People are always asking me about other areas of the law, and car troubles and their legal ramifications have come up more than once! Sergei Lemberg, an attorney specializing in lemon laws, is guest blogging today. I hope you find his article about lemon laws in Illinois informative! If you’ve ever bought a new car, you know what a rush it is. There’s the new car smell, the feeling of power as you hit the accelerator, and the peace of mind knowing that you’ll have a reliable ride for a long, long time. But what happens when that new car isn’t so reliable? When you wake up one morning and have to come to terms with the fact that you’ve bought a lemon? Well, Illinois lemon law can help. Every state has a lemon law, but that each of them is different. Under Illinois’ lemon law, some vehicles qualify as… read more →
On October 9, 2008, the Cook County Sheriff’s Department announced it was suspending evictions of all foreclosed homes within county limits. The sheriff’s primary concern was for tenants in foreclosed properties, not property owners. Tenants in properties facing foreclosure were not receiving notice of the potential or actual foreclosure from the banks as required by law. With neither the banks nor landlords notifying them, many tenants knew nothing about having to vacate their homes until the sheriff’s office came knocking on their doors. Last week the court promised to enforce the rules requiring banks to provide a four month grace period before forcing tenants to move out. Additionally, banks will have to notify the court of all tenants residing at the property, and prove that they gave each tenant notice of the foreclosure. While adhering to these rules will prolong the foreclosure process for properties inhabited by tenants, tenants will… read more →
More good news for distressed Cook County homeowners: The Cook County Sheriff’s Department announced this week that they are suspending service of evictions notices on people who are being foreclosed, as well as renters in buildings that are being foreclosed because the landlord has been unable to make mortgage payments. Particularly with respect to renters, the Cook County Sheriff is requesting that banks give tenants notice of the foreclosure and time to leave voluntarily if the landlord has not paid the mortgage; while landlords routinely get such notices from their banks, they usually do not share them with tenants. As a result, tenants often know nothing about having to vacate the property until the sheriff shows up at their door. The Cook County Sheriff’s Department has chosen to take this course of action despite the fact that it violates numerous foreclosure decrees issues by Cook County courts. It is yet… read more →
Finally, some good news for the thousands of people who are being foreclosed and losing their homes: Countrywide (now part of Bank of America) recently entered into an $8.4 billion settlement with 11 states, including Illinois. Illinois’ share of this settlement amounts to $190 million, and these funds will be used to assist approximately 21,000 distressed Illinois homeowners who obtained loans from Countrywide Mortgage prior to December 31, 2007. Specifically, these homeowners can expect to have their interest rates reduced; in some cases, even the principal of the loan may be reduced. The goal is to make their monthly payments more affordable, ideally 32% or less of a family’s income. Additionally late fees, loan modification fees, and prepayment penalties will be waived. Certain families that already lost their homes as a result of foreclosure proceedings shall receive cash payments. Countrywide/Bank of America will also suspend ongoing foreclosure proceedings for those… read more →
I have quite a few clients who own residential investment property, such as condominiums or townhomes or even single family homes that they rent out. On occasion, I get a phone call from a client who has a “bad” tenant — in other words, a tenant who is not paying rent or is breaking the lease in some other way. What should you do if you are a landlord and this happens to you? Well, you should start simple and hope that you can resolve the problem without having to file an eviction. So how do you start simple? I always recommend that you call or visit your tenant and try to talk the issue through — give them a day or two to fix the problem. Sometimes that’s the easiest way to resolve the matter. If that doesn’t work, you need to hone in on your specific problem so… read more →