Oak Lawn IL Real Estate News

Let me preface the article I’m going to share by saying every state has different disclosure laws relating to the selling of real estate. I was introduced to an interesting lawsuit regarding a home sale where the new buyer realized that his next door neighbor was mentally ill and troublesome. He feels that this situation should have been disclosed to him by the seller.

The seller lived in this home for almost 6 years and although he wouldn’t choose to live next to this 40 something woman who yells obscenities and actually threw potatoes at him a few days prior to the closing of the sale, he didn’t feel it necessary to disclose this to the buyer. In fact, he has called the police on this neighbor in the past and there were so many complaints made against this woman (by other people) that someone in the police station wondered if her residence was an apartment building.

The buyers are now suing the seller for not disclosing this fact. The seller is suing his real estate agent who supposedly told the seller this was not a fact that needed to be disclosed. The seller states that he was worried about whether to disclose or not and followed his agent’s advice. The agent states he never told the seller not to disclose this.

But there is more at issue here than disclosing such a nuisance. Is it truly required by law? In my opinion, and I am not an attorney nor acting as one, the way I read Illinois law this would not have to be disclosed. In fact, a question that comes up in all states is that disclosing something like this could actually be discriminating against this individual’s rights as a protected class. Mentally ill individuals fall into the Handicap/Disability class.

I hope I can keep track of this lawsuit as the outcome will be very interesting. I’ll need to see if I can find Arizona’s laws regarding seller disclosure to see if they’re the same as Illinois disclosure laws. For the record, our Residential Real Property Disclosure Report only covers material aspects of a residential property. There isn’t any line to initial regarding neighbors, noise, traffic, etc.

It is also my opinion that buyers need to do some investigating on their own. The Internet can alert you to convicted child molesters. You can call the local police department to ask about crime stats and I’m assuming if you asked about the block you’re considering moving to they could give you information. I’ve worked with some buyers that knocked on neighbors doors and asked them questions about the area or the actual home they were considering purchasing.

But most buyers don’t do any of these things. When something comes up that wasn’t a material defect of the home they are quick to blame the seller and/or listing agent for not disclosing the problem. In some cases the selling agent (the agent that worked with the buyer) also gets sued because they should have known about the issue (very difficult to prove in court).

I’ve had my own neighbor problems

This lawsuit has created many online discussions. I once lived next to teenagers in another Oak Lawn home that shouted obscenities from their bedroom window. I had never done anything against these kids.

One day the homeowner’s father (the homeowner was a divorcee) came over telling me to trim the bushes that were apparently mine (I didn’t plant them) that were sticking out in her backyard. He said leaves and branches from these bushes were littering her yard. I told him if his grandsons didn’t run into my yard by squeezing through these bushes to bother my kids the debris might not be there. He was dumbfounded. I also told him about the unprovoked swearing.

This man tole me that he complained to the Village of Oak Lawn and was told I need to take care of the issue. I called to double check as I couldn’t imagine going into my neighbor’s yard to trim bushes and/or clean up branches. I called the village to double check and was told that I was not liable to trim hedges in my neighbor’s yard and in fact was told that I shouldn’t do it as I would legally be trespassing.

I couldn’t wait to see this man again to tell him that I checked with the village myself so that I could show him I caught him in a lie. Again, he didn’t have much to say. I never had any dealings with them again and only lived there for a few years, thank goodness. I didn’t disclose these altercations to my buyers, although we didn’t have disclosure forms back then.

I had problems with my young neighbors in my current Oak Lawn home that I posted about here. The dog is no longer an issue. But if it was still there would I have to disclose? It is not a material defect of my property.

You can read the details of the pending lawsuit here. Really makes you think!

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