As you may or may not know, last year the Illinois legislature passed a law which required senior homeowners in Cook County to start re-applying for the senior citizen property tax exemption for their homes on an annual basis, effective in the fall of 2011. Many people, particularly seniors, were not happy about this. After all, if a senior citizen fails to apply for any reason, his or her property tax liability could increase substantially. The legislature has been working on a fix, however, and while it may or may not make it through the House, the Senate recently approved legislation allowing senior exemptions for Cook County senior homeowners to renew automatically, as they did prior to last year’s law. The bill has been passed on the House, and as of yet there is no word on whether or not the House will approve it. In the meantime, seniors should exercise diligence and apply for the senior exemption or… read more →
Many homeowners are trying to refinance but are unable to for a variety of reasons. If you have been denied a traditional refinance because the value of your home has declined or you owe more than your home is worth, the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) may be of assistance. In order to qualify for the HARP program, your mortgage must either be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Additionally, you must meet the following criteria: 1. You are current on your mortgage payments.2. In the last year, you have never been more than 30 days late when making a mortgage payment.3. You do not have an FHA, VA, or USDA loan.4. Your mortgage is for more than your home is currently worth. However, the outstanding amount of your mortgage is not more than 125% of the current value of your home.5. You can demonstrate that you will be able… read more →
The Federal Trade Commission recently issued the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule to protect homeowners from mortgage relief scams. When the real estate market started to flounder, a number of fly-by-night operations claiming expertise in loan modifications and short sales sprung up. As a result, homeowners — many of whom were already struggling to stay on top of their mounting bills — paid sums to such companies in an attempt to obtain mortgage relief or short sale assistance, to no avail. In an attempt to protect homeowners, effective January 31, 2011, the FTC banned mortgage relief companies from collecting any fees from homeowners until a loan modificaton or short sale is in fact completed. For mortgage relief to be “complete”, the lender must present a written offer which the homeowner accepts. Mortgage relief companies must remind homeowners that they have an option to reject any offer which they receive, without incurring… read more →
Condominium associations often sue developers for construction defects. But can they sue the builder, even though the builder did not sell any of the units directly to the condominium owners? According to 1324 W. Pratt Condominium Association v. Platt Construction Group, (2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1030), the answer is yes. In this recent court decision, the builder built an 8-unit residential building for a developer, who then sold the units to individual owners. The individual owners eventually found out that the building (and their personal property) was damaged due to water leaking in from the roof. The condominium association then sued the developer, the builder, and the roofer. The builder claimed he should not be held liable, since he sold the building to the developer, not to the individual unit owners. The court, however, disagreed, and held that the builder could be liable under the implied warranty of habitability, regardless of whether or… read more →
The famous homebuyer tax credits, as extended, are long gone now. Or are they? Actually, they are still available to you, but only if you are a member of the armed services, foreign service, or U.S. intelligence. In that case, you have until April 30, 2011 to enter into a contract for the purchase of your primary residence, and until June 30, 2011 to close it! In order to qualify, you must have been on official duty outside of the United States for at least 90 days, anytime between December 31, 2008, and May 1, 2010. If you were married and on official duty outside of the United States for such a 90 day period, then your spouse also qualifies for the extended eligibility timeframe for the home buyer tax credit. Both spouses need not be overseas — so long as one spouse qualifies, the spouse who remains in the United… read more →
As you may have heard, there were some fairly strong tax incentives available for homebuyers from 2008 until September of 2010. The most recent first-time homebuyer tax credit for up to $8,000, as well as a repeat homebuyer tax credit of up to $6,500, lured some buyers out of the woodwork. You may have been one of them. But did you know that you may have to pay the credit back? There are a variety of situations in which you could be required to repay all or a portion of the credit you received. If you fall into any one of the categories below, the IRS can require repayment: 1. Receipt of the First Time Home Buyer Credit for a 2008 purchase, and the subsequent sale of your home to a related party within 15 years; 2. Receipt of the First Time Home Buyer Credit for a 2009 or 2010 purchase, and the subsequent sale of your… read more →
Like all things, condominium buildings get old. Eventually, things need to be replaced. The roof might start leaking, the fences may start to deteriorate, or the walkways may begin to crumble. Maybe these things haven’t happened yet, but they could happen soon. Of course, when the time does come, all of these repairs will cost money. In these cash-strapped times, who has enough of that? How can a condominium association plan for these repairs now to prevent financial insolvency later? As an association begins to age, it should consider completing a reserve study. A reserve study is usually conducted by a team of building and construction professionals. The company you hire to do this will probably utilize both engineers and architects in its evaluation. The professionals will come out to your building and do a thorough review of all of your systems. After the review is complete, they will give your association the… read more →
If you’re buying a home, you have a lot on your mind. You love the house, so you’re learning about mortgages and insurance and title and inspections. You still have to figure out whether your furniture will fit, what colors to paint the walls, and what repairs you will have to complete prior to moving in. And of course, there’s the move itself. A lot to worry about, right? But there is still more on your mind — what about my new neighbors? Is this the right neighborhood to raise my kids in? Will my family be safe? A thought is nagging you from the depths of your mind: am I making the right decision? Of course, you don’t really know what type of people your neighbors are. Hopefully they’ll be kind, friendly people and welcome you with muffins, cookies, and open arms. You won’t really know until you interact with them. But there… read more →
A recent court decision, YPI 180 N. LaSalle Owner, LLC v. 180 N. LaSalle II, LLC (342 Ill. Dec. 879, 2010), reiterates the importance of the mortgage contingency clause in real estate transactions, whether large or small. In that case, the Buyer put down $6,000,000 in earnest money towards the purchase of a commercial property with a contract sales price of $124,000,000. The Buyer had arranged for financing from an Irish bank, who later pulled out of the transaction citing Irish and global economic issues beyond the bank’s control. When the Buyer was unable to procure financing elsewhere, the Seller kept the earnest money. Mortgage contingencies and earnest money are closely intertwined. If a Buyer fails to timely notify the Seller of financing issues, then according to a typical mortgage continency clause, the Buyer may forfeit the earnest money. When the buyers in the YPI 180 N. LaSalle Owner case did not receive their earnest money back, they filed suit, claiming… read more →
Las Vegas and Chicago are too very different cities in many ways. But they do share one thing. They have the highest foreclosure rates nationwide. Specifically, the Las Vegas Area reported the most foreclosures last year. According to RealtyTrac, Inc., one out of every nine homes in Las Vegas received a foreclosure notice last year. Chicago ranked second, with one out of every twenty-seven homes in the Chicago area receiving a foreclosure notice. In total, there were 138,913 foreclosure or foreclosure-related filings in 2010 in Chicago. This in an increase of over 16% from 2009. In case you’re interested to see where we fall, the third, fourth and fifth highest foreclosure rates were in Detroit, Miami and Atlanta, in that order. What can distressed Chicago homeowners do to avoid foreclosure? They can try to complete a loan modification to bring their loan back to a point where they can avoid… read more →