News & Insights

Published Works:

• Chapter 6: Liability Problems, Condominium Law: Daily Operational Challenges (IICLE, 2024).
• Chapter 7: Distressed Condominium Developments, Condominium Law: Daily Operational Challenges (IICLE 2024).
• Chapter 8: Conversion of Existing Structures, Condominium Law: Governance, Authority, and Controlling Documents (IICLE 2024).
• Chapter 9: Representing the Condominium Association, Condominium Law: Daily Operational Challenges (IICLE 2024).
• Breaches of Fiduciary Duty and Exculpatory Clauses in Illinois Condominium Declarations, 55 UIC Law Review 289 (2022).
• Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Condominium Law, Chapter 15, Association and Owner Liability, 2009, 2012 (supplement), and 2016; and Chapter 6, Condominium Conversions of Existing Structures, 2016.
• Internet Privacy Protection: Complying with COPPA, 14 Chicago Bar Record 56 (April 2000).
• A Primer on Robert’s Rules of Order, 11 Chicago Bar Record 47, (September 1997).
• Trubow, George, Privacy Law and Practice 1988 (assisted editor in preparation and prepared annual updates thereafter).
• False Light Privacy Actions: Constitutional Constraints and Standards of Proof of Fault (Co-Authored with George B. Trubow), 20 John Marshall Law Review 854, 1987.
• Privacy Rights in Cordless Telephone Conversations, Privacy Rights in Education Records, and the Good Faith Exception to the Exclusionary Rule (Co-Authored with George B. Trubow and Ralph Ruebner), 18 John Marshall Law Review 1017, 1985.
• Liability of a Business Computer User for Improper Disclosure of a Customer’s Personal Financial Information (Co-Authored with George B. Trubow and Ralph Ruebner), 17 John Marshall Law Review 991, 1984.
• Bellona v. Exurb Media Corp.: Bench Memorandum (Co-Authored with Karen Kochanowski), 16 John Marshall Law Review 165, 1982.

Monthly Articles:

Authored monthly legal articles on developments of condominium and homeowner association law for the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education Flashpoints, 2016 to present.
 

• Court Holds That Failure to Notify Unit Owner of Meeting Nullified Contract to Sell Condominium Property, September 2024
• Condo Board’s Lawsuit Against Developer Constitutes Prior Pending Action, August 2024
• Association Failed To Overcome Presumption of Undue Influence in §15 Sale of Condominium Property,  July 2024.
• Appellate Court Affirms Unit Owner’s Liability for Usurping Common Elements, June 2024.
• How Bankruptcy Debtors Could Still Retain Possession of Units After Eviction Orders Entered in State Court, May 2024.
• First District Upholds Permanent Injunction Against Unit Owners Who Do Not Maintain Architectural Continuity, Feb. 2024.
• Illinois Supreme Court Revivifies How Courts Look at Insurance Policy Issues, Jan. 2024.
• Unit Owners Have No Action for Trespass or Eviction Against an Association Which Bars Access for a Year to Make Necessary Repairs, Dec. 2023
• Human Rights Commission Awards $25,000 for Unit Owner’s Emotional Distress and $58,000 in Attorneys’ Fees, Nov. 2023.
• Bankruptcy Court Exercises Permissive Abstention to City of Chicago’s Complaint to Appoint Receiver and De-Convert Condominium Property, Sept. 2023.
• Human Rights Commission Affirms Decision Against Renter with Emotional Support Dogs who Did Not Disclose Dogs Existence in Rental Application, Aug. 2023.
• Condominium Director Failed to Plead Defamation Against Unit Owner Publishing a Newsletter Regarding Meetings, July 2023.
• Supreme Court Holds for 94-Year-Old Owner of Condominium Unit Forfeited to the State of Minnesota, June 2023.
• Association Had No Claim against Former Attorney Where It Suffered No Damages, May 2023.
• Flawed Election Process Does Not Void Assessments Due, Apr. 2023.
• Court Recognized That Release was Obtained through Duress, Feb. 2023.
• Supreme Court Reverses Appellate Court Holding That Price Limits in § 22.1 Are Not for Benefit of Unit Seller, Dec. 2022.
• Even Weak Claims are Sufficient to Trigger an Insurer’s Duty to Defend Under a D&O Policy, Nov. 2022.
• Board Elected Outside Requirements of the Condominium Property Act Negated Notwithstanding Lack of Objection and Participation by Unit Owners, Oct. 2022.
• Insurer Not Liable for Judgment Against Insured General Contractor Where No Actual Notice Of Lawsuit, Sep. 2022.
• Developer Liable for Assessments for Units He Never Built, Aug. 2022;
• Interpreting Ambiguous Easement Language for Parking and Driveway, July 2022.
• Appellate Court Affirms Denial of Prejudgment Interest on Insurance Payment Made Pursuant to Declaratory Relief Action, June 2022.
• Third District Affirms Dismissal of Insurer’s Declaratory Judgment Action Against Association After Insurer Declined Appraisal Under Policy, May 2022.
• Appointing a Receiver for Condominium Property, Apr. 2022.
• Court Holds That “Shall” in Language Accelerating Special Assessment is Permissive, Not Mandatory, and That an Eviction Court Can Hear Matters Outside Its Limited Jurisdiction, Mar. 2022.
• Appellate Court Affirms Broad Board Authority to Govern But Recognizes a Fiduciary Duty Without Any Basis, Feb. 2022.
• No Implied Right of Action Under Chicago Self-Certification Permit Program, Jan. 2022.
• Legislature Creates Administrative Process to Remove Unlawful Restrictive Covenants from Property Records, Dec. 2021.
• Illinois Appellate Court Recognizes Private Action Against Property Manager for Excessive Charges under § 22.1 of the Act, Nov. 2021.
• Appellate Court Affirms Dismissal of Retaliation Charges Brought by Unit Owner Against Management Company and Association, Oct. 2021.
• First District Extends Sienna Court to Vitiate General Contractor Liability for Implied Warranty of Habitability, Sep. 2021.
• Airbnb Rentals Held to Not Violate Prohibition Against Leasing But to Violate Prohibition Against Conducting Business on the Property, Aug. 2021.
• How Condominium Boards Maintain the Property, July 2021.
• Court Upholds Extinguishing Association Lien Through a Deed in Lieu, June 2021.
• Association Directors Deprived Unit Owner of Opportunity to Be Heard by Failing to Serve Proper Notice of Rules Violation Hearing, May 2021.
• Updated Orders and Ordinances on Residential Evictions, Apr. 2021.
• Association Directors Owe a Duty of Candor to Unit Owners Under Investigation for Rules Violations, Mar. 2021.
• What Should Meeting Minutes Show? Feb. 2021.
• New Rules, Orders, and Mandates Impact on Association Collections, Jan. 2021.
• A New IICLE Condominium Law Treatise and Holiday Glogg of Opinions, Dec. 2020.
• Freedom of Contract v. Public Duty: Professionals With Specialized Knowledge May Be Liable for Negligent Misrepresentation, Nov. 2020.
• Enforcing Mask Rules in the Association’s Enclosed Common Elements, Oct. 2020.
• Federal Best Practices and Illinois Legislation on Reasonable Accommodations of Service and Support Animals, Sep. 2020.
• Finding of Pretext May Undermine Even a Legitimate Nondiscriminatory Basis for Action Taken in Retaliation for Civil Rights Violations, Aug. 2020.
• Court Recognizes Action for Breach Of Fiduciary Duties Against Bulk Sale Purchaser of Condo Unit Notwithstanding Section 15, July 2020.
• First District Further Confuses Post-Foreclosure Assessments and Obligations Under § 9(g) of the Condominium Property Act, June 2020.
• Where a Unit Owner Has Obtained a Bankruptcy Discharge, the Association’s Appropriate Remedy to Enforce Its Lien Is Foreclosure, May, 2020.
• What Can an Association Do about Forbearing Assessments, Amending Budgets, or Deferring Projects?, Apr. 2020.
• Condominium Attorneys’ Fees Held Not to Be Consumer Debt Under FDCPA, Mar. 2020.
• Section 9(g)(3) Post-Foreclosure Sale Prompt Payments Revisited and Unified Within the First District, Feb., 2020.
• The Supreme Court Retracts Waste Management’s Common-Interest Exception to Attorney-Client Privilege, Jan. 2020.
• Two More Human Rights Cases in Favor of Associations and a Proposed Rule Exempting Condominium Residents and Occupants from the New Parking Tax, Dec. 2019.
• Seventh Circuit Joins Section 22.1 Disclosure Costs Battles Finding for Property Managers and Their Vendors, Nov. 2019.
• Appellate Court Disregards Covenants with the Land in Finding Fiduciary Duties Exist, Oct. 2019.
• Two Human Rights Cases Pertaining to Medical Marijuana and Service Animals Dismissed for Lack of Substantial Evidence, Sep. 2019.
• New Consumer Debt Judgment Amendments May Impact Association Collections; Also, Illinois Proscribes Some Proscriptions on Cannabis in the Unit, Aug. 2019.
• The Process to Adopt Special Assessments, July 2019.
• American Bankruptcy Institute Report Calls for Fixing Hardships Flowing from Non-dischargeability of Condominium and HOA Assessments, June 2019.
• More Recent Dismissals of Human Rights Act Cases Against Associations, May 2019.
• Appellate Court Punts Section 22.1 Costs Question Back to the Trial Court, Apr. 2019.
• A Unit Owner Videotaping Another Unit Owner and Threats of Arrest Did Not Create Civil Rights Liability or Actionable Intrusion into Seclusion, Mar. 2019.
• Condominium Directors Have a Greater Right to Examine Association Records, But it is a Qualified Right, Feb. 2019.
• Illinois Supreme Court Overrules 35 Years of Contract Law Protecting Homeowners Through the Implied Warranty of Habitability, Jan 2019.
• Department of Human Rights Chose Not to Act in a Smoke Infiltration Case, Dec. 2018.
• Associations Must Adopt a Written Policy for Resolving Complaints, Nov. 2018.
• Condominium Deconversions: Unit Owners Have Few Legal Remedies to Protect Themselves from Developers, Oct. 2018.
• Two Examples of Condominium Associations Meeting Bankruptcy Law, Sep. 2018.
• Some Deteriorating Balconies in Condominium Complex Held to Present Immediate Danger Necessitating Board Action Without Unit Owner Referendum to Veto Special Assessment, Aug. 2018.
• Appellate Court Recognizes an Action Against Association for Violating First Amendment Guarantees, Clarifies Due Process Which Must Be Afforded, and Broadly Expands Directors’ Fiduciary Duties, July 2018.
• Resolution of a Long Open Issue – What Constitutes “Institution of an Action” as a Precondition to Collection Six Months of Assessments Against Foreclosure Purchaser, June 2018.
• A Conflict Is Created in the First District on Whether Foreclosure Purchasers Must Make Post-Foreclosure Sale Assessment Payments Promptly, May 2018.
• Distraction or Forgetfulness Exception to Open and Obvious Doctrine Compels Recognition of Association’s Duty to Occupant using Slippery-When-Wet Stairs, Apr. 2018.
• Are Your Association’s Section 22.1 Disclosures and Processes Exposing It to Litigation?, Mar. 2018.
• Amendments to Section 19 of Condominium Property Act Open More Records to Unit Owner Access, Jan. 2018.
• Appellate Court Slams Fannie Mae for Failing to Pay Assessments for Ten Months After Purchasing Unit at Foreclosure Sale, Dec. 2017.
• An Introduction to Fiduciary Duties Owed by a Condominium Director, Part 3, Nov. 2017.
• An Introduction to Fiduciary Duties Owed by a Condominium Director, Part 2, Oct. 2017.
• Corporate Fiduciary Duties Originated from a Trustee’s Duties, Sep. 2017.
• Subcontractor’s Insurer Had Duty to Defend Other Contractors Under Commercial General Liability Policy, Aug. 2017.
• Board’s Delegation of Power Remains Unanswered, July 2017.
• Should Condo Associations’ Board of Directors Adopt Ethics Codes?, June 2017.
• Productive Day for the First District, May 2017.
• ADR and Agency Authority in the Declaration and Bylaws, Apr. 2017.
• Our New CCIC Ombudsperson, Mar. 2017.
• It’s a Dog-Eat-Dog World, Feb. 2017.
• New Legislation for 2017, Jan. 2017.
• Another Brick in the Wall of Implied Warranty of Habitability: Board of Managers of 1120 Club Condominium Assn v. 1120 Club, LLC, Dec. 2016.
• A Tale of Two Cases and One Defective Roof – Part 2, Nov. 2016.
• A Tale of Two Cases and One Defective Roof – Part 1, Oct. 2016.
• New Line of Attack Against Condo Board Rules and Regs, Sept. 2016.