the wasserblawg

Some people buy condominiums to live in. Others buy condominiums and then offer the units as rental properties to others. Still others rent out condominiums when they want to sell but cannot find a buyer and they need the income to cover their expenses. It turns out however, that many condo owners do not want to allow rentals in their buildings. In those instances, efforts are undertaken to impose rental restrictions of the association, by means of amending the governing rules; the Condominium Declaration and/or By-Laws. Naturally, this can be a terrible problem when the rules change after a rental situation has been created. Enter West Suburban State Rep.s Sandra M. Pihos & Karen A. Yarbrough who have introduced legislation to address this issue. House Bill 821 proposes to amend the Illinois Condominium Property Act by offering "grandfather" protection to such landlords. If a condo owner's association changes the riles, he or she would be allowed to continue t...

We were reminded this weekend that the housing market turmoil is taking its toll on us; the (former) home-owners; their pets; and ALL THE REST OF US WHO OWN or WISH TO OWN HOMES. The Tribune devoted extensive coverage to the phenomenon of " ghost towns " in Englewood , Garfield Rogers & Washington Parks. Foreclosures force families out of their homes. But those homes remain leaving neighborhoods without neighbors. I first wrote about this problem back in January, 2008. Two more Sunday Trib articles here , and here . The Indianapolis Star reports on increasingly dogs & cats are being abandoned as owners lose the ability to care for their pets. But the foreclosures are effecting ALL of us, even if we do not live in those worst hit areas. A new study by Deutsche Bank confirms something I wrote about three weeks ago : there is a large (and growing) inventory of bank-owned (foreclosed) properties. As banks release those properties back into the marketplace, the resu...