Monday, September 15, 2003

Wi-Fi around Chicago.. The Daley Center between Clark and Dearborn is now (as of September 2003) a wi-fi hot zone. I have not personally connected there, but the word is that the signal around Daley Plaza and Block 37 is strong. Click here for more information. If you are outside of downtown Chicago,the UPS stores (formerly Mailbox Etc.) will have wi-fi access (for a fee) in mid-September as will many McDonalds (for a fee). UPS story   8:04:57 PM

	Thursday, September 11, 2003

Truth about Annuities Many clients buy annuities. I think it is fair to say that most clients do not understand the annuities and, in many cases, the annuity purchase was an inappropriate choice. In my opininion annuities are appropriate when: 1. The client wants to save more for retirement and already puts the maximum in his or her IRA/401k; 2. The client is in a high tax bracket and wants to reduce taxes; 3. The client won't need the principal for quite a long time and the annuity makes up a small portion of the client's total investments. I have one client who paid no income tax, was 85 years old, had been retired for 20 years and purchased 4 annuities with all of her liquid assets;  her only other assets, after the mass annuity purchases, were her condo and a checking account. The annuities were "unsuitable" for her, but were perfect for the annuity salesperson who netted at least $20,000 in commissions.  See the annuity truth web site for some interesting reading on annuities and whether one is right for you   6:08:46 AM

	Wednesday, August 20, 2003

What to Do if Your Mortgage Lender Bails Out on You Recently, as interest reates rose and the number of files on their desks exploded to record levels, mortgage companies have bailed out on clients and failed to close. In two cases I am involved in (both of which are new construction) the mortgage companies literally "forgot" about the client. The loans were not ready to close because no one paid attention to the file for months. The other problem is that many lenders are so busy that they can't close by the end of the "lock-in" period. The client is left with a lame promise that the mortgage company will do a "free refinance" later to cure the problem. How can you prevent this? Pick a reputable lender in the first instance; not one from the internet or your brother-in-law who thought he would try out mortgage brokerage. Stay in touch with the lender. If all else fails, file a complaint with the office of banks and real estate. Here is the form to file the complaint:  http://www.bre.state.il.us/CONSUMER/FORMS/c-Form41.pdf     It rarely pays to file a lawsuit against the lender. Attorneys fees are cost prohibitive and your damages are hard to prove.     7:30:52 AM

	Friday, August 01, 2003

Security Deposit Hassles I just finished a rather bitter case involving a security deposit. The rules on security deposits are as follows: 1. If the property is in a complex of 5 or more units (this does not mean that the landlord has to own all 5 units, but that the complex has 5 or more units); then, 2. The landlord has 30 days to give the tenant an itemized list of damages;and, 3. The landlord must return the security deposit within 45 days of the tenant moving out. If the landlord does not do #2 and #3 above, the tenant can file a court case for two times the amount of the deposit plus costs and attorneys fees.      If the property is a single-family house or in a complex of 5 or fewer units the above rules do not apply; you will have to look in your lease for the rules on returning your deposit. The City of Chicago (click here for a pamphlet on the Chicago rules or here for a good summary of the Chicago ordinance)and some other suburbs including Evanston have their own very specific rules on this topic.  7:44:54 AM

	Thursday, July 31, 2003

Assuring that Boomers Inherit Houses or Care for the Poor? An interesting editorial in the Seattle Times talks about the common practice of a client putting money into his or her home for improvements(the home and all improvements are exempt and need not be sold to pay for the owner's long term care in Washington state) and asks whether it is good public policy or not to let people keep their homes while getting medicaid? Read the article by clicking here My personal opinion is that a person's home should be exempt from medicaid laws (meaning it does not have to be sold and the proceeds used for the person's care). In reality, it is usually too expensive for the heirs to pay for the upkeep of the home for an indefinite period. Many times the high cost of maintaining the home means it must be sold, but the family should not be forced to sell the home. Just my opinion....  12:24:35 PM

	Thursday, July 24, 2003

Mold is in the Air Mold cases are increasing. More and more, home inspectors find mold in attics during the inspection. In the last month, I have had two mold cases: In the first case, the Buyer backed out of the contract. A few days later the Buyer reconsidered and signed a new contract, for $5,000 less than the last one, but accepting the property "as is." In the second case, a mold remediator was called in, the seller cleaned up the mold for about $2500 and the Buyer closed.  If the inspector finds mold, a mold remediation company is called in to examine it, clean it up and stop the leakage that caused it in the first place. Generally, home inspectors will not do mold remediation; they just indentify a mold problem. If you are thinking of selling a home it may be wise to inspect your attic for mold before it goes on the market. Click here for a good summary of how to prevent mold and what to do if you find it.     7:54:45 AM

	Tuesday, July 15, 2003

One of the Best Elder Law Sites on the Internet In my opinion www.elderlawanswers.com is one of the best elder law site on the internet. It has general information on estate planning, medicaid planning, and an interactive section in which an elder law attorney answers questions for the public. There is a simple, but very useful, Half-a-loaf calculator that I use frequently. (Half-a-loaf is a medicaid gifting strategy in which a person, usually already in a nursing home, gifts some of their assets, knowingly creating a penalty period, but saves the rest of the funds to private-pay in the nursing home until they can apply for medicaid-- after the penalty period expires- whew, that was a mouthful..) The half a loaf calculator is very helpful, as is the site itself. 8:24:13 PM