A Rare Win for Landlords. The Appellate Court of Illinois (First District) recently issued a ruling which addressed an issue that has long been of major concern to many attorneys representing landlords. And fortunately, the ruling affirmed a lower court ruling in favor of landlords. The issue at stake was whether or not a… Read more »
Simply put, a syndicated real estate deal pairs a sponsor – the ‘syndicator’ – with a group of investors who have pooled their money for the sole purpose of buying real estate. The investors come to the table with money, while the sponsor comes to the table with the project (proposed land, building, concept etc.),… Read more »
An automatic renewal – or evergreen – clause is a provision which automatically renews a contract on its same terms. These clauses are commonplace, most often found in subscription-based service agreements – cloud storage … data plans … insurance … fitness club memberships, and the like. Unfortunately, and particularly within “old school” industries, these… Read more »
If you’re operating your business out of a building or on a piece of property that you also own, you may consider separating the two into individual entities. Here’s why: For starters, let’s say your business is owned by the ‘Acme Corporation’ … and you create a second entity, ‘Wily Coyote, LLC,’ to hold… Read more »
If your Condominium Association is considering whether or not it’s time to update its Declarations and Bylaws, you should be aware of some recent updates in Illinois law. Associations interested in preventing the rental of units on short-term platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO should review the Declaration language regarding short-term rentals. Most will refer… Read more »
The Multifamily real estate market remains HOT. And with financing widely available, interest rates relatively low, rents at all-time highs and rental demand at peak levels and rising, it’s easy to see why more and more investors are being drawn to this exciting segment of the market. While multifamily properties can be great investments, there… Read more »
A revocable living trust is an entity to which individuals may transfer ownership of certain real or personal property, like a home, a precious family heirloom, an insurance policy or company stock. There are many benefits to creating a revocable living trust. For starters, it gives an individual the ability to establish an asset… Read more »
An Executor is an individual selected by you in your Will to administer and settle your estate. The role of the Executor is a crucial one in the probate process, and, therefore, it is vastly important that you established one in your Will. When selecting your Executor, be sure it’s someone you trust – perhaps… Read more »
If it looks like your client is headed toward litigation over earnest money from a failed deal, understanding the principles of earnest money litigation is key to obtaining the best outcome. When it comes to earnest money, there are two major common misconceptions. Some people think that, if one party defaults, the other party… Read more »
In January of 2020, Cook County enacted an amendment to its Fair Housing Ordinance, referred to as the Just Housing Ordinance (JHO), which radically changed how housing providers in Cook County are required to approach their tenant application process. Since then, the world health crisis drew attention away from that development. But our firm,… Read more »