the wasserblawg

By Michael H. Wasserman  City of Chicago homeowners should be on the lookout for newly proposed assessed valuations from the Cook County Assessor’s office. A property’s assessed valuation has a direct relationship to the amount of upcoming property tax bills. Savvy property owners (including readers of this blog) know that they can—and should—fight back by appealing those assessment notices. Here's how. What’s more American than appealing your property taxes? 

By Michael Wasserman In 2017, the FBI reported that wire transfer fraud was up 480% in real estate transactions. It’s a frightening number. Yet more and more, I’ve heard that real estate lawyers won’t discuss transfer instructions with clients—that they leave it to the title company to avoid the responsibility and liability. What?!

By Michael H. Wasserman You may have heard that Chicago just made  the CityKey ID available to its residents . If you haven’t, CityKey is the city’s first municipal ID card that makes city life more convenient, less expensive and, in some cases, more secure. But is it good for Chicago?