Here at Reda | Ciprian | Magnone, LLC, we don’t represent tenants in residential eviction cases. We help residential landlords.  We help lots of them.  We talk to lots of them.  We are usually glad to have a quick conversation to see if we are a match for an engagement at no cost.  Unfortunately, these are unprecedented times and the laws affecting Illinois landlords and Chicago landlords are complex and they seemingly change daily.  That leaves us on the telephone quite a bit explaining things to landlords who might or might not be able to take any action right now.  That analysis requires an analysis of facts, a review of a lease, and an application of multiple and ever-changing laws and as a result, we are temporarily changing our policy with respect to telephone consultations.  All phone consultations will be billed at our hourly eviction rate of $275 per hour with the minimum consultation time being at least one half hour.  Unfortunately, this will also apply to “quick questions”.  When things go back to normal, our policy is likely to change.  If landlords are not interested in paying a consultation fee, we hope that they will still enjoy the voluminous amounts of information provided on these pages.  Thanks!

The IRS has announced new limits for federal estate and gift tax for 2018.  Beginning January 1, 2018, the annual exclusion gift amount will increase from $14,000 per person per year to $15,000.  The estate and gift tax exemption will also increase from $5.49 million in 2017 to $5.6 million in 2018.  This is the first increase in the annual exclusion gift since 2013 and and married couples will now be able to shield up to $11.2 million with appropriate estate planning.  The impact of these increases is uncertain with tax reform looming.

The Illinois Forcible Entry and Detainer Act is commonly referred to as the Eviction Act.  Well, the State of Illinois has basically embodied that common parlance into an amendment to Illinois law which, among other things, changes the phrase forcible entry and detainer to eviction and changes the phrase judgment for possession to eviction order.  This is a modernization of the verbiage used in eviction law.  A copy of the new law, Public Act 100-0173, can be found here and the law will go into effect on January 1, 2018.

Take a look at chicagoclosings.com which we intend to be our vehicle to discuss issues related to commercial and residential real estate closings in Chicagoland.

Just as in 2015, the 2016 Security Deposit Interest Rate for leases and tenancies governed by the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance is:  0.01%

The Illinois Security Deposit Interest Act requires certain landlords to make annual payments of interest on the security deposits of their residential tenants.  Every year, the State of Illinois determines the rate to be paid.  For 2015, the State of Illinois has announced that the interest rate to be used in calculating interest payments under the Act is 0.005%.  This is the fourth year in a row that the rate has been set at 0.005%

Here are the historical rates for the current and prior year.

The Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance dictates that the City of Chicago must determine annually the interest rate to be paid to tenants for leases governed by 5-12-080 of the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (CRLTO).  This year, the rate has dropped a bit.  The new rate is (drum roll please): Continue reading →

www.chicagoeviction.com

As most home buyers and sellers know, the FHA helps buyers purchase homes.  They do this by “insuring” loans on behalf of buyers who might not be able to otherwise afford a conventional loan.  As a result, FHA buyers can still get financing with lower credit scores and lower down-payments than a conventional buyer.  However, not all real estate properties qualify for an FHA loan. Continue reading →