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Why Your Illinois Real Estate Contract Just Got Complicated
By Tom Haught

Many, many years ago, before my time, residential sales contracts were closed on a handshake.  In more recent times, real estate transactions were closed with minimal documentation (perhaps nothing more than a note, a mortgage and a deed).  Those times are gone.

Anyone who has attended a recent residential real estate transaction knows that there are stacks and stacks of paper on the table.  Generally, hundreds of lender documents and dozens of seller and title company documents.  But before we even get to closing, the purchase/sale of residential real estate has also become more tedious. I long for the time when the buyer and seller signed a contract, the buyer inspected the house and applied for a loan, the loan came through and we closed. Simple. But not anymore.  The current version of the residential sales contract, known as the multi-board 6.1, has no less than NINE contingencies that the parties have to track (a few more if the property is a condominium).

These include:

*       attorney approval
*       home inspection
*       four different financing contingencies!
*       insurance
*       flood zone

Even if we can satisfy all of the contingencies, we can’t just schedule the closing and show up anymore. That’s because the Federal government turned the mortgage industry on its head last year when the TILA-RESPA (Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) Integrated Disclosure rules, also known as TRID, came into play.  Although these new lending rules were supposed to increase clarity of the transaction, the changes place much more responsibility and burden on the lender.   TRID rules create stricter deadlines for lenders to provide certain disclosures to the buyer,  and can also make getting to the closing table on time challenging.   You have to remember, when it comes to the closing itself, the schedules of the sellers, buyers, sellers’ attorney, buyers’ attorney, listing agent, selling agent, lender and title company all have to be coordinated.  That is no easy task!

The attorneys of Gardi, Haught, Fischer & Bhosale LTD, close hundreds of Illinois residential real estate transactions every year and know the ins and outs of the latest rules and regulations.   Let one of our attorneys hold your hand through the entire procedure and we’ll transform this overly-complicated process into something understandable, from the day you sign the contract, to the day you close on your new home.
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