Earlier this week, Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois signed the Community Association Manager Act which creates education and licensing requirements for community managers practicing in the state. CAI's Illinois Legislative Action Committee, along with the Illinois Chapter and its Managers Committee led a multi-year effort to move this bill through the legislature. The key goals of this new licensing structure are to create minimum qualifications to practice community management, impose a disciplinary structure for manager misconduct, require initial and continuing education to receive and renew a license, and provide expanded protections for consumers.
Thanks to all our volunteer members in Illinois who have been working on this proposal for several years and special kudos to LAC Chair Mark Pearlstein and Managers Committee Chair Bill DeMille for their leadership on this effort.
But the signing of the bill only begins the process. Regulations to implement it will still need to be developed, managers still need to be educated on the requirements, and associations will need to be informed as well, so the Chapter and LAC still have important work to do. But even the longest journey begins with a single step and this is a big and important on in Illinois.
More information is available on CAI's Legislative Heads Up and Manager Licensing pages.

