Class Action – Condominium Act Violation

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Keith Horist, et al. v. Sudler and Company D/B/A

Case No.: 18-2150

Officials: SYKES, SCUDDER, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Class Action – Condominium Act Violation

The Illinois Condominium Property Act requires an elaborate set of disclosures when a condominium unit is resold. The owner must give the prospective buyer a copy of the condominium declaration and bylaws, the condominium association’s rules, and an array of other documents bearing on the current financial status of the property. 765 ILL. COMP. STAT. 605/22.1(a). The association’s board must furnish the required documents within 30 days of the owner’s written request, id. § 605/22.1(b), and it may charge a reasonable fee for doing so, id. § 605/22.1(c). Another provision of the Act allows the association to retain a person or firm to manage the condominium property. Id. § 605/18(a)(5).

This lawsuit is a proposed class action against a Chicago property-management firm and its third-party vendor, an online service that assembles a downloadable electronic version of the required disclosure documents, giving unit owners quick and easy access to the material needed to complete a resale transaction. The vendor charges a fee for this service. The plaintiffs are condominium owners who purchased their disclosure documents from the online vendor and now complain that the fee is excessive in violation of the Condominium Act. They also bring claims under the Illinois consumer-fraud statute and three common-law theories: breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, and civil conspiracy. The district court dismissed the suit.

We affirm. The relevant provision of the Condominium Act does not provide a private right of action, and we see no basis in Illinois law to imply one for condominium owners. The statutory consumer-fraud claim is likewise defective; the Illinois courts have held that charging too much for goods or services is not, standing alone, an unfair practice under the statute. The common-law claims also fail. The complaint does not plead an actionable breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment and conspiracy are not independent causes of action under Illinois law.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.