2001 Articles

And the money keeps rolling out in fraud directions By Timothy P. Atchison June 2001 Incidents of fraud, forgery and identity theft continue to plague the real estate industry and, if anything, are increasing.

Editor’s note December 2001 The Spring Session of the 92nd General Assembly has concluded, although at the time this note is being prepared, the Veto Sessions are pending.

Editor’s note March 2001 Recognizing the sometimes considerable harm realized by consumers when those without law degrees provide legal advice, ISBA President Herb Franks is emphasizing protecting the public from the unauthorized practice of law in his tenure as president.

Editor’s notes October 2001 This issue features articles addressing representing third-party bidders at foreclosure sales, complying with the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, and the impact of Revised Article 9 on real estate transactions.

Editor’s notes June 2001 This issue of the Real Property newsletter includes Tim Atchison's detailed discussion of various types of fraud, particularly flips.

Editor’s notes April 2001 This issue could not be more timely. The first article by John C. Murray discusses the doctrines of equitable and conventional subrogation.

Editor’s notes By Barbara B. Bressler January 2001 We are fortunate to have articles in this newsletter from experienced real estate practitioners who are known authorities on the topics about which they have written.

Equitable and “conventional” subrogation in Illinois By John C. Murray April 2001 Whenever a title insurer pays a claim, it will ask the claims handler to consider possibilities for recovery from someone who may have been unjustly enriched.

Insuring vacated rights-of-way after Chavda v. Wolak By Richard F. Bales March 2001 Public Act 90-179 (effective July 23, 1997) amended the Illinois Municipal Code. As amended, 65 ILCS 5/11-91-1 provides as follows:

IRS issues long awaited reverse exchange rules By Martin S. Edwards January 2001 During the one-year period between the promulgation of the 1990 proposed exchange regulations and the issuance of the final regulations in April of 1991, the IRS solicited comments in regard to allowing pure reverse exchange transactions.

Lease renewal rules have been clarified By Jack H. Tibbetts March 2001 The determination of whether a lease is automatically renewed by a tenant continuing to holdover by agreement has been clarified by a new Illinois law.

Liquidated damages: you can’t have your cake and eat it too By Mark G. Hanley & Mark C. Zimmerman May 2001 Illinois real estate attorneys are well acquainted with liquidated damages clauses.

Material changes in Illinois’ Uniform Commercial Code—secured transactions By Ted M. Niemann October 2001 Currently, the legislatures of the majority of the states, including Illinois', have passed major changes to Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Illinois' revisions became effective July 1, 2001.

“Mortgagee in possession”—watch your language By Thomas F. Hartzell March 2001 Prepared forms do not always have necessary language. A recent case in our circuit concerning a mortgagee asking the court to be placed in possession during foreclosure proceedings reminds all of us of the need to read documents very carefully.

New real estate and related legislation By James K. Weston, Sr. December 2001 After the conclusion of the Spring Session of the 92nd Illinois General Assembly, Governor George Ryan signed 494 bills into law.

Practical considerations in representing parties interested in purchasing properties at judicial foreclosure sales By Gregory J. Moody & Martin Potter October 2001 Your long-time client, Miss Money, visits your office one afternoon excited about an investment sure to generate substantial return while incurring minimal risk.

Privacy versus confidentiality By Robert Duffin & Laurence F. Johnson December 2001 By now everyone should be aware of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the final privacy rule published by the Federal Trade Commission as required by the Act.

Real estate case law update By Steven B. Bashaw & Joseph R. Fortunato, Jr. June 2001 Note: those in attendance at the November 2000 ISBA Real Estate Section Law Ed SeriesSeminar received a packet of materials that included a Case Law Update consisting of 66 pages of case summaries compiled by Steven Bashaw from his monthly real estate publication, Keypoints.

Real estate Web sites By Elizabeth Robertson April 2001 Last Revised February 10, 2001, Steven B. Bashaw

Recent cases on contract formation, earnest money, waiver, liquidate, damages and the Residential Real Estate Disclosure Act—some more “strands” in the rope of the law of residential real estate transactions By Steven B. Bashaw May 2001 A few years ago, a series of cases came down with some fairly dramatic statements about the law of formation of real estate contracts; in particular those containing "Attorney's Review" or "Attorney's Modification" clauses.

The reverse exchange: “parking” breeds a new acronym By Gary R. Gehlbach January 2001 Finally, when the client calls who is ready to acquire a parcel of real estate before he or she has a buyer for the property he or she is selling, and the client insists on avoiding capital gain with a trade for like-kind property, we can structure the exchange with confidence.

A seller’s lot: real estate sales under the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Act By Mark G. Hanley & Mark C. Zimmerman October 2001 In general, the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Act (hereinafter "the disclosure act") requires a seller of a residential property to disclose to a prospective buyer any material defects in the property of which the seller has actual knowledge.

There is a difference!—attorney modification versus attorney approval clauses By Richard W. Kuhn December 2001 This casenote addresses an interesting recent Cook County trial court decision, Latsko v. Antic, 00 CH 12565, rendered by Judge Sidney A. Jones, III, on January 17, 2001.

Underwriting covenants, conditions and restrictions By Richard F. Bales January 2001 "Covenants, conditions, and restrictions" (hereafter CC&Rs) is a generic term for privately-created rules and regulations that frequently govern the use and improvement of real property.

Why should an attorney be involved in residential real estate transactions? By Myles Jacobs March 2001 There appears to be a concerted effort on the part of some real estate brokers in Illinois to eliminate the real estate attorney as a necessary party to a real estate transaction.