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Attorneys At Law

Attorneys practicing in and around the Chicagoland area. Experienced in the practice areas of Real Estate Law, Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Litigation, Business Law, & Estate Law.

Attorneys At Law - Attorneys practicing in and around the Chicagoland area. Experienced in the practice areas of Real Estate Law, Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Litigation, Business Law, & Estate Law.

Category Archives: Important Changes

Illinois State Tax Lien Registry

Illinois home with tax lien

On January 1, 2018, the new State Tax Lien Registration Act went into effect, changing how state tax liens are filed in Illinois.

The act created a single centralized Illinois State Tax Lien Registry for filing notices of tax liens.

 

What is Statewide Tax Lien Registry?

The Statewide Tax Lien Registry is an online, searchable database of Illinois tax liens filed or released by the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR). The registry documents all active tax liens as of January 1, 2018, and all future lien filings and releases.

Registry Website: Illinois State Tax Lien Registry

IDOR will no longer be recording its liens or releases with local county recorders.  Going forward, IDOR will maintain its own searchable Illinois State Tax Lien Registry and you can no longer search for liens through your county.

 

Illinois State Tax Lien Registry Video

 

How to know if a tax lien has been filed?

Anyone can search the Illinois State Tax Lien Registry. The registry is the only location available to search liens filed by the Illinois Department of Revenue. You will no longer be able to inquire through each individual county.

 

How to access the Illinois Tax Lien Registry?

You can access the registry through the “Lien Registry” link under the “Quick Links” section on the Illinois Department of Revenue website at tax.illinois.gov, or visit this direct link.

 

How do I find a tax lien?

When you are at the Statewide Tax Lien Registry, you can search for a tax lien using multiple forms of search criteria including:

  • Lien ID
  • FEIN
  • Business name
  • Lien filed or released date
  • Taxpayer first and last name
  • Street address
  • Combination of above

Seal of IllinoisSearch results are dependent on how the taxpayer is registered with the department. A general search or using a partial name could provide multiple results.

Search results will appear as a list of liens at the bottom of the screen. If no tax lien appears in the list area, you may want to modify search criteria to assure you have the correct information.

The results row will identify specific information about the lien, such as the date filed and the date released if applicable. For more information on a specific lien, click on the blue “Lien ID” hyperlink. The lien detail will now be visible.

Any questions about the status or the validity of the tax lien must be addressed by the taxpayer. The taxpayer is the only person who may contact the department about the lien. Call by phone at 217-785-5299.

 

Due diligence recommended

Because this tax lien system is new, property owners with existing tax liens before January 1, 2018, should perform due diligence that includes searching both the Illinois State Tax Lien Registry and your county recorder office to ensure all relevant state tax lien information is discovered.

 

Vist the Illinois Statewide Tax Lien Registry

 

* Advertising Material: To the extent that the information in this post is interpreted as attorney advertising in accordance with the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct or within the meaning of state bar rules from all other localities, this statement is made pursuant to those rules.

Specialties: Specialization claims are prohibited by Illinois Supreme Court Rules and we do not claim to be specialists. The content of this e-mail is organized and presented for the sole purpose of general information. None of the included content should be construed as legal advice. Viewing this e-mail or e-mailing the account holder does not create an attorney-client relationship. NOTICE: This page may be considered advertising material.

The Law Offices of Lora Fausett P.C. provides real estate law services including buying and selling, short sales, mortgage foreclosure defense and more.

For Information Call 630-858-0090

 

Mold Disclosure Illinois – Not Required for Realtors

Mold in illinois homes - is disclosure required?Did you know that mold disclosure forms are not required by Illinois law in real estate transactions?

Many buyers are surprised to hear this, but there are no specific statutory requirements for sellers to provide regarding disclosure of mold.

There is no state or federal requirement to do so.

Illinois mold disclosure

For many years, Illinois REALTORS® did offer their own mold disclosure forms despite the fact that there is no law.

During the past year though, Illinois REALTORS® have stopped offering the form on their website. According to Illinois REALTORS® Legal Hotline Attorney Betsy Urbance, the form was been dropped from their website after a legal review. 

“… Mold disclosure or notice introduces ambiguity into the transaction while also taking the focus off what are truly the important issues to the parties.”

Illinois REALTORS® does not support these forms any longer and requests you remove them from your individual forms folder and discontinue use of them. 

Three main reasons were given for the removal of mold disclosure forms:

  1. There are no state or federal statutory requirements that sellers provide mold disclosure forms.
  2. There is no set scientific standard for what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable levels of mold in a structure.
  3. There are existing disclosure rules which require homeowners to disclose underlying physical defects in a property.

 

Landlord Liability for Mold

Just as there are no current Illinois laws for disclosure of mold for sellers, there is currently no law covering a landlord’s responsibilities in regards to mold.

Illinois does not have any laws that specifically address a landlord’s duties or liability when it comes to mold prevention and remediation.

Even though there is no law for landlords regarding mold disclosure, if tenants believe their health has been damaged by mold present in their rental property, they can sue for damages in court.

If a judge or jury believes that a landlord has been negligent in regards to a mold issue or did not take action to address a known mold issue, they could be held liable for damages.

 

Residential Real Property Disclosure Act

In the case of mold, there is no legislation specific disclosure law.

There is, however, the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, which requires a seller to disclose any known physical defects, including issues involving moisture, which would lead to issues with mold.

It can be argued that the presence of mold could constitute a known defect in the walls, foundation, etc. If a seller is aware of mold, the seller should disclose it.

If you are uncertain of your legal obligations, you should consult an attorney specializing in real estate law.

 

Lead Paint and Radon Disclosure

Disclosure of lead paint is required by federal law since 1992. Radon disclosure is required by the Illinois Radon Awareness Act.

Related: What You Need to Know About Radon Video

 

* Advertising Material: To the extent that the information in this post is interpreted as attorney advertising in accordance with the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct or within the meaning of state bar rules from all other localities, this statement is made pursuant to those rules.

Specialties: Specialization claims are prohibited by Illinois Supreme Court Rules and we do not claim to be specialists. The content of this e-mail is organized and presented for the sole purpose of general information. None of the included content should be construed as legal advice. Viewing this e-mail or e-mailing the account holder does not create an attorney-client relationship. NOTICE: This page may be considered advertising material.

The Law Offices of Lora Fausett P.C. provides real estate law services including buying and selling transactions, short sales, mortgage foreclosure defense and more.

For Information Call 630-858-0090

Image credit: Wikipedia Commons

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act extended through 2016!

While it is a little known fact, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act was extended through 2016 when President Obama sign a package of “tax extenders” into law in December 2015. This Act had previously expired December 31, 2014. This is important for any clients wishing to short sale property because without this extension any forgiven debt in a short sale would be included in taxable income. The extension of this act provides relief to homeowners who had qualified mortgage interest forgiven by lenders.

Any homeowner who has qualified debt forgiven should be issued a 1099-C. This is extremely important for homeowners because when a lender forgives their debt, their deficiency is waived. This means they no longer owe the balance on their loan.

Call us with any questions.

Establishing Conformity In MLS

Changes taking place January 1st, 2016 to the RESO Data Dictionary will drastically help change standards in place for MLSs. What the changes will help to accomplish is to go from having over 850 MLSs to one common language to help establish consistency, efficiency, and a uniform language for all of these MLSs. This transition will be immense and will allow for one common way to communicate with any MLS. This will do wonders for any real estate brokerage firm that has to connect to more than one MLS. The RESO Data Dictionary is considered the “Rosetta Stone” of the real estate industry. The WAV Group estimates that there are as many as 2,500 software applications that connect real estate brokers and agents to one or more MSL firms that will need to update to take full advantage of these new benefits. Executive Director of RESO Jeremy Crawford said “all MLSs will speak the same language”. According to Crawford implementation of RESO Data Dictionary will provide brokers and agents improved MLS data access, including more efficient updates and results, increased consistency, and ease of use in consuming and displaying property information.

A Crucial Endorsement

RESO really gained momentum as the non-for-profit organization gained Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, the largest network of over 500 premier locally-branded firms responsible for more home sales than any other real estate network, to its membership. LeadingRE President/CEO Pam O’Connor believes RESO provides great value to the brokerage community, including the industry’s first adoption of its Data Dictionary. She believes it will fuel new innovation, create significant efficiencies that will reduce costs and allow brokerage firms to expand into new markets.
The long term goal of this process is to achieve National data standards and industry collaboration in all aspects of real estate data and this is definitely a big step in that direction.