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 →
A recent case, CF SBC Pledgor 1 2012-1 Trust v. Clark/School, LLC, 2016 IL App (4th) 150568 (September 8, 2016) Vermilion Co., demonstrates just how dangerous it can be to let your limited liability company or other entity lapse when you own real estate you have a mortgage on. Ten years ago, the defendant borrowed money from plaintiff’s predecessor-in-interest, secured by an apartment complex in Danville, Illinois. Among other things, the terms of the loan required the defendant to keep the property in good repair, and to maintain the borrower (the limited liability company) in good standing. Failure to do these items was an event of default under the loan. In December of 2013, the lender filed suit to foreclose the defendant, citing failure to maintain and failure to keep the company in good standing. In January of 2014, defendant countered, stating the emergency maintenance situation at the property was… read more →
Until recently, when a potential lender evaluated your credit report, they could see whether you made payments timely and whether you had defaulted on any loans. Your lender could not figure out if you were a “revolver” or a “transactor”. What does the mean? Well, a “revolver” is a person who makes minimum payments on debts, such as credit card debt, and continues to roll the debt forward. A “transactor” is someone who pays off their bills – and we’re mostly referring to credit cards – in full every month. Basically, until recently, the lender could not tell if you were paying your credits cards in full every month, or just paying minimum payments. Analysis done by the credit industry suggests that transactors are less likely to default on mortgage loans. Effective June 25, 2016, though, things changed. Fannie Mae, who purchases many loans, required that mortgages presented to them… read more →
In March of 2010, Laura Kurtz borrowed $66,000 from ALSJ, Inc. against her single-family home in Lombard, Illinois. It was a one-year balloon mortgage that would eventually bear a 36% interest rate, and a late fee of $693. Ms. Kurtz made only six months’ of payments before defaulting, and by May of 2011, ALSJ, Inc. was already trying to foreclose her. The trial court agreed that Ms. Kurtz had defaulted on the mortgage, but the trial court also stated that ALSJ, Inc. had violated the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act, that the mortgage was “facially outrageous” and that the plaintiff was aware that the loan was illegal. The trial court concluded that the Lombard home was “distressed property” and that ALSJ, Inc. had acted as a “distressed property consultant’ who was aware that Ms. Kurtz occupied the home, all in violation of the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act. The mortgage was rescinded.… read more →
Bankrate recently conducted a survey, and guess what they found. They determined that Americans who have money to set aside for the next ten years would rather invest in real estate than in anything else. 25% of Americans chose real estate as the preferred long-term investment over the alternatives, although savings accounts and CDs came in a close second at 23%. 16% of Americans said they would invest in stock, another 16% said they would invest in precious metals like gold, and only 5% chose bonds. The higher the income, the more likely the individual was to choose real estate. 33% of people with income over $75,000 chose real estate, while only 23% of people who earn between $50,000 and $74,000 preferred real estate over the alternatives. For a long-term investment, real estate does seem a safer bet than the stock market, which can hit rapid highs and lows. Real… read more →
According to the National Association of Realtors, last month (June) existing home sales reached a nine-year high. It was the strongest month in existing home sales since 2007. Moreover, 33% of the people who bought a home last month were buying a home for the first time. That’s the highest level of first-time buyers in the last four years. The median existing home price also went up almost 5% to $247,700 in June. Unfortunately, the Midwest had the lowest median home price in the entire country — $199,900. The west coast had the highest median home price, at $350,800. Why are we having all this growth? Well, low mortgages might have something to do with it. Mortgages are currently quite affordable as a result, and the economy has posted job gains as well. The real estate market is doing well. Let’s hope it stays that way!
In a recent case arising out of a foreclosure in DuPage county (Old Second National Bank v. Jafry, 2016 IL App (2d) 150825 (June 28, 2016) DuPage Co.), the appellate court ruled that even though the lender (who had foreclosed the defendant) had already made back a portion of what it was owed by the defendant through a subsequent sale, it was still allowed to collect the entire deficiency from the defendant. The defendants had guaranteed a loan made by Old Second National Bank. Subsequently, the mortgagor defaulted, and the bank foreclosed the property. The bank purchased the property for $900,000 at the sheriff’s sale, and the trial court entered a deficiency judgment against the defendants in the amount of $577,876. After four months, the bank sold the property to a third-party purchaser for $1,320,000. The bank then sought to collect the full deficiency judgment of $577,786. Since the bank… read more →