Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois
1. Signed rental lease on a condo for one year to start 10/1/10. The condo was found through an apartment finding service.
2. I became aware through a legal help mailer sent to this address aware that the property had a Notice of Foreclosure filed on 6/18/10. Therefore, landlord was in foreclosure and knew this at the time the lease was signed. Is this legal? Can a landlord knowingly rent out a property that is in foreclosure? Is the rental agent at all responsible for accepting an application fee to rent a property that was already in foreclosure?
3. Judgment entered 11/30/10. Foreclosure sale set for 3/3/11.
4. I have received no official notice from anyone. Under IL law and Chicago, the landlord is supposed to notify a tenant of the filing of a foreclosure within 7 days. Apparently one can sue for $200 for this infraction, but in this case, the property already had a notice of foreclosure filed against it at the time the lease was signed.
5. The 2009 Tenant Protection Act states that buyers of foreclosure sales must allow tenants to stay through their leases, unless the buyer intends to occupy the property. In that case, 90 days notice must be given.
6. How should I proceed? Apparently I can terminate the lease under these conditions. Is there a case here to recover any kind of damages either against the landlord or the rental agency?
1 Answer from Attorneys
What's your goal? As you've discovered, you are protected until/unless a buyer at foreclosure auction decides they want to move in and then you have 90 days. If the buyer is an investment owner, they may not want to move in. You may want to play it by ear. You may want to bid in at the sale..... Or do you just want to try to file a lawsuit for $200? First decide what your goal is, and then weigh the pros and cons. That's called the "Ben Franklin" method...... You sound like you do your homework, too -- so have fun with it and don't sweat the fact you may wind up having to relocate sooner than you expected....Don't forget too you CAN withhold the last month's rent to hedge against not getting your security deposit back (in Chicago you are entitled to interest so you might want to figure that in too), so if you get 90 days' notice, I'd think about taking advantage of that new right.
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