Full Text of HB5812 99th General Assembly
HB5812 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016 HB5812 Introduced , by Rep. Peter Breen SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 765 ILCS 615/15 | | 765 ILCS 615/20 | | 765 ILCS 615/25 | | 765 ILCS 615/30 | | 765 ILCS 615/35 | | 765 ILCS 615/40 | | 765 ILCS 615/45 | | 765 ILCS 615/50 | | 765 ILCS 615/55 rep. | |
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Amends the Condominium and Common Interest Community Ombudsperson Act. Makes numerous technical and substantive changes in provisions concerning: definitions; the Office of the Condominium and Common Interest Community Ombudsperson; the Office's website; the written policy for receiving complaints; requests for assistance; dispute resolution; confidentiality; and reporting requirements. Repeals a Section concerning registration. Effective July 1, 2016.
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| | | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Condominium and Common Interest Community | 5 | | Ombudsperson Act is amended by changing Sections 15, 20, 25, | 6 | | 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 as follows: | 7 | | (765 ILCS 615/15) | 8 | | (This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a | 9 | | delayed effective date )
| 10 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2021) | 11 | | Sec. 15. Definitions. As used in this Act:
| 12 | | "Association" means a condominium association or common | 13 | | interest community association as defined in this Act.
| 14 | | "Board of managers" or "board of directors" means:
| 15 | | (1) a common interest community association's board of | 16 | | managers or board of directors, whichever is applicable; or
| 17 | | (2) a condominium association's board of managers or | 18 | | board or directors, whichever is applicable.
| 19 | | "Common interest community" means a property governed by | 20 | | the Common Interest Community Association Act.
| 21 | | "Common interest community association" has the meaning | 22 | | ascribed to it in Section 1-5 of the Common Interest Community | 23 | | Association Act.
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| 1 | | "Condominium" means a property governed by the Condominium | 2 | | Property Act.
| 3 | | "Condominium association" means an association in which | 4 | | membership is a condition of ownership or shareholder interest | 5 | | of a unit in a condominium, cooperative, townhouse, villa, or | 6 | | other residential unit which is part of a residential | 7 | | development plan and that is authorized to impose an | 8 | | assessment, rents, or other costs that may become a lien on the | 9 | | unit or lot, and includes a unit owners' association as defined | 10 | | in subsection (o) of Section 2 of the Condominium Property Act | 11 | | or and a master association as defined in subsection (u) of | 12 | | Section 2 of the Condominium Property Act.
| 13 | | "Declaration" has the meaning ascribed to it in:
| 14 | | (1) Section 1-5 of the Common Interest Community | 15 | | Association Act; or
| 16 | | (2) Section 2 of the Condominium Property Act.
| 17 | | "Department" means the Department of Financial and | 18 | | Professional Regulation.
| 19 | | "Director" means the Director of the Division of Real | 20 | | Estate Professional Regulation .
| 21 | | "Division" means the Division of Real Estate Professional | 22 | | Regulation within the Department of Financial and Professional | 23 | | Regulation.
| 24 | | "Office" means the Office of the Condominium and Common | 25 | | Interest Community Ombudsperson established under Section 20 | 26 | | of this Act.
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| 1 | | "Ombudsperson" means the Condominium and Common Interest | 2 | | Community Ombudsperson named employed under Section 20 of this | 3 | | Act.
| 4 | | "Person" includes a natural person, firm, association, | 5 | | organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, | 6 | | limited liability company, or public entity.
| 7 | | "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department of | 8 | | Financial and Professional Regulation.
| 9 | | "Unit" means a part of the condominium property or common | 10 | | interest community property designed and intended for any type | 11 | | of independent use.
| 12 | | "Unit owner" has the meaning ascribed to it in: | 13 | | (1) subsection (g) of Section 2 of the Condominium | 14 | | Property Act; or | 15 | | (2) Section 1-5 of the Common Interest Community | 16 | | Association Act.
| 17 | | (Source: P.A. 98-1135, eff. 7-1-16.) | 18 | | (765 ILCS 615/20) | 19 | | (This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a | 20 | | delayed effective date )
| 21 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2021) | 22 | | Sec. 20. Office of the Condominium and Common Interest | 23 | | Community Ombudsperson.
| 24 | | (a) There is created in the Division of Real Estate | 25 | | Professional Regulation within the Department of Financial and |
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| 1 | | Professional Regulation, under the supervision and control of | 2 | | the Secretary, the Office of the Condominium and Common | 3 | | Interest Community Ombudsperson.
| 4 | | (b) The Department shall name employ an Ombudsperson and | 5 | | other persons as necessary to discharge the requirements of | 6 | | this Act. The Ombudsperson shall have the powers delegated to | 7 | | him or her by the Department, in addition to the powers set | 8 | | forth in this Act.
| 9 | | (c) Neither the Ombudsperson nor the Department shall have | 10 | | any authority to consider matters that may constitute grounds | 11 | | for charges or complaints under the Illinois Human Rights Act | 12 | | or that are properly brought before the Department of Human | 13 | | Rights or the Illinois Human Rights Commission. | 14 | | (d) (c) Information and advice provided by the Ombudsperson | 15 | | has no binding legal effect and is not subject to the | 16 | | rulemaking provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure | 17 | | Act.
| 18 | | (Source: P.A. 98-1135, eff. 7-1-16.) | 19 | | (765 ILCS 615/25) | 20 | | (This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a | 21 | | delayed effective date )
| 22 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2021) | 23 | | Sec. 25. Training and education.
On or before July 1, | 24 | | 2018, the Ombudsperson shall offer training, outreach, and | 25 | | educational materials, and may arrange for the offering of |
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| 1 | | courses to unit owners, associations, boards of managers, and | 2 | | boards of directors in subjects relevant to: (i) the operation | 3 | | and management of condominiums and common interest | 4 | | communities; and (ii) the Condominium Property Act and the | 5 | | Common Interest Community Association Act.
| 6 | | (Source: P.A. 98-1135, eff. 7-1-16.) | 7 | | (765 ILCS 615/30) | 8 | | (This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a | 9 | | delayed effective date )
| 10 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2021) | 11 | | Sec. 30. Website ; toll-free number .
| 12 | | (a) The Office shall maintain on the Department's website | 13 | | the following information:
| 14 | | (1) the text of this Act, the Condominium Property Act, | 15 | | the Common Community Interest Community Association Act, | 16 | | and any other statute, administrative rule, or regulation | 17 | | that the Ombudsperson determines is relevant to the | 18 | | operation and management of a condominium association or | 19 | | common interest community association;
| 20 | | (2) information concerning non-judicial nonjudicial | 21 | | resolution of disputes that may arise within a condominium | 22 | | or common interest community , including, but not limited | 23 | | to, alternative dispute resolution programs and contacts | 24 | | for locally-available dispute resolution programs ;
| 25 | | (3) a description of the services provided by the |
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| 1 | | Ombudsperson and information on how to contact the | 2 | | Ombudsperson for assistance; and
| 3 | | (4) any other information that the Ombudsperson | 4 | | determines is useful to unit owners, associations, boards | 5 | | of managers, and boards of directors.
| 6 | | (b) The Office may make available during regular business | 7 | | hours a statewide toll-free telephone number to provide | 8 | | information and resources on matters relating to condominium | 9 | | property and common interest community property The Office | 10 | | shall make the information described in subsection (a) of this | 11 | | Section available in printed form .
| 12 | | (Source: P.A. 98-1135, eff. 7-1-16.) | 13 | | (765 ILCS 615/35) | 14 | | (This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a | 15 | | delayed effective date )
| 16 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2021) | 17 | | Sec. 35. Written policy for resolving complaints.
| 18 | | (a) Each association, except for those outlined in | 19 | | subsection (d) Section (b) of this Section, shall adopt a | 20 | | written policy for resolving complaints made by unit owners. | 21 | | The association shall make the policy available to all unit | 22 | | owners upon request. The policy must include:
| 23 | | (1) a sample form on which a unit owner may make a | 24 | | complaint to the association;
| 25 | | (2) a description of the process by which complaints |
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| 1 | | shall be delivered to the association;
| 2 | | (3) the association's timeline and manner of making | 3 | | final determinations in response to a unit owner's | 4 | | complaint; and | 5 | | (4) a requirement that the final determination made by | 6 | | the association in response to a unit owner's complaint be: | 7 | | (i) made in writing;
| 8 | | (ii) made within 90 days a reasonable time after | 9 | | the association received the unit owner's original | 10 | | complaint; and
| 11 | | (iii) marked clearly and conspicuously as "final".
| 12 | | (b) Common interest community associations exempt from the | 13 | | Common Interest Community Association Act are not required to | 14 | | have a written policy for resolving complaints. | 15 | | (b) (c) No later than 180 days after the effective date of | 16 | | this Act, associations existing on the effective date of this | 17 | | Act, except for those identified in subsection (d) (b) of this | 18 | | Section, must establish and adopt the policy required under | 19 | | this Section.
| 20 | | (c) (d) Associations first created after the effective date | 21 | | of this Act, except for those identified in subsection (d) (b) | 22 | | of this Section, must establish and adopt the policy required | 23 | | under this Section within 180 days following creation of the | 24 | | association at the time of initial registration as required by | 25 | | Section 65 of this Act .
| 26 | | (d) Common interest community associations exempt from the |
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| 1 | | Common Interest Community Association Act are not required to | 2 | | have a written policy for resolving complaints as required by | 3 | | this Section. | 4 | | (e) A unit owner may not bring a request for assistance | 5 | | under Section 40 of this Act for an association's lack of or | 6 | | inadequacy of a written policy to resolve complaints, but may | 7 | | notify the Department in writing of the association's lack of | 8 | | or inadequacy of a written policy. An association that fails to | 9 | | comply with this Section is subject to subsection (g) of | 10 | | Section 65 of this Act.
| 11 | | (Source: P.A. 98-1135, eff. 7-1-16.) | 12 | | (765 ILCS 615/40) | 13 | | (This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a | 14 | | delayed effective date )
| 15 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2021) | 16 | | Sec. 40. Dispute resolution Requests for assistance .
| 17 | | (a) Beginning on July 1, 2019, the declaration or bylaws of | 18 | | a condominium association or common interest community | 19 | | association shall require mediation or arbitration of | 20 | | disputes: (1) in which the matter in controversy has either no | 21 | | specific monetary value or a value of $10,000 or less, | 22 | | excluding disputes involving the levying and collection of | 23 | | assessments; or (2) that arise out of violations of the | 24 | | declaration, bylaws, or rules and regulations of the | 25 | | condominium or common interest community association. A |
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| 1 | | dispute that is not required to be mediated or arbitrated by an | 2 | | association pursuant to this Section, but that is submitted to | 3 | | mediation or arbitration by agreement of the disputants, is | 4 | | also subject to this Section. | 5 | | (b) The Uniform Arbitration Act shall govern all | 6 | | arbitration proceedings under this Section. | 7 | | (c) The Uniform Mediation Act shall govern all mediation | 8 | | proceedings under this Section. | 9 | | (d) The disputants shall share equally in the costs of | 10 | | mediation or arbitration. | 11 | | (e) A unit owner shall initiate the mediation or | 12 | | arbitration process within 30 days after receiving the | 13 | | association's final adverse decision. unit owners meeting the | 14 | | requirements of this Section may make a written request, as | 15 | | outlined in subsection (f) of this Section, to the Ombudsperson | 16 | | for assistance in resolving a dispute between a unit owner and | 17 | | an association that involves a violation of the Condominium | 18 | | Property Act or the Common Interest Community Property Act.
| 19 | | (b) The Ombudsperson shall not accept requests for | 20 | | resolutions of disputes with community association managers, | 21 | | supervising community association managers, or community | 22 | | association management firms, as defined in the Community | 23 | | Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act.
| 24 | | (c) The Ombudsperson shall not accept requests for | 25 | | resolutions of disputes for which there is a pending complaint | 26 | | filed in any court or administrative tribunal in any |
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| 1 | | jurisdiction or for which arbitration or alternative dispute | 2 | | resolution is scheduled to occur or has previously occurred.
| 3 | | (f) Prior to submitting a dispute to mediation or | 4 | | arbitration, a (d) The assistance described in subsection (a) | 5 | | of this Section is available only to unit owners. In order for | 6 | | a unit owner to receive the assistance from the Ombudsperson | 7 | | described in subsection (a) of this Section, the unit owner | 8 | | must:
| 9 | | (1) owe no outstanding assessments, fees, or funds to | 10 | | the association , unless the assessments, fees, or funds are | 11 | | central to the dispute ;
| 12 | | (2) allege a dispute that was initiated , or initially | 13 | | occurred , within the past 2 calendar years preceding of the | 14 | | date of the request;
| 15 | | (3) have made a written complaint pursuant to the unit | 16 | | owner's association's complaint policy, as outlined in | 17 | | Section 35, which alleged alleges violations of the | 18 | | Condominium Property Act or the Common Interest Community | 19 | | Association Act; and
| 20 | | (4) have received a final and adverse decision from the | 21 | | association . and attach a copy of the association's final | 22 | | adverse decision marked "final" to the request to the | 23 | | Ombudsperson; and
| 24 | | (5) have filed the request within 30 days after the | 25 | | receipt of the association's final adverse decision.
| 26 | | (e) A unit owner who has not received a response, marked |
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| 1 | | "final", to his or her complaint from the association within a | 2 | | reasonable time may request assistance from the Ombudsperson | 3 | | pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section if the unit owner | 4 | | meets the requirements of items (1), (2), and (3) of subsection | 5 | | (d) of this Section. A unit owner may not request assistance | 6 | | from the Ombudsperson until at least 90 days after the initial | 7 | | written complaint was submitted to the association. The | 8 | | Ombudsperson may decline a unit owner's request for assistance | 9 | | on the basis that a reasonable time has not yet passed.
| 10 | | (f) The request for assistance shall be in writing, on | 11 | | forms provided by the Office, and include the following:
| 12 | | (1) the name, address, and contact information of the | 13 | | unit owner;
| 14 | | (2) the name, address, and contact information of the | 15 | | association;
| 16 | | (3) the applicable association governing documents | 17 | | unless the absence of governing documents is central to the | 18 | | dispute;
| 19 | | (4) the date of the final adverse decision by the | 20 | | association;
| 21 | | (5) a copy of the association's written complaint | 22 | | policy required under Section 35 of this Act;
| 23 | | (6) a copy of the unit owner's complaint to the | 24 | | association with a specific reference to the alleged | 25 | | violations of the Condominium Property Act or the Common | 26 | | Interest Community Association Act;
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| 1 | | (7) documentation verifying the unit owner's ownership | 2 | | of a unit, such as a copy of a recorded deed or other | 3 | | document conferring title; and
| 4 | | (8) a copy of the association's adverse decision marked | 5 | | "final", if applicable.
| 6 | | (g) On receipt of a unit owner's request for assistance | 7 | | that the Department determines meets the requirements of this | 8 | | Section, the Ombudsperson shall, within the limits of the | 9 | | available resources, confer with the interested parties and | 10 | | assist in efforts to resolve the dispute by mutual agreement of | 11 | | the parties.
| 12 | | (h) The Ombudsperson shall assist only opposing parties who | 13 | | mutually agree to participate in dispute resolution.
| 14 | | (i) A unit owner is limited to one request for assistance | 15 | | per dispute. The meaning of dispute is to be broadly | 16 | | interpreted by the Department.
| 17 | | (j) The Department has the authority to determine whether | 18 | | or not a final decision is adverse under paragraph (4) of | 19 | | subsection (d) of this Section.
| 20 | | (k) The Department shall establish rules describing the | 21 | | time limit, method, and manner for dispute resolution.
| 22 | | (l) A request under the Freedom of Information Act for | 23 | | information does not constitute a request for assistance under | 24 | | this Section.
| 25 | | (Source: P.A. 98-1135, eff. 7-1-16.) |
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| 1 | | (765 ILCS 615/45) | 2 | | (This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a | 3 | | delayed effective date )
| 4 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2021) | 5 | | Sec. 45. Confidentiality. | 6 | | (a) All information collected by the Department in the | 7 | | course of addressing a request for information assistance | 8 | | pursuant to this Act Section 40 shall be maintained for the | 9 | | confidential use of the Department and shall not be disclosed. | 10 | | The Department shall not disclose the information to anyone | 11 | | other than law enforcement officials or regulatory agencies | 12 | | that have an appropriate regulatory interest as determined by | 13 | | the Secretary. Information and documents disclosed to a | 14 | | federal, State, county, or local law enforcement agency shall | 15 | | not be disclosed by that agency for any purpose to any other | 16 | | agency or person. | 17 | | (b) A request for information made to the Department or the | 18 | | Ombudsperson under this Act does not constitute a request under | 19 | | the Freedom of Information Act.
| 20 | | (Source: P.A. 98-1135, eff. 7-1-16.) | 21 | | (765 ILCS 615/50) | 22 | | (This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a | 23 | | delayed effective date )
| 24 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2021) | 25 | | Sec. 50. Reports.
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| 1 | | (a) The Department shall submit an annual written report on | 2 | | the activities of the Office to the General Assembly, no later | 3 | | than October 1 of each year, with the initial report being due | 4 | | October 1, 2020. The report shall include all of the following:
| 5 | | (1) annual workload and performance data, including | 6 | | (i) the number of requests for information; (ii) training, | 7 | | education, or other information provided; (iii) assistance | 8 | | received, the manner in which education and training was | 9 | | conducted; requests were or were not resolved and (iv) the | 10 | | staff time required to provide the training, education, or | 11 | | other information resolve the requests . For each category | 12 | | of data, the report shall provide subtotals based on the | 13 | | type of question or dispute involved in the request; and
| 14 | | (2) where relevant information is available, analysis | 15 | | of the most common and serious types of concerns disputes | 16 | | within condominiums and common interest communities, along | 17 | | with any recommendations for statutory reform to reduce the | 18 | | frequency or severity of those disputes.
| 19 | | (Source: P.A. 98-1135, eff. 7-1-16.) | 20 | | (765 ILCS 615/55 rep.) | 21 | | Section 10. The Condominium and Common Interest Community | 22 | | Ombudsperson Act is amended by repealing Section 55.
| 23 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | 24 | | 2016.
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