Illinois EV Charger Rights in Condos and HOAs (765 ILCS 1085/30)

Section 30(a) is a voiding provision, not a permission. Any covenant, restriction or condition in a deed, contract, security interest or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of an interest in a condominium or common interest community, 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 is void and unenforceable. The statute spells out which spaces count: a deeded parking space, a parking space in the owner's exclusive use common area, and a parking space specifically designated for use by a particular unit owner. Anything in the declaration that conflicts with the Section is void on the same terms.

Only unreasonable restrictions fall. Section 30(b) preserves reasonable restrictions, and 765 ILCS 1085/15 defines a reasonable restriction as one that does not significantly increase the cost of the charging station or system and does not significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance. That is a cost-and-performance test, not an aesthetic one, so an architectural preference that adds significant cost or throttles output is not saved by calling it reasonable. Section 30(b) also settles ownership: a charging system a unit owner installs is that owner's property and is in no case deemed part of the common elements or common area.

The equipment itself has to meet a specification. Section 15 defines an electric vehicle charging system as a device that supplies electricity to an electric vehicle, ensures a safe connection between the grid and the vehicle, and communicates with the vehicle's control system so electricity flows at an appropriate voltage and current. It may be wall mounted or pedestal style and may carry multiple cords, but it must be certified by Underwriters Laboratories or hold an equivalent certification and must comply with the current version of Article 625 of the National Electrical Code. Level 1 is defined as a 120-volt 20-ampere minimum branch circuit and Level 2 as a 208-volt to 240-volt 40-ampere branch circuit. Section 30(c) adds that the system must satisfy State and local health and safety standards and all applicable zoning, land use and permit requirements, so the village permit and inspection still apply.

Approval runs on a deadline. Under Section 30(d), where approval is required, the association must process the application in the same manner as an application to alter or improve the common elements or to make an architectural modification, and must not unreasonably delay approval or denial. The decision must be in writing. If the association does not deny the application in writing within 60 days of receiving it, the application is deemed approved, unless the delay results from a reasonable request for additional information.

Section 30(e) sets the conditions an association may attach when the charger goes into a common area or exclusive use common area, and the board must approve if the owner agrees in writing to all of them. The owner must comply with the association's architectural standards and other reasonable conditions, engage a licensed and insured electrical contractor who names the association, its officers, directors and agents as additional insured and supplies a certificate of insurance, provide within 14 days after approval a certificate of insurance naming the association and those officers as an additional insured under the owner's own policy, pay both the installation costs and the electricity used, and take responsibility for damage to common elements or other units from installation, use and removal.

Running costs stay with the owner and each successive owner: damage costs, maintenance, repair and replacement until removal, restoration of the common area after removal, and electricity. Electricity may be billed only two ways under Section 30(e)(2)(C), through an embedded submetering device, or by a reasonable calculation using average miles driven, the vehicle's efficiency as calculated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the cost of electricity for the common area. Section 30(e)(3) states that the purpose of those charges is reasonable reimbursement of electricity usage and that they shall not be set to deliberately exceed reasonable reimbursement, which forecloses a board using the charging bill as a revenue tool. The owner must also disclose the charging system and these responsibilities to a prospective buyer. Liability coverage must be maintained at all times, with the certificate delivered within 14 days after approval and annually thereafter, though Section 30(e)(5) excuses homeowner liability coverage for an existing National Electrical Manufacturers Association standard alternating current power plug.

A general common area space is the fallback, not the default. Section 30(f) permits an association to authorize installation for one owner's exclusive use in a common area that is not an exclusive use common area only if installation in that owner's designated parking space is impossible or unreasonably expensive, and in that case the association must enter into a license agreement with the owner, who still meets every condition in subsection (e). Separately, Section 30(g) lets an association install a shared charging system in the common area for all unit owners and members and develop appropriate terms of use for it.

The rights are not limited to new buildings. Section 10(b) applies Sections 30 and 35 to unit owners, tenants, landlords and associations in both newly constructed and existing single-family homes and multifamily residential buildings that have parking spaces. Section 35 carries a parallel policy for renters. New construction is separately regulated: Section 20 requires at least one EV-capable parking space for each new single-family or small multifamily unit with dedicated parking, and Section 25 requires 100% of total parking spaces to be EV-capable in a new large multifamily building, or one being renovated by a developer converting it to an association, for permits issued 90 days after the Act took effect.

Illinois attaches a money penalty to a board that digs in. Section 30(h) provides that an association that willfully violates the Section is liable to the unit owner for actual damages and shall pay a civil penalty to the unit owner not to exceed $500. Actual damages for an Illinois owner typically means the cost of public charging while the board stalls, contractor cancellation and remobilization charges, and any lost incentive.

Fees follow the winner. Section 30(i) states that in any action by a unit owner requesting to have an electric vehicle charging system installed and seeking to enforce compliance with the Section, the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing party. The award is mandatory and it runs both ways, so an owner who files without a real claim can be ordered to pay the association's fees.

The first line of defense costs nothing. Because Section 30(d) deems an application approved when the association fails to deny it in writing within 60 days, an owner should file a dated written application, keep proof of delivery, and note whether any request for more information was genuinely reasonable. If the sixty-first day passes in silence, the approval already exists and the association is enforcing against an installation the statute treats as authorized. There is no state agency with jurisdiction; enforcement is by suit in the circuit court of the county where the property is located.