Illinois HOA EV Charging

Quick-Reference EV Charging Table

The Electric Vehicle Charging Act is codified at 765 ILCS 1085, not 1090. It was created by P.A. 103-0053, effective Jan. 1, 2024, and amended by P.A. 103-572 to reach existing condominium associations, so confirm the Act number, the applicability scope, and the insurance and license-agreement mechanics against the current text on ilga.gov and cite by Section and subsection.

Section 1: Overview — How EV charging is regulated for HOAs in Illinois

Illinois has written a detailed, owner-protective EV-charging statute, the Electric Vehicle Charging Act, codified at 765 ILCS 1085, that renders void and unenforceable any governing-document provision effectively prohibiting or unreasonably restricting the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging system within a unit owner's unit or designated parking space.⁴ The Act was created by Public Act 103-0053, Senate Bill 40, 103rd General Assembly, effective January 1, 2024, and a companion measure, Public Act 103-572, amended the applicability provisions so that Sections 30 and 35 reach both newly constructed and existing single-family homes and multifamily residential buildings that have parking spaces, extending the owner-installation rules to existing condominium associations rather than only newly constructed buildings.² The Act doesn't strip associations of oversight: an association may impose reasonable restrictions, require compliance with architectural standards, require a licensed and insured electrical contractor, require liability insurance naming the association as an additional insured, and place installation, electricity, maintenance, and removal costs on the owner.⁴ With this statute, Illinois is one of only five states, along with California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Oregon, plus the District of Columbia, whose right-to-charge protections extend to both owners and renters rather than owners alone.⁵ The sections that follow work through the statutory framework, the operational do's and don'ts, and recent legislative and judicial activity; the page reflects the Act as currently amended.

Section 2: The statutory and regulatory framework

2A. The Electric Vehicle Charging Act (765 ILCS 1085)

The operative EV-charging statute for Illinois community associations is the Electric Vehicle Charging Act, codified at 765 ILCS 1085. The correct citation is 765 ILCS 1085, not 765 ILCS 1090. The Act was created by Public Act 103-0053, originating as Senate Bill 40 in the 103rd General Assembly, effective January 1, 2024.⁶ It has since been amended several times. Public Act 103-572 amended the applicability Section so that the owner and renter provisions reach existing associations, not only newly constructed buildings.⁷ Public Act 103-605, the First 2024 General Revisory Act, made technical, non-substantive corrections reconciling overlapping amendments to Sections 20, 25, and 30. Public Act 104-341, effective August 15, 2025, added a narrow exemption at Section 10(c) for tiny homes constructed for at-risk veterans by qualifying nonprofit organizations.⁸ This page reflects the current text as amended and cites each rule by Section and subsection.

Applicability is set by Section 10. For the EV-capable construction mandates in Sections 20 and 25, the Act applies to newly constructed single-family homes and multifamily residential buildings constructed after the effective date, 765 ILCS 1085/10(a). For the owner and renter installation rules in Sections 30 and 35, the Act applies to unit owners, tenants, landlords, and associations of both newly constructed and existing single-family homes and multifamily residential buildings that have parking spaces, 765 ILCS 1085/10(b).² The definitions Section adopts the community-association definitions used elsewhere in Illinois law: "Association" has the meaning set forth in subsection (o) of Section 2 of the Condominium Property Act or Section 1-5 of the Common Interest Community Association Act, as applicable, 765 ILCS 1085/15.³

The core protection is the void-and-unenforceable rule. Any covenant, restriction, or condition in a deed, contract, security interest, or other instrument, and any provision of a governing document, that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging system within a unit owner's unit or a designated parking space, including a deeded space, an exclusive-use common-area space, or a space designated for a particular owner, or is in conflict with the Section, is void and unenforceable, 765 ILCS 1085/30(a). The Act preserves reasonable regulation: the void rule doesn't apply to provisions imposing a reasonable restriction, 765 ILCS 1085/30(b), and a "reasonable restriction" is defined as one that doesn't significantly increase the cost of the station or system or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance, 765 ILCS 1085/15. A charging system must meet applicable health and safety standards imposed by State and local authorities and applicable zoning and land-use requirements, 765 ILCS 1085/30(c).⁴

The Act allocates the burdens of a charging system to the owner. Where the system is placed in a common area or exclusive-use common area, the owner must obtain prior written approval and agree in writing to comply with the association's architectural standards and other reasonable conditions, to engage a licensed and insured electrical contractor, to provide a certificate of insurance naming the association as an additional insured within 14 days after approval, to pay installation and electricity costs, and to be responsible for resulting damage, 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(1). The owner and each successive owner bear maintenance, repair, replacement, removal, and restoration costs, and electricity costs measured by an embedded submetering device or a reasonable calculation of cost, 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(2). The owner must maintain a liability coverage policy at all times and provide the certificate of insurance within 14 days after approval and annually thereafter, 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(4). The deemed-approval clock is central: if approval is required, the association must process the application as it would an application to alter common elements, must not unreasonably delay, and must act in writing; if the application isn't denied in writing within 60 days of receipt, it's deemed approved unless the delay results from a reasonable request for additional information, 765 ILCS 1085/30(d). A license agreement between the owner and the association is required only in the specific case where installation in the owner's designated space is impossible or unreasonably expensive and the association authorizes use of a non-exclusive common area, 765 ILCS 1085/30(f).⁴

2B. How the Condominium Property Act and the Common Interest Community Association Act bear on EV charging

Illinois maintains two general community-association statutes: the Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605, which governs condominium associations, and the Common Interest Community Association Act, 765 ILCS 160, which governs non-condominium common interest communities. The Electric Vehicle Charging Act doesn't replace either. It operates on top of both through its "association" definition, which cross-references subsection (o) of Section 2 of the Condominium Property Act and Section 1-5 of the Common Interest Community Association Act, 765 ILCS 1085/15.³ The result: a single EV act supplies the operative EV rule for both categories, while the surrounding governance framework — board authority, architectural-review procedures, common-element alteration rules, dispute mechanisms — continues to come from 605 or 160 depending on the association type. For a station placed in the common elements of a condominium, the association's ordinary common-element alteration and architectural-review authority under the Condominium Property Act still frames how the application is processed, but the EV Act directs that the application be handled the same way as a common-element alteration and imposes the 60-day deemed-approval rule on top of it, 765 ILCS 1085/30(d).⁴ On the reach question, the applicability text of Section 10(b) speaks broadly to "associations" of both newly constructed and existing buildings with parking spaces, and the "association" definition captures both condominium and common interest community associations; the P.A. 103-572 amendment is most clearly directed at bringing existing condominium associations within Sections 30 and 35.⁷ Where a governing document or a general provision of 605 or 160 would conflict with the EV Act on EV charging, the EV Act controls, because a conflicting governing-document provision is void under Section 30(a).

2C. The role of governing documents and corporate law

Declarations, bylaws, and rules remain enforceable, but only as they operate consistently with 765 ILCS 1085. An association may adopt and enforce reasonable restrictions on EV charging systems, but it may not enforce a provision that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts installation or use in a unit or designated parking space, 765 ILCS 1085/30(a), (b).⁴ The order of precedence runs from the non-variable statutory rule downward: the Electric Vehicle Charging Act sets the floor of owner rights, governing documents apply to the extent they're consistent with the statute, and rules and architectural standards apply within the space the statute leaves for reasonable regulation. Many Illinois associations incorporate as not-for-profit corporations, in which case the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986, 805 ILCS 105, supplies corporate-formality scaffolding — board action, meetings, notice, recordkeeping. That Act governs how a board acts; it grants no EV-specific authority and doesn't modify the substantive EV rights and obligations that live in 765 ILCS 1085. Where the statute and the governing documents stay silent, ordinary Illinois contract and property doctrine fills the gaps, applied by the courts described in Section 3D.

Section 3: What HOAs can and cannot do regarding EV charging

Because a single EV act reaches both condominium and common interest community associations through one "association" definition, 765 ILCS 1085/15, the obligations below apply across both association types unless the statute distinguishes them. Any distinction is noted expressly.

A. Installation rights and prohibitions

An association may not enforce any governing-document provision that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging system within a unit owner's unit or a designated parking space, including a deeded space, an exclusive-use common-area space, or a space designated for a particular owner — such provisions are void and unenforceable, a statutory mandate under 765 ILCS 1085/30(a). For a station in a common area or exclusive-use common area, the owner must first obtain prior written approval, and the association must approve if the owner agrees in writing to the statutory conditions, per 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(1). A license agreement is required only where the designated space is impossible or unreasonably expensive and the association authorizes a non-exclusive common area, per 765 ILCS 1085/30(f) — a narrow case. The line between a permitted reasonable restriction and a prohibited effective prohibition is set by the statutory definition: a restriction is reasonable only if it doesn't significantly increase cost or significantly decrease efficiency or specified performance, 765 ILCS 1085/15; 765 ILCS 1085/30(b).⁴

B. Conditions an association may impose

An association may require compliance with its architectural standards and other reasonable conditions and restrictions, per 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(1)(A). It may require the owner to engage a licensed and insured electrical contractor who names the association, its officers, directors, and agents as additional insured, a statutory mandate on the owner under 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(1)(B). It may require the owner to provide a certificate of insurance naming the association as additional insured within 14 days after approval and annually thereafter, and to maintain the liability policy at all times, per 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(1)(C), (e)(4). It may require the owner to be responsible for damage to common areas or other units resulting from installation, use, or removal, per 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(1)(E). It may impose reasonable aesthetic and location conditions, provided they don't significantly increase cost or decrease efficiency or specified performance, bounded by 765 ILCS 1085/15. The deemed-approval clock constrains the timing: the association must act in writing, and silence for 60 days after receipt deems the application approved unless the delay results from a reasonable request for additional information, a statutory mandate under 765 ILCS 1085/30(d).⁴

C. Cost, metering, and maintenance allocation

The owner and each successive owner bear the cost of installation, electricity, maintenance, repair, replacement, removal, and restoration, a statutory allocation under 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(1)(D), (e)(2)(A), (B). Electricity cost is measured either by an embedded submetering device or by a reasonable calculation based on average miles driven, EPA-rated vehicle efficiency, and the common-area cost of electricity, and the charge is limited to reasonable reimbursement of electricity usage and may not be set to deliberately exceed that amount, per 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(2)(C), (e)(3).⁴ On the utility side, the Illinois Commerce Commission regulates public utilities and certifies EV charging station installers under the Public Utilities Act; an owner who recovers electricity costs through submetering or a reasonable cost calculation is providing reimbursement rather than reselling utility service, and the statute frames the charge as reimbursement, not a retail utility sale, 765 ILCS 1085/30(e)(3); ICC installer certification under 220 ILCS 5/16-128A.⁹

D. Dispute resolution and enforcement

The Act supplies its own remedies. An association that willfully violates Section 30 is liable to the unit owner for actual damages and a civil penalty not to exceed $500, and the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party in an enforcement action, per 765 ILCS 1085/30(h), (i). For renters, a willfully violating landlord is liable for actual damages and a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000, with attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff, per 765 ILCS 1085/35(f), (g).¹⁰ Before litigation, dispute and rule-enforcement mechanisms in the governing documents and in the Condominium Property Act or the Common Interest Community Association Act may apply depending on association type. Trial-level disputes proceed in the Illinois Circuit Courts; appeals go to the Illinois Appellate Court for the district in which the circuit sits — First in Chicago, Second in Elgin, Third in Ottawa, Fourth in Springfield, Fifth in Mt. Vernon — with discretionary review by the Illinois Supreme Court, generally on a petition for leave to appeal under Supreme Court Rule 315.¹¹

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

A technical revisory measure, Public Act 103-605, the First 2024 General Revisory Act, House Bill 4844, effective July 1, 2024, reconciled overlapping amendments to Sections 20, 25, and 30 without making substantive changes.¹

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published Illinois Appellate Court or Illinois Supreme Court decision has interpreted the Electric Vehicle Charging Act, or resolved an EV-charging installation dispute in a community association, as of July 18, 2026. This absence is consistent with the Act's recency, given that it took effect January 1, 2024. Practitioners should treat the statutory text and its remedies as the controlling authority and monitor the Illinois Appellate Court's five districts and the Illinois Supreme Court for the first interpretive decisions.

C. Active legislative debates

No bill pending in the 104th General Assembly proposes to further amend the Electric Vehicle Charging Act beyond the enacted measures described above; the only 104th General Assembly measure to touch 765 ILCS 1085 was Senate Bill 39, enacted as Public Act 104-341.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Illinois sits among the roughly 15 states plus the District of Columbia that have passed right-to-charge laws overriding association rules that restrict residents from installing EV chargers.¹² California pioneered the void-and-unenforceable approach: Civil Code § 4745, first enacted in 2011, provides that a governing-document provision that "either effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging station" is void and unenforceable, and it uses the same 60-day deemed-approval structure Illinois later adopted.⁵ Colorado's C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.8, enacted by SB 13-126 and signed May 3, 2013, bars a residential association from denying an owner the right to install a Level 1 or Level 2 charging system.⁵ Three broad national categories exist: mandate states that grant an installation right and void contrary governing-document provisions, including California, Colorado, and Illinois; states that address EV charging more narrowly; and states with no EV-charging-specific statute, where the declaration controls. For a multi-state operator, the practical point is that Illinois grants owners an installation right and a 60-day deemed-approval clock that silent states don't, so an Illinois compliance playbook doesn't transfer to silent states, and a silent-state playbook understates Illinois obligations. Because the Act is recent and has already been amended multiple times, this page is re-verified against the current statutory text each quarter.

HOA Weekly's Illinois EV Charging coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and courts act, and we re-verify the Electric Vehicle Charging Act against current text each cycle. Federal incentives can affect installation economics, but no federal law mandates HOA EV charging access.

Footnotes

1. Electric Vehicle Charging Act, 765 ILCS 1085, Table of Contents and source notes (P.A. 103-53; 103-572; 103-605; 104-341), Illinois General Assembly (ilga.gov) ↩
2. 765 ILCS 1085/10 (Applicability), Illinois General Assembly (ilga.gov) ↩
3. 765 ILCS 1085/15 (Definitions; "Association" cross-reference to 765 ILCS 605/2(o) and 765 ILCS 160/1-5), Illinois General Assembly (ilga.gov) ↩
4. 765 ILCS 1085/30 (Electric vehicle charging system policy for unit owners), Illinois General Assembly (ilga.gov) ↩
5. California Civil Code § 4745 (comparison); Colorado C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.8, enacted by SB 13-126 (signed May 3, 2013) ↩
6. Public Act 103-0053 (SB 40), Illinois General Assembly (ilga.gov) ↩
7. Public Act 103-0572, Illinois General Assembly (ilga.gov) ↩
8. Public Act 104-0341 (SB 39), Illinois General Assembly (ilga.gov) ↩
9. Public Utility overview, Illinois Commerce Commission (icc.illinois.gov) ↩
10. 765 ILCS 1085/35 (Electric vehicle charging system policy for renters), Illinois General Assembly (ilga.gov) ↩
11. Illinois Constitution, Article VI (Courts); Illinois Appellate Court, five districts, Illinois General Assembly (ilga.gov); Appellate Court General Information, Illinois Courts (illinoiscourts.gov) ↩
12. Right-to-Charge Policies, Plug In America (states extending protections to both owners and renters: CA, CO, CT, IL, OR, and D.C.) ↩