Real Property

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Section on Real Estate Law

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2025 Articles

AIR RIGHTS DEVELOPMENT By R. Kymn Harp April 2025 An introduction to air rights. “Air rights" are part of the "bundle of rights" constituting fee simple title to real estate. They comprise an interest in land, although not the surface of the land. The term air rights generally refers to the right of the owner of a parcel of land to use the space above the land. This article is part one of a two-part series.
CALL FOR ARTICLES! March 2025 Information on submitting articles for the newsletter.
Case Summaries By Joseph W. Rogul February 2025 Two recent Illinois cases are noted here that may be instructive in some practical respects for real state practitioners who have occasion to litigate similar issues.
Case Summary Related to Easement Issue: 166 Symphony Way, LLC v. U.S. Property Investments Group, LLC, 2025 IL App (2d) 240040 By James Creppel April 2025 In 166 Symphony Way, LLC v. U.S. Property Investments Group, LLC, 2025 IL App (2d) 240040, the Second District Appellate Court considered the second appeal in a case involving a driveway easement dispute. The Defendant-Appellant, U.S. Property Investments Group, LLC (USP), argued that the trial court erred on remand by awarding attorneys' fees to the Plaintiffs-Appellees, 166 Symphony Way, LLC, and The Haight Company. USP also contended that the trial court wrongly denied its motion for indemnification. Ultimately, the court found USP’s arguments unpersuasive, as these issues were resolved earlier in the case and could not be relitigated.
Case Summary: Poundstone v. Cook, 2025 IL App (3rd) 240322 By Philip J. Vacco April 2025 In the last couple of years, Illinois courts have released several decisions arising from the discovery of post-closing defects and whether the seller breached the seller's obligation to properly disclose the same. These decisions have typically revolved either around the issue of awarding legal fees to the prevailing party or the determination of whether the evidence was sufficient to establish that the seller had actual knowledge of the alleged defect. The case of Poundstone vs. Cook is another such case that transactional attorneys should become familiar with, because it examines the reasonableness of the seller's claim that the repairs the seller made actually addressed the problems.
Case Summary: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Rodriguez By Greg C. Anderson February 2025 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Rodriguez is of special interest to those involved in situations where a lender has filed multiple foreclosure actions against a borrower. Wells Fargo Bank initiated three separate foreclosure complaints against its borrower. The borrower was successful in having the third foreclosure case dismissed, based on a violation of the “single refiling rule.” The Third District affirmed the dismissal.
Case Summary: ZHY Inv., LLC v. Hsing By Leslie Hairston March 2025 In re County Treasurer and Ex Officio Cty. Collector of DuPage County, 2024 IL App (3d) 220465 involves an appeal by ZHY Investments, LLC, from the circuit court in the 18th Judicial Circuit, granting Hsing’s motion to vacate an order issuing a deed to ZHY for property located in Naperville, owned by Hsing.
The Consequence of Failing to Find the Leak By Gary R. Gehlbach April 2025 Since October 1, 1994, Illinois law has required owners of residential real property to provide a detailed disclosure when the property is transferred pursuant to “sale, exchange, installment land contract, assignment of beneficial interest, lease with an option to purchase, ground lease, or assignment of ground lease,” with limited exceptions. The consequences of the failure to honestly disclose defects of the property can be significant, as the defendant learned in the recent Third District Appellate Court decision, Poundstone v. Cook.
Did You Know? January 2025 Some of Illinois land is described as West of the 2nd principal meridian and some as East of the 4th principal meridian.
Editors’ Note By Michael J. Maslanka & Nicolette L. Sonntag April 2025 A brief note from the editors.
Killing the Golden Goose: Chicago’s Northwest Side Preservation Ordinance By Donald Hyun Kiolbassa & Emily Holmes February 2025 The City of Chicago's Northwest Side Preservation Ordinance gives tenants of residential real estate the right of first refusal to purchase the property. The Ordinance was passed allegedly to stop gentrification but, in practice, it is stripping away the rights of homeowners.
LAWPAC Needs You! January 2025 The Illinois Lawyers’ Political Action Committee (LAWPAC) needs your help to fulfill its mission to support the legislative goals of the ISBA and Illinois’ legal community.
Little Red Riding Hood: Private Equity Owning Law Firms By Donald Hyun Kiolbassa & Emily Holmes January 2025 Loosely speaking, private equity firms are investment companies that focus on private companies. A classic example of a private equity firm looks like this. For whatever reason, a business owner is looking to divest risk and exit the owner's business. The private equity firm comes in and buys the company from the founder.
1 comment (Most recent January 22, 2025)
The Logistics of Handling Powers of Attorney Under the Recent Amendments to the Act – Reasonable and Unreasonable Cause to Refuse By Michael J. Fleck January 2025 Senate Bill 3421 was enacted as Public Act 103-0994 on August 9, 2024, to be effective January 1, 2025. The Public Act makes certain changes to the Illinois Power of Attorney Act, specifically under Section 2-8. This article will focus on the practical logistics of handling powers of attorney due to these recent amendments, to minimize the chance that powers of attorney are rejected by a third party.
The New Multi-Board 8.0 Residential Real Estate Contract By Philip J. Vacco January 2025 While some technical issues with the 7.0 contract have been addressed, other issues have been created which will provide plenty of fodder for the legal profession to justify its continued involvement in residential real estate transactions. This article highlights some of these issues.
1 comment (Most recent January 22, 2025)
Save the Date: All About Real Estate Transactions on April 29 February 2025 Mark your calendars to attend our Real Estate Section’s webinar on April 29! 
Some IRS Changes for 2025! January 2025 A brief list of new IRS changes of interest to ADR practitioners. 
The Sword of Damocles and Artificial Intelligence in Law By Donald Hyun Kiolbassa & Emily Holmes March 2025 A discussion of the Sword of Damocles story to draw a lesson—artificial intelligence should be used only as an augmentation of the attorney. The attorney needs to have a metaphorical sword over their head.
TIP April 2025 A tip for practitioners on using Adobe Acrobat Reader’s Find Text or Tool function.