ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers the Personal property exemptions, Illinois Power of Attorney Act, Security deposit and email, Community association fees and the Common Interest Community Association Act. More information on each bill is available below the video.

Personal property exemptions. Public Act 97-1030 (Sandack, R-Downers Grove; Mathias, R-Buffalo Grove) exempts from judgment a revocable or irrevocable trust in which the primary beneficiary of the trust is the spouse of the insured or is the child, parent, or other person who is dependent upon the insured. Effective August 17, 2012.

Illinois Power of Attorney Act. Public Act 97-868 (Dillard, R-Westmont; McAsey, D-Lockport) amends this Act to exclude certain kinds of agreements from the Act's regulation. Those excluded would be a financial institution named as an agent for any person if the agreement does not include a durable power of attorney that survives the incapacity of the principal. The amendment clarifies that this kind of agreement is not a “nonstatutory property power” subject to this Act's provisions pertaining to statutory short form powers of attorney for property. Effective July 30, 2012.

Security deposit and email. Public Act 97-999 (Barickman, R-Champaign; LaHood, R-Peoria) amends the Security Deposit Return Act to allow a lessor of five or more units to send an itemized statement of damage and repair costs to the lessee by electronic mail to a verified electronic mail address provided by the lessee. Effective January 1, 2013.

Community association fees. Public Act 97-1021 (Maloney, D-Chicago; Thapedi, D-Chicago) amends the Community Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act. It requires all community associations pay to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation an annual fee of $50 plus an additional $1 per unit not to exceed an annual fee of $1,000 if they (1) have 10 or more units, (2) retain an individual to provide services as a community-association manager for compensation, (3) are not master associations, or (4) are registered in the state as a not-for-profit corporation. Effective August 17, 2012.

Common Interest Community Association Act. Public Act 97-1090 (Haine, D-Alton; Cross, R-Oswego) makes a number of changes to this Act including the following. (1) It prohibits an action to incorporate a common interest community as a municipality until two-thirds of the members sign an incorporation document. (2) It requires elections to the board must be held at least once every 24 months, eliminates voting by proxy, and prohibits a term of office as a board member or officer for more than four years. (3) If the total common expenses exceed the budget, the board must disclose this variance to all members and identify subsequent assessments that will be made to offset this in future budgets. (4) Assessments for additions and alterations to common areas or to association-owned property not in the annual budget must be separately assessed and are subject to approval of a simple majority (instead of two-thirds) of the total members at a meeting called for that purpose. Effective August 24, 2012.