Q I am the vice president of a small condo community and we are trying to find out if non-homeowners can serve on the board. Several of the homeowners would like renters to have a proxy vote. However, being a proxy and voting for an absent owner is different than having privileges to serve on the board. Our bylaws clearly state that board members must be homeowners.

—Home Rule Rules

A “Your questions have two separate aspects: Who is eligible to serve on the board of directors and who is eligible to serve as a proxy and vote on behalf of a unit owner,” says Michael Kim of Michael C. Kim & Associates in Chicago.

“With regard to who can serve on the board of directors, your association by-laws are consistent with Section 18(a)(1) of the Illinois Condominium Property Act (the “Act”) which states that the directors are to be elected from among the unit owners and, thus, a non-unit owner is not eligible to be elected to and serve on the board. Similarly, Section 18(c), (d) and (e) of the Act state that the president, secretary and treasurer are to be elected from among the directors, and thus, those officer positions must be held by unit owners.

“With regard to proxies, the association by-laws may specify who may be a proxy (for example, in some association bylaws, a proxy must be a unit owner; in other association by-laws, anyone can serve as a proxy). The Act does not specify either way. You are correct that being able to serve as a proxy does not make that person a unit owner nor eligible to serve on the board of directors.

“Unfortunately, one of the potential drawbacks for a small condominium community is the challenge of getting qualified and interested owners to serve on the board of directors.”