Rock Island County, IL HOA Rules: Board Governance (2026)
Key Facts
- Membership rule
- One membership per lot owner
- Trigger
- Outlot deeded to HOA at 75% lot sales
- Covenant term
- 21 years, renews for 10-year periods
- Amendment threshold
- 75% of owners (first term), 65% later
- Chapter penalty
- $250-$1,500 per violation, per day
Summary
Rock Island County's stormwater management chapter requires developers of subdivisions with a detention basin to record a model covenant forming a homeowners association. County Code § 152.272 fixes that HOA's membership: every lot owner subject to assessment is automatically a member, capped at one membership per owner, and membership cannot be split from lot ownership.
Every person or entity who is a record owner of a fee or undivided fee interest in any Lot which is subject by covenants of record to assessment by the Association, including contract sellers, shall be a member of the Association. The foregoing is not intended to include persons or entities who hold an interest merely as security for the performance of an obligation. No owner shall have more than one membership. Membership shall be appurtenant to and may not be separated from ownership of any lot which is subject to assessment by the Association. Ownership of such lot shall be the sole qualification for membership.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2025 S-1: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. 2024-12-A, passed 12-17-2024; and State legislation current through 2024 Illinois Legislative Service, Pamphlet #6).
Full Breakdown
Rock Island County's stormwater management chapter, Chapter 152, ties homeowners association governance to the county's detention-basin permitting process rather than regulating existing HOAs directly. 272, once a subdivision plat shows a constructed "Detention Basin" outlot, the developer must deed that outlot to a homeowners association once 75% of the subdivision's lots have sold, and must record a Declaration of Restrictive and Protective Covenants establishing that association. Article I of the model declaration defines the "Association" as an Illinois non-profit corporation and the "Properties" as the platted lots; Article II sets membership automatically: any record owner of a fee interest in an assessed lot, including a contract seller, becomes a member, with no more than one membership per owner and no separation of membership from lot title.
Article V's general provisions bind the covenant to the land for 21 years from recording, renewing automatically for successive 10-year terms unless amended; amendment during the first 21-year term requires signatures from at least 75% of lot owners, dropping to 65% after that term, and no amendment takes effect until a certified copy of the authorizing resolution and the amendment itself are recorded with the Rock Island County Recorder. Article V also lets the Association or any individual owner sue in law or equity to enforce the covenants, and lets a court's invalidation of one covenant stand without voiding the rest.
This governance structure exists to guarantee long-term maintenance funding for the county-mandated detention basin, so it applies to subdivisions built with such basins, not to homeowners associations generally.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 152's general penalty at § 152.999 makes any person who violates the chapter, including a developer who fails to record the required covenant or deed the detention basin outlot as directed, subject to a fine of $250 to $1,500 per offense, with each day the violation continues counted as a separate offense. Disputes over the covenant's internal membership or voting terms are enforced civilly by the Association or an owner under Article V, not by county citation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Rock Island County regulate all homeowners associations in the unincorporated county?
Who automatically becomes a member of the detention-basin HOA?
How long does the covenant creating the HOA last?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Rock Island County
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