The Illinois Housing and Development Authority (IHDA) has updated its first-time homebuyer assistance program, which is called 1st Home Illinois. Here’s what you need to know to help you figure out if you qualify for IHDA down-payment and closing cost assistance under the 1st Home Illinois program: First of all, you don’t really have to be a first-time homebuyer. As long as you have not owned a home in the last three years, you may qualify. Even if you have owned a home in the last three years, you still may qualify if you are purchasing a home in a “targeted area”. For more information on targeted areas, see IHDA’s website. Moreover, if you’re a veteran, it doesn’t matter if you owned a home last week; you still qualify. The home you are purchasing must be in either Cook County or one of the following Illinois counties: Boone, DeKalb, Fulton,… read more →
Trulia recently studied old census data, as well as current population surveys, to try to figure out why less and less millennials are buying homes. Are they renting? Moving somewhere else? What is going on? Well, it turns out that more and more millennials are staying put – with mom and dad, that is. About 40% of millennials are living at home with their parents. The last time 40% of adults ages 18-34 were living with their parents was in 1940. Back then, the country was still feeling the effects of the Great Depression. By 1950, only about 30% of adults ages 18-34 were still living with their parents. By 1960, that number had gone down to about 24%, the lowest it ever was. The Federal Reserve recently completed another study that shows more millennials are living at home, but tied their findings to student loan debt. Apparently the more… read more →
Transfer taxes can be tricky when it’s not a simple buy-sell transaction. Sometimes looking at the statute and the documentation can be confusing, even for the government entity imposing the tax. Do the parties involved owe transfer taxes or don’t they? From the parties’ perspective, it’s always nice to find a situation when they don’t, which is what happened in City of Chicago v. Elm State Property LLC, 2016 IL App (1st) 152552 (December 22, 2016) Cook Co., 4th Div. Back in 2009, one of the defendants, Halsted West, purchased a mortgage from PNC Bank. The loan was in default, and the borrower transferred title to the property to Halsted West in 2010 via deed in lieu of foreclosure. The deed in lieu of foreclosure was subsequently recorded, along with the City of Chicago transfer tax forms, claiming a transfer tax exemption. In 2011, the City of Chicago sent a… read more →
In a recent case, TCF National Bank v. Richards, 2016 IL App (1st) 152083 (October 28, 2016) Cook Co., 5th Div., the court determined that the bank’s service by publication, as opposed to service by sheriff or special process server, was sufficient service, and the defendant homeowner was properly foreclosed. Of course, the decision was not made lightly. The bank filed for foreclosure in December of 2013. The bank’s counsel retained a special process server to attempt service on the homeowner. The special process server was unable to secure service on the homeowner. In January, the bank filed a affidavit of service by publication, and furnished four affidavits in support. The first affidavit was from the bank’s counsel, stating she had made diligent inquiry but could not track down the defendant. The other three affidavits were from three different special process servers, all employed by the company the bank’s counsel… read more →