CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) – Condominium owners have filed a class action lawsuit over allegations that they were charged unlawful and excessive fees for the documents needed to close on the sales of their condos by a property management company.
John Murphy, Cecil Mathew and Nirupa Mathew, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, filed a complaint on Oct. 5 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Foster/Premier Inc., Homewise Service Corp. Inc. and Nextlevel Association Solutions Inc. for alleged violation of Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, the Illinois Condominium Property Act and other counts.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that they contacted defendants for their disclosure documents in order to sell their properties. In order the get the documents, plaintiffs and the class were allegedly charged hundreds of dollars, an amount that was greatly in excess the reasonable fee covering the direct-out-of-pocket costs of providing such information and copying permitted by law.
The plaintiffs seek an award for damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys' fees, expenses, costs of suit, punitive damages, and further relief as the court deems appropriate. They are represented by Charles R. Watkins of Guin, Stokes & Evans LLC in Chicago and David Fish, Kim Hilton and John Kunze of The Fish Law Firm, PC in Naperville, Illinois.
The defendant removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Nov. 9.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois case number 1:17-cv-08114