Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

You may want to visit the building/zoning/community development people in Pekin. There could be a number of reasons for this situation, for example:

1. If it is an older home it may have been built under an older zoning ordinance that allowed homes to be closer to each other or to the lot lines at the time. If that is the case that home may be just fine. But if that is the case the one you are interested in may also have been built under an older code. And if that is the case and you ever want to remodel and add any space (say a family room add-on or additional garage...), you may run into zoning issues.

2. Unless that home was was built OVER the property line onto the property you are interested in, there is nothing you can do about it. Only surveys will resolve this. However, if you are given a survey showing that home is NOT on the property you are interested in but the neighbor has a survey that shows that the property YOU are interested in is too close or over HIS property line (how is this possible -- bad survey landmarks and surveys are prepared separately....), all you may have is a claim against the malpractice insurance policy held by the surveyor who prepares the survey of the property you are interested in if you buy it OR potentially against the title insurance company that issues you a title policy on the property you are intereste in IF you purchase it AND IF the policy covers you against claims for survey matters.

Since these are only 2 possibilities and there may be other reasons for this situation, you should seek legal counsel now because you are observing an issue that could be important to be resolved if you decide to go under contract! Best of luck.