Loading
Loading
Your rights · Illinois
Illinois runs owner rights through two different statutes depending on what you own: the Common Interest Community Association Act (765 ILCS 160) for HOA-style subdivisions and townhome associations, and the Condominium Property Act (765 ILCS 605) for condos. Neither one lets your board free-associate. Fines require notice and a hearing, the biggest money decisions can be forced to a member vote, and the statute itself tells your board it owes you a fiduciary's duty of care.
Guides in this state
Controlling law: Illinois Common Interest Community Association Act (765 ILCS 160) & Condominium Property Act (765 ILCS 605)
Last reviewed July 5, 2026· Citations link to the statute text
If you live in a subdivision, a townhome community, or another non-condo common interest community, the Illinois Common Interest Community Association Act (CICAA), 765 ILCS 160/1-1 et seq., is the statute sitting above your declaration and bylaws; 765 ILCS 160/1-10 makes it applicable to common interest community associations across the state. If you own a condominium unit, the older and more detailed Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/1 et seq., governs instead. The two acts overlap in substance, notice and a hearing before a fine, records you can inspect, meetings the board has to run a certain way, but they use different section numbers and, in places, different mechanics, so the first thing to nail down is which one actually covers you.
Both statutes put real brakes on fines: 765 ILCS 160/1-30(g) (HOA) and 765 ILCS 605/18.4(l) (condo) require notice and an opportunity to be heard before the board can levy a fine, and both use the word 'reasonable' rather than handing the board a blank check. Both give you a records right, 765 ILCS 160/1-30(i) and 765 ILCS 605/19, with a deemed-denial clock the board can't just let run out. And both let a fifth of the membership force a vote when the board tries to push through a big number without asking: a 115% assessment jump under 765 ILCS 160/1-45(c), or a common-element expenditure over 5% of budget under 765 ILCS 605/18.4(a).
The Condominium Property Act goes one further and puts it in writing: 'the officers and members of the board...shall exercise the care required of a fiduciary of the unit owners' (765 ILCS 605/18.4). That single sentence is worth keeping in your back pocket any time a board decision seems to serve the board more than the building.
The local twist
765 ILCS 605/18.4 states plainly that condo board officers and members "shall exercise the care required of a fiduciary of the unit owners." It's a real legal standard, not just a talking point, and it's worth citing when a board decision looks like it serves the board more than the owners.
A petition signed by 20% of the membership can force a member vote on an assessment increase over 115% of last year's total (765 ILCS 160/1-45(c)) or a common-element project over 5% of the condo budget (765 ILCS 605/18.4(a)). Either decision stands only if a majority at that forced meeting doesn't vote it down.
765 ILCS 605/18.4(h) bars any condo rule that impairs First Amendment or Illinois constitutional rights, and specifically protects "reasonable accommodation for religious practices, including the attachment of religiously mandated objects to the front-door area" of a unit, a rare, concretely worded carve-out most states leave entirely to case law.
Owner guides
Each guide explains your rights from the owner’s side, cites the controlling statute, walks the steps, and answers the questions boards hope you won’t ask.
Notice, hearing, and cure rights before a fine can stick.
When unpaid dues become a lien, and what limits foreclosure of your home.
The books and records you can inspect, how to ask, and the clock the board is on.
Quorum, ballots, proxies, recalls, and open-meeting rights that check board power.
ARC timelines, approvals, and the laws that protect solar, flags, and antennas.
Fined when a neighbor wasn't? How the docs and statute frame the defense.
Illinois Common Interest Community Association Act (765 ILCS 160) & Condominium Property Act (765 ILCS 605), full text, section by section — the primary source behind every guide above.
The HOA and condo legislation we track in Illinois, with plain-English notes on what each bill means for homeowners.
The violation-letter analyzer reads your fine or notice and points you at the Illinois rights that apply.
Browse Illinois associations — homeowner reviews, ratings, and the public records behind each community.