Do leases automatically renew unless you give notice? It’s not the law.
Q. I signed a one-year lease to rent a condominium that ended on June 30. I moved out of the condo on June 29. The owner now says he will not return my security deposit because he says I was required to give him 60 days notice that I was not going to renew my lease. He says that is the law.
Is this true? I cannot find anything that says I must give him 60 days notice before I move out. Sounds to me he is just trying to keep my security deposit.
A. Sounds like that to me also. Review your lease. Presuming no provision exists in the lease requiring you to give the owner notice of your intention to vacate the property at the end of the lease term, you are entitled to the return of your security deposit, subject to the condition of the property upon your leaving. I know of no statute that requires such notice.
Send him an email, tell him you spoke to an attorney and you were told no such law exists. Tell him you will file a small claims complaint if your deposit is not returned immediately. If he continues to hold your deposit, visit the link below to commence a small claims lawsuit. My guess is once he is served with a complaint, your deposit will be returned. The last thing he wants to do is argue a nonexistent law in front of a judge.
Q. A friend of mine told me he executed a TODI to easily pass his house to his children upon his death. He said he went to an attorney’s office, signed this document and that’s all he had to do. Can you explain how this works?
A. TODI is an acronym for Transfer on Death Instrument. This is a document that, if prepared and executed correctly and is properly recorded, will pass real property titled in your name, upon your death, to the party or parties designated in the TODI. The TODI must be properly witnessed, notarized and recorded in the county where the property is located. Contact a real estate attorney to assist you with the preparation and recording. If not handled properly, the TODI will be ineffective.
Q. My husband and I paid off our house about three months ago. I was told by a friend that I should have received something from my mortgage company. I have not received anything, although they don’t send us monthly statements anymore. Is there something we should have received?
A. Yes. When you execute a mortgage, the mortgage is recorded in the county where the real estate is located. This is what prevents you from selling the property down the road, taking the money and not paying your mortgage balance. When you go to sell the property, the title report will note the mortgage and the title company will require you to pay the balance due on the mortgage as part of the sale.
When the mortgage is paid off (actually you are paying off the note), the mortgage company should execute and record what is known as a Release of Mortgage or Satisfaction of Mortgage. By recording this document, the mortgage lien is removed from your title.
Contact your mortgage company and demand they send you the appropriate release.
• Send your questions to attorney Tom Resnick, 910 E. Oak St., Lake in the Hills, IL 60156, by email to tom@thomasresnicklaw.com or call (847) 359-8983.