Landlords Must Itemize Damages

A recent case, Nadhir v. Solomon, 2011 IL App (1st) 110851 (September 20, 2011) Cook Co., 2d Div., came down hard on Evanston landlords.

In that case, the three plaintiffs had rented an apartment in Evanston from the defendant landlords.  The landlord claimed the property had been heavily damaged when they walked through it with the tenants at the end of the lease. The tenants stated that the unit was in good condition and that the landlord had not raised any complaints at the walk-through.  After the lease ended, the landlord did not return the security deposit.  Evanston City Ordinance requires the landlord to provide a a written list of damages to the tenant, showing the cost of repair of each item separately, and stating what amount is being deducted from the tenant's security deposit.  This notice must be provided within 21 days after the lease ends.  In this case, the landlord simply wrote "TBD" in lieu of providing an actual amount for each damaged item.

The trial court found for the defendant landlords, stating that it was okay for the landlord to state "TBD" in lieu of the amounts due.  The appellate court, however, disagreed.  The ordinance clearly states that all damages must be itemized with the amount due.  The court relied on the plain language of the ordinance and ruled in favor of the tenants.  The landlord was ordered to return the security deposit, minus the one item the landlord had itemized in his notice, to the tenants.

Cities Must Hold Up Their End of Agreement with Landowners!

A recent case, The Reserve at Woodstock v. The City of Woodstock, 2011 IL App (2d) 100676 (September 28,2011) makes it clear that if cities have an agreement with landowners, they must honor it and not try to subvert it.

Reserve (the developer) owned property in Woodstock which was subject to an Annexation Agreement.  Pursuant to that agreement, the developer submitted a plan to develop the property into multiple single-family residential lots.  Not only did the the City of Woodstock deny the proposed subdivision, but it further rezoned the land and disconnected it from the City of Woodstock.  The developer sued.

The court found that the developer had a vested right in having its plat approved under the prior zoning rules.  Furthermore, the court found that the City of Woodstock was unfair and failed to act in good faith by not honoring the Annexation Agreement.  Furthermore, Woodstock delayed the process so the term of the Annexation Agreement would expire, and then re-zoned and disconnected the land from Woodstock entirely. 

While the court found in favor of the developer, did the developer really win?  Unfortunately, the developer initiated this process in 2003, before the real estate market reached its peak.  However, because Woodstock did not process the subdivision expeditiously, and because the matter eventually reached the courts, a decision was not rendered until September of 2011.  The housing boom is long over.  It seems that any profits the developer must have hoped to gain from the subdivision are lost, at least for now.

Real Estate Taxes -- How a Certificate of Error Can Help You

So you own real estate in Cook County, and you missed the deadline for filing an appeal on your real estate taxes with the Assessor's office.  You thought you didn't have to worry, because you could always file with the Board of Review.  Oops -- you missed that too.  Or maybe you filed your appeal on time, and it was based on a clear factual error, and for some reason your appeal was denied anyway.  What could you do?  You didn't want to take a chance that your taxes would be sold by the county, so you even went ahead and paid the tax bill.

Not to worry -- you still may be able to get your money back, but now you will have to file a Certificate of Error.  This is a mechanism available to Cook County property owners whereby a property owner can ask Cook County to correct an incorrect tax bill retroactively, and receive a refund if the bill is already paid.  However, typically the assessor actually has to have made a mistake in order for a property owner to receive a Certificate of Error.  Typos, mistakes in the calculation of a property's value, or assessing improvements that don't exist (i.e. you own vacant land but they assessed you for a house), are all examples of errors that may qualify for a Certificate of Error.

If you are in a situation where you feel you could benefit from a Certificate of Error, do not hesitate.  You could very well get your money back!