Disclosure Laws In Illinois
We recently purchased a home in May 04. Now we found that Illinois Department of Transportation will be doing construction on the highway in front of our house. (We are about 35 feet off the hwy; give or take a couple).
We have been informed by others that this is why the previous owners wanted to sell the house. IDOT will be coming in 15 feet to widen the road and another 20 feet as temporary easement. This brings them right up to our home (no exageration) We are losing a huge Blue Spruce, large flower garden in the front when they grade the frontage, trees, etc.
We were never informed that they are coming in to do this work before we purchased the house. (it wont be until 2006) I do understand how the county pays you fair market value for the frontage we will be losing, but does this information still need to be disclosed to the buyer on the disclosure form?
I contacted IDOT and they sent me a map of the proposed construction. Is there anything we can do about this?
Any input would be appreciated
I would see this as a "material fact" that the sellers should have disclosed. You should speak with an attorney. However, I think the problem may be proving that the sellers knew about it and deliberately failed to disclose it to you. Proving fraud is very difficult.
PA has a law requiring sellers to give buyers a written property disclosure statement that would have addressed this type of problem, although people can still choose to lie.
Every homeowner along this hwy that will be affected in any way has received an official letter from IDOT informing them of the up and coming construction. So they had been notified. There are 3 properties to the east of us that have sold since May, when we moved in.
Again, you need to consult an attorney.
That IDOT's procedure was to send out notices to the affected property owners may create a presumption in your favor (ie, that your seller knew and failed to disclose), but the issue may still come down to proving that the seller in your transaction actually received the IDOT notice letter.
As for the other affected properties that sold, you'd need to investigate if the buyers of those properties in fact knew of IDOT's plans before they bought.
You need to know what IL RE disclosure requirements are, as no such thing as general, country-wide disclosure law or forms.
Any IL RE Broker should be able to tell you and get you a RE disclosure form.
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This information about IDOT plans is not required on any part of the Illinois Residential Property Disclosure form. However, the fact remains that the sellers withheld material information from you during the sale process. I hope you have a copy of the real estate contract with you, and if you do, you should have a basis to sue the sellers for withholding of the material information. But please, consult an attorney about this matter. I will be happy to refer you if you need one.
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Thank you
I'd guess that nearly all such state disclosure forms have a question like ours here in WA:
"Are there any other material facts that could materially affect the property usability or value? If so, describe them in detail."
And if the state of IL did in fact notify all affected owners by US Mail, there might be a legal presumption raised to the effect that Seller did have such notice.
In fact, I'd also bet, that if deposed under oath, the S's neighbors would testify that they'd discussed this with the S and he certainly DID know about it.
So it seems to me that the B might have a pretty good case of fraud against the S.
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