In the News

Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn recently signed into law two bills designed to dramatically increase the state's solar energy. House Bill 6202, referred to as the “Solar Ramp-Up Bill,” passed the Illinois General Assembly on May 27. House Bill 5429, sponsored by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) and Sen. Michael Noland (D-Elgin), initiates the Homeowners’ Solar Energy Act to protect the rights of individual homeowners to install solar energy panels on their personal property.

An association in Oregon has filed a $3.2 million lawsuit against the federal government and other previous owners of the military camp that preceded the community, citing asbestos contamination. The association says it discovered asbestos material in a six-acre site where demolished military buildings were buried. The government purchased the site in 1942 for use as a U.S. Army combat engineer training camp.

A civil rights trial against an association in Plymouth County, Mass., accused of discriminating against three Jewish members has ended in a settlement. A jury awarded the members $600,000 for the violation of their civil rights and an additional $150,000 for nuisance. Together, with interest, the judgment is in excess of $1.2 million. The families claimed they were subjected to anti-Semitic acts, including hate mail and the painting of Swastikas on their garages.

Automatic fire sprinkler systems with antifreeze solutions have had more than 60 years of successful use in residential and commercial buildings. However, a grease fire in a kitchen where a sprinkler system deployed with a reported 71.2 percent concentration of antifreeze raised concerns about the safety risk of antifreeze solutions in residential sprinkler systems.

Homes along the immediate path of the Gulf Coast oil leak are forecast to decline at least 30 percent in value as a result of the environmental catastrophe produced by BP's uncapped well off the coast of Louisiana, according to a new forecast by Housing Predictor.

The forecast is being issued after more than a month of research and monitoring the impact of the oil leak, which has poisoned the ecosystem along the marshes of the Louisiana coastline and as far east as Alabama.

A condominium association in Gatlinburg, Tenn., has filed a $1 million lawsuit against one of its members who it alleges has been using a blog to criticize the association's general manager and board for violating state law. The member says that he has made numerous requests to get copies of or view the association's books, but claims the association has refused to show him the paperwork.

Homes with tainted Chinese drywall should be stripped down to the studs, according to a recent recommendation from two federal agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In a joint statement, the agencies stated that the corroded electrical wiring, outlets, circuit breakers, fire alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarms, fire sprinklers, gas pipes, and other systems should also be removed.

A new law has taken effect in New York State that aims at protecting repossessed homes from becoming eyesores by requiring banks to maintain the properties during the foreclosure process, but before they legally own the homes.

An Omaha condominium association and its former president have agreed to pay more than $127,000 to settle allegations of discrimination against families with children.

The association and its former president were sued in 2008 and accused of interfering with the sale of one of the units. The lawsuit claimed that the association's rules barred the sale or rental of condos to families with children. The lawsuit also alleged that the former president's conduct constituted a pattern of discrimination.

The project manager for a condo conversion project in Florida has agreed to plead guilty to a federal crime for helping cover up asbestos violations.