Success Story – Lavelle Saves Homeowner from Real Estate Tax Bill Disaster

Background:

Our client purchased a residential home from a foreclosure sale for about $15,000. The client then renovated the property with over $100,000 worth of improvements. At the closing, he paid the taxes due on the property and deposited sufficient funds with the title company to pay the next installment. The title company failed to pay the taxes in a timely manner, even though they held our client’s payment in escrow, and the property was subsequently sold for delinquent taxes to a third-party buyer. The client’s efforts to redeem the taxes were unsuccessful on his own, so he hired Lavelle Law. We were able to make the title company pay the $15,000 it owed under the title policy, but said policy did not cover the improvements to the property, resulting in a significant 6-figure loss to our client. Lavelle was also able to negotiate a repurchase agreement with the tax buyer, which allowed our client to stay and live with his family in the residence while Lavelle moved for judgment against the Cook County Indemnity Fund since our client was an innocent party. Lavelle obtained judgment against the Indemnity Fund for 90% of the value of the property, $245,000, which it then assigned to the tax buyer in exchange for reconveyance of the property back to our client and payment of attorney fees he was forced to expend in Court to rectify this wrong. 

Challenges:

This involved many parties, various property tax laws, the Indemnity Fund, and a novel approach to solving this problem for our client.

Result:

In the end, our client clawed back ownership of his family’s home and was made whole on the attorney fees he was forced to pay to rectify this unfortunate situation.