The Pitfalls of Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship Stepmother leaves her father, but stays on title as joint tenants with rights of survivorship Q: My father passed away and my stepmom said that I could have the house. My father and my stepmom were married when he died but she left him over seven [...]
How To Find An EV Charger Station Installer Condo building has owners with electric vehicles and wants to install an EV charger station Q: I am on the board of directors of a homeowners association (HOA) in Evanston, Illinois. The board is gathering information about installing electrical vehicle (EV) chargers on our HOA property. The [...]
HOA Smoking Rules: What's permitted under state law? A homeowner association board member asked owner to research local and state laws to see what rules could be enforced. Q: Your newspaper article on homeownership association rules around home smoking policies has prompted me to try to get my homeowners association (HOA) to pass “no smoking” [...]
Should you put kids on title to house? Here's another reason why it's a bad idea to have children listed on the title to your home. Q: Friends of mine put their two children on the title of their house some time ago. The home has no mortgage. The father is now deceased and the [...]
Why my credit score drop? Paying off loans or credit card debt may temporarily drop your credit score. Even as it seems paying off debt should raise them. Q: So my mortgage got sold again to a new loan servicing company. And, again my credit score went down. My score went down when they closed [...]
Timeshare Horror Story Inheriting a timeshare caused family drama after niece and nephew demanded a share of the sale. Q: My parents purchased a timeshare with a floating week in a nearby town many years ago. One of the nicer aspects of the timeshare was that if your name was on the deed, you and [...]
2024 Home Buyer Resolutions Every year, Ilyce and Sam offer their readers New Year’s resolutions for home buyers, sellers and their personal finances. These are their 2024 Home Buyer Resolutions. Have you made your 2024 home buyer resolutions yet? It’s been a tough few years for home buyers. Since the start of the pandemic, mortgage [...]
Escrow Account Misuse Lender takes escrow account funds to make last mortgage payment instead of refunding to homeowners Q: Our local paper published your letter from the folks who had to send a certified check for their final mortgage payment after 30 years of monthly payments. We experienced an unexpected final payment on our mortgage [...]
A reader wonders how to calculate the square footage of a home Developers calculate the square footage of a home in different ways. Which can be confusing. Q: I read your column regularly and have a question. I recently attended an open house for a 2-bedroom, 2-bath condo in a south suburb of Chicago. [...]
Electronic Vehicle (EV) Charging Concerns Readers are concerned about electric vehicle (EV) charging in condominium buildings. Reader Comment on Electronic Vehicle Charging Concern - Fire You missed a very real concern with the questions of EVs charging – fire. Standard sprinklers will not extinguish a battery-based fire. Water can't smother it and even if it [...]
