, the rate and risk of residential fires increases. Your condo or HOA is not immune to this. The increase is often attributed to additional electricity use, holiday décor, Christmas trees and the increased use of electric space heaters. Residents and owners need to be sure that they are using common sense when they are lighting that fire or favorite holiday-scented candle and practice other fire prevention practices. However, we are also seeing a national increase of electronic batteries in everyday use, including vehicles. The proliferation of EVs (“electric vehicles”) is only complicating matters and leading to even more of an influx…
Continue Reading ‘Tis the Season…for Fire Prevention

As the new year approaches, it is important for association boards and community association professionals to be cognizant of new laws that may impact the industry. For 2023, there are a few updates, mainly to Section 22.1 of the Illinois Condominium Property Act. This change to Section 22.1 was made in response to prior litigation against associations and their managing agents for requiring owners to pay a fee for a resale disclosure when selling their unit/lot.

The first update is to Section 22.1 of the Illinois Condominium Property Act. The amendment now requires Boards to comply with a written request…
Continue Reading 2023 Illinois HOA/Condo Legislative Updates

I am not sure where this year went, but we have already experienced the first frost in the Chicagoland area. Like it or not, winter is right around the corner! This article should serve as a reminder that if you have not started your winter preparations, do so now.

Boards of HOAs and condos, as well as partners in property management, can recognize that the coming months in Illinois lead to weather conditions that increase the rate of slip-and-fall accidents. Inadequate or improper snow removal can be one of the contributing factors. The following tips regarding property management when it comes to…
Continue Reading The More You Know Before the First Snow: Condo and HOA Winter Preparation

The Illinois legislature has amended the Illinois Condominium Property Act (the “Act”) and while not mandatory, it allows Boards of Directors to implement policies on how Boards can be composed.  Pursuant to Section 18(a)(1) of the Act, the change now allows condominium boards to require that the majority of the condominium board be made up of unit owners who occupy their units as their primary residence. No Declaration may require that more than a majority of the Board members live on site.

While this may not be an option chosen by every Association or community, Associations should be cognizant of…
Continue Reading Update On Residency Requirements To Serve On A Condo Board In Illinois