Posted August 26, 2014
We often hear from owners and their counsel who claim that Illinois associations cannot evict an owner for failing to pay condominium or common interest community assessments. This is simply incorrect, and it has been well-settled in Illinois that associations may avail themselves of the provisions of the Forcible Entry and Detainer statutes, or eviction statutes, to seek both money damages and possession of a delinquent owner’s property to recover unpaid assessments, costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees. Many boards also forget that they have this remedy beyond simply filing a lien on title.
The appellate case that settled this issue is called Knolls Condominium Association v. Harms, 202 Ill. 2d 450 (2002). In Knolls Condominium, an owner failed to pay her assessments and defended against the association’s forcible entry and detainer action that sought to recover possession of the unit and unpaid assessments until the balance was resolved. The owner claimed that she had a homestead exemption in the property that would entitle her to stay in the property so long as the debt was less than $7,500. The association claimed that her interpretation of the statute was incorrect and that the homestead exemption statute included a specific exclusion for the Illinois Condominium Property Act’s use of evictions for assessment collection.
The court agreed with the association and held that the Illinois Condominium Property Act is exempt from the homestead exemption provisions and that the legislature clearly intended for associations to be able to seek both unpaid assessments and possession of a unit to recover unpaid assessment balances. It also held that owners cannot claim a homestead exemption as a defense to an association’s forcible entry and detainer suit to obtain unpaid assessments.