Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

Re: Unfinished Condo of 5 years

First, while there may be a conflict of interests because the same person owns the builder and the law firm, it doesn't benefit you, because its not your lawyer. You have to be a client before you are hurt by your lawyer's conflict of interest. And, the concept may apply to ordinary business transactions, but you are not on both sides of the legal services performer-recipient transaction. YOu are simply buying the condo from someone who has more than one business.

Unless there is more, your contract rights over the old condominium to be built should carry over to the new buyer of the development. To be certain, you should have recorded the contract in the chain of title for the underlying Real Estate (unless there was a prohibition to doing so in your contract). But, the buyer can hardly claim ignorance of potential claimants like you, if the property was under construction when it changed hands.

You should take your contract and any related documents and correspondence to a lawyer for review to determine your rights in the circumstances. If the value doubled, its too much money to be exposed without you acting further to protect your rights. Waiting 5 years is unusual in my experience, but there is probably more to your story.

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