John and Jane Dover, a married couple, live at 1234 W. Chicagoland St.
John Dover's name appears on the warranty deed for the property, Jane's does not.
John is the President of his 6-unit association, while Jane serves as the Treasurer. There are three Board members total.
What's wrong with this picture?
John and Jane cannot serve on the Board together for two reasons.
1) Jane's name does not appear on the property deed. In order to serve on the Board, you must be a unit owner. Though Jane is married to John, she is not legally an owner. It's not wise for an association to allow an individual who is not legally responsible for any part of the building to make decisions for the association.
2) Only one owner per unit may serve on the Board. This is important because it prevents a single unit from making all of the decisions for the association. If John and Jane both vote together on every point of business, they would be able to completely control every decision made for the association based on their own motivations, needs or desires.
Restrictions on who may serve on the Board exist to protect the entire association. Wondering if your Board members are owners? You can search the records on the Cook County Recorder of Deeds site by name or unit PIN.