Section 2: The legal framework for exterior and fence control

2A. Where exterior and fence authority comes from

The recorded declaration — the CC&Rs — and the architectural guidelines adopted under it are the primary source of an Illinois association's authority over fences and exterior appearance. The declaration is a contract that runs with the land, and it typically requires an owner to obtain approval before installing a fence or altering exterior materials, colors, or structures.

That contractual authority operates inside a two-statute structure. The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605, governs condominiums; its exterior-relevant provisions include the board's powers and the fine and rulemaking authority in Section 18.4, flag display in Section 18.6, and the board's common-element rights in Section 18.9.^1,10 CICAA, 765 ILCS 160, governs non-condominium common interest community associations — planned developments and many townhome and single-family HOAs.

CICAA exempts a common interest community association organized under the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 that has either 10 or fewer units or annual budgeted assessments of $100,000 or less, unless a majority of its directors or members elects coverage (765 ILCS 160/1-75).¹¹ An incorporated association also draws its corporate governance from the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 (805 ILCS 105). Illinois has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, so the Condominium Property Act and CICAA remain the separate, controlling bodies of law, and neither applies to the other.

Precedence runs in order: the mandatory provisions of the statute that fits the community type come first, then the recorded declaration, then the architectural guidelines, then the board-adopted rules. Rules cannot exceed the authority the statute and declaration grant. For condominiums, 765 ILCS 605/18.4(h) says so directly: a rule may not conflict with the Act or the condominium instruments, and it may not impair rights the First Amendment or the Illinois Constitution guarantees.⁷

2B. State-law limits on association exterior authority

Several statutes cap or condition what an Illinois association may restrict on the exterior.

Solar and wind. The Homeowners' Energy Policy Statement Act (765 ILCS 165) expressly prohibits any bylaw or exercise of power that prohibits — or has the effect of prohibiting — the installation of a solar energy system, and it bars deed restrictions and covenants from prohibiting a solar energy system (Sections 15 and 20).⁹ Within 90 days after it receives a request or application, the association must adopt an energy policy statement that addresses the location, design, and architectural requirements of solar systems and states whether it allows wind energy collection, rainwater collection, or composting systems.

The association may set reasonable configuration requirements, but its determination "may not reduce the production of the solar energy system by more than 10%," where "production" means the estimated annual electrical production (Section 20), and "[t]he application shall be processed by the appropriate approving entity of the association within 30 days of the submission of the application," or within 120 days if it is submitted before a written energy policy statement is adopted (Section 30).³ The Act does not reach a building taller than 60 feet or a building with a shared roof (Section 45).¹² This caps authority across condominiums, common interest community associations, and homeowners' associations alike.

EV charging. The Electric Vehicle Charging Act (765 ILCS 1085), which Public Act 103-53 enacted effective January 1, 2024, makes void and unenforceable any covenant or governing-document provision that prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an EV charging system within a unit owner's unit or designated parking space — a deeded space, an exclusive-use common-area space, or a space the documents specifically designate for a particular owner (Section 30(a)).^4,13

An association may impose reasonable restrictions, which the Act defines as restrictions that do not significantly increase cost or decrease performance (Section 15).¹⁴ The Act also imposes EV-capable requirements on certain new residential construction (Sections 20 and 25) and applies to associations as both the Condominium Property Act and CICAA define them. It caps authority and adds procedure.

Flags. For condominiums, 765 ILCS 605/18.6 bars a board from prohibiting display of the American flag or a military flag on the limited common elements or the immediately adjacent exterior, and it bars a board from prohibiting a flagpole, subject to reasonable placement rules consistent with the federal flag code.⁶ CICAA carries the identical protection at 765 ILCS 160/1-70.¹⁵ The federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 supplies the baseline, and the Illinois statutes supply the association-level rule. These cap authority.

Political and noncommercial signs. For condominiums, 765 ILCS 605/18.4(h) provides that no rule or regulation may impair any right the First Amendment or Section 4 of Article I of the Illinois Constitution guarantees, which reaches reasonable political-sign display governed by association rules.⁷ This limits rulemaking, not the recorded declaration itself. CICAA carries the flag protection at 1-70 but no equivalent express First Amendment sign clause, so for common interest community associations, the declaration governs sign display outside the flag context.

Landscaping appearance. Illinois does have a landscaping override, which runs contrary to the pattern in many states. The Homeowners' Native Landscaping Act (765 ILCS 167), effective July 19, 2024, bars an association from prohibiting a resident or owner from planting or growing Illinois native species on the owner's own lawn "so long as the area is maintained predominantly free of weeds, invasive species, and trash, and vegetation does not extend over or onto neighboring properties, public or common sidewalks, pathways, streets or other public or common areas or elements, and does not interfere with traffic or utilities" (Section 10).⁵

The association may adopt reasonable maintenance rules, but it may not impose height restrictions or impair proper maintenance, and the Act does not reach common areas or common elements. It applies to both condominium and common interest community associations. Illinois offers no statutory protection for artificial turf or for drought-tolerant landscaping as such; the declaration governs those.

Fences. Illinois has no statute that overrides an association's authority to regulate the appearance of fences. The Illinois Fence Act (765 ILCS 130) governs boundary fences between adjoining landowners, not association architectural control.¹⁶ Residential pool and spa barrier requirements operate as a safety floor under adopted building and safety codes, independent of the declaration.

2C. The architectural review process and procedural limits

Illinois imposes no general statutory deadline for acting on an architectural application, so an ordinary fence or exterior-modification application runs on the timeline the declaration sets. Two overrides are the exception: the association must process a solar application within 30 days, or 120 days if it arrives before the energy policy statement is adopted (765 ILCS 165/30),³ and under 765 ILCS 1085/30(d), "if an application is not denied in writing within 60 days from the date of the receipt of the application, the application shall be deemed approved unless the delay is the result of a reasonable request for additional information."⁴

Illinois common law requires architectural review to be reasonable and not arbitrary, and it requires the association to apply restrictions consistently. Where the restriction sits in the recorded declaration, courts presume it valid; where it sits only in a board rule, the board must show the restriction is rational and not antagonistic to the association's legitimate objectives, and acquiescence in prior violations can waive enforcement.¹⁷

Architectural standards must appear in the recorded instruments or in duly adopted rules to be enforceable, and for condominiums the board must adopt a rule after notice and a meeting under 765 ILCS 605/18.4(h).⁷ The energy-policy-statement duty under 765 ILCS 165 adds a further procedural obligation specific to solar, wind, and related systems.³

Before it levies a fine or forces removal or restoration, an association must provide notice and an opportunity to be heard; for condominiums, 765 ILCS 605/18.4(l) sets this out.⁸

Section 3: Compliance obligations and operational mechanics

A. Association and board obligations

Where solar, wind, or related systems come into play, the law requires an association to adopt a written energy policy statement within 90 days of a request or application (765 ILCS 165/20). This duty is STATUTORY, and it reaches both condominiums and common interest community associations.³

The statutory application windows are 30 days for solar, or 120 days before a policy statement is adopted (765 ILCS 165/30), and 60 days, with deemed approval, for EV charging (765 ILCS 1085/30(d)). Every other timeline is CONTRACTUAL, set by the declaration.^3,4

The solar, wind, EV, native-landscaping, flag, and condominium First Amendment limits override any contrary provision. STATUTORY (765 ILCS 165; 765 ILCS 1085; 765 ILCS 167; 765 ILCS 605/18.6 and 160/1-70; 765 ILCS 605/18.4(h)).^5,9

Illinois law requires architectural standards to be applied reasonably and consistently. This rests on Illinois common law and, for condominium rules, on 765 ILCS 605/18.4(h). STATUTORY and common-law.⁷

Anyone who provides community association management services for compensation must hold a license under the Community Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act (225 ILCS 427), unless exempt; the Condominium Property Act sets manager standards at 765 ILCS 605/18.7. STATUTORY. Illinois regulates managers rather than exempting them.^18,19

Notice and an opportunity to be heard come before fines or forced removal (765 ILCS 605/18.4(l) for condominiums; the declaration and CICAA procedures otherwise). STATUTORY and CONTRACTUAL.⁸

B. Owner obligations and rights

Declarations commonly require an owner to obtain approval before installing a fence or performing exterior work, and to build to the approved plans and the published standards. CONTRACTUAL, set by the declaration.

When an association misses a statutory deadline, the EV statute deems the application approved and the solar statute lets the owner proceed after written notice and a 10-business-day cure period; an unreasonable or selective decision can be challenged as arbitrary. STATUTORY for solar and EV; common-law otherwise.⁴

Owners hold statutory rights to install a solar energy system, a wind device the energy policy statement addresses, or an EV charging system in a designated or deeded space; to display the American and military flags and, in condominiums, political signs, subject only to the reasonable rules the statutes permit; and to plant Illinois native species on their own lawns (765 ILCS 167). STATUTORY.^4,5,9

C. Enforcement, remedies, and defenses

An association's remedies include injunctive relief, forced removal or restoration of a noncompliant fence or exterior alteration, reasonable fines after notice and a hearing, and recovery of attorney fees and costs where the declaration or a statute allows it. STATUTORY and CONTRACTUAL. Unpaid fines and assessments may become a lien under the declaration and the applicable statute.⁸

Enforcement has to follow the declaration's and the statutes' procedures; a failure of process can defeat the action.

An owner's defenses include selective enforcement, waiver or abandonment through acquiescence in prior violations, a restriction that exceeds the authority the statute or declaration grants, and a restriction that an override makes void — a blanket solar, wind, EV, or native-plant ban, for example. STATUTORY and common-law.¹⁷

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills and public acts

In Illinois, recent legislation has moved on three fronts that touch exterior life in an association — native landscaping, electric-vehicle charging, and the state ombudsperson office. Here is what passed and what it changes.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Two recent appellate orders show Illinois courts holding associations to their own documents and to a record of consistent enforcement. Both are Rule 23 orders, so they are nonprecedential, but they illustrate how these disputes tend to go.

C. Active legislative debates

One reserve-study bill would have changed how associations budget for the exterior work they are responsible for; it was not enacted.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Illinois occupies the middle of three groups. It is not a pure strong-statutory-override state on exterior aesthetics in the mold of California or Colorado, and it has moved well past the CC&R-primary posture of states such as Georgia and Arkansas, where the declaration controls exterior questions almost entirely. Illinois is a full-coverage, two-statute state with strong energy-related overrides: statute now caps solar, wind, EV charging, and native landscaping, while paint, siding, roofing, trim, and most fence questions remain declaration-driven.

What sets Illinois apart is the combination — the Homeowners' Energy Policy Statement Act covering solar and wind, the recent Electric Vehicle Charging Act, the Homeowners' Native Landscaping Act, and statutory licensing of community association managers under 225 ILCS 427. For multi-state operators, the takeaway is direct: a blanket solar, wind, EV, or native-plant ban will not hold up in Illinois, and the community type decides whether the Condominium Property Act or CICAA applies.

HOA Weekly's Illinois Fence and Exterior coverage is revised when we verify a change from the General Assembly and the Illinois appellate courts. Federal frameworks also apply to Illinois associations regardless of the state framework, including the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, the FCC OTARD antenna rule (47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000), and the Fair Housing Act's reasonable-accommodation duty for disability-related exterior modifications. The ADA's public-accommodation rules apply only to facilities open to the public, not to a unit owner's private fence or exterior.^24,25