HOA and condo association foreclosure in Illinois

HOA and condo collection rules in Illinois, step by step

• Which law covers your community

  Check your declaration

  Condominiums are governed by the Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605. Townhome, villa and single-family communities with an association are covered by the Common Interest Community Association Act, 765 ILCS 160, but an association with 10 or fewer units or annual budgeted assessments of $100,000 or less is exempt unless it votes to be covered. For those, the declaration and bylaws decide most collection rules.

  765 ILCS 605/9; 765 ILCS 160/1-5, 1-75(a)

• Condo lien: automatic, and what it includes

  As soon as a payment or fine is not paid when due

  Unpaid common expenses or fines, plus interest, late charges, reasonable attorney's fees and collection costs, become a lien on your unit. It comes ahead of every other lien except taxes and encumbrances recorded before you fell behind, so a first mortgage recorded earlier stays ahead. Once the board records notice of the lien, it can foreclose in court in the same manner as a mortgage, and the board can bid at that sale.

  765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1), (h), (i)

• The 30-day demand before an eviction case

  At least 30 days before the association can file

  Before suing to take possession, the condo board must serve a written demand by personal delivery or by certified or registered mail, listing the amount claimed and when each amount was originally due, and giving you at least 30 days to pay. Paying part of the amount does not cancel the demand unless the association agrees in writing. If you get one, ask for the ledger, pay what you can, and contact legal aid before the 30 days run out.

  735 ILCS 5/9-102(a)(7); 735 ILCS 5/9-104.1

• If the association wins: 60 to 180 days, and a way back

  Enforcement stayed at least 60 days, up to 180

  If the court finds the money is owed, it enters an eviction order and a money judgment, and the court reviews the attorney's fees. The court must stay enforcement at least 60 days and can stay it up to 180 days, and the homestead exemption does not apply. If you pay everything the court found due, plus costs and fees, and stay current, you can ask the court to vacate the order; if the board has leased the unit, the order ends when that lease ends.

  735 ILCS 5/9-111

• The board can rent out your unit

  After the sheriff turns over possession

  After taking possession under the order, the board may lease the unit for up to 13 months at a time, starting within 8 months after the stay ends, and the court can approve more terms. Rent goes first to the amounts sued for and the costs, then to fines and other charges and to later assessments, and any surplus must be paid to you. You still own the unit during this time.

  735 ILCS 5/9-111.1

• Townhome and single-family associations

  Depends on your association

  A non-condo association can use the same 30-day demand and eviction process if it is a nonprofit corporation or LLC, owners may attend board meetings as in a condo, and either the board voted to opt in and notified owners or the declaration was recorded after the 1985 law took effect. Fines require notice and an opportunity to be heard, and manager collection fees can be added to your account only if the declaration or bylaws specifically allow it. The same fine and fee rules apply to condos.

  735 ILCS 5/9-102(a)(8), (b); 735 ILCS 5/9-104.3; 765 ILCS 160/1-30(g), (h); 765 ILCS 605/18.4(l), 9.2(c)

• If your lender forecloses instead

  From the first day of the month after the sale

  The buyer at a mortgage foreclosure sale must pay assessments from the first day of the month after the sale, and when a lender pays, the earlier association lien is extinguished once the sale is confirmed. A buyer other than the lender, or someone who later buys from the lender, must also pay up to 6 months of assessments that came due before the association sued to collect, plus legal fees, and the sale notice must say so.

  765 ILCS 605/9(g)(3) to (5)

Common questions in Illinois