A client recently came to us who had filed for bankruptcy without an attorney, and received a discharge, but was being evicted from her property by her condominium association. The client told us that she had asked many attorneys for help, but, but none were willing to take her case. We listened to the story, and were moved by it. We took the case.

Illinois law does allow for the eviction of a condo owner for unpaid assessments. But in this case, the Condo Association was ignoring the bankruptcy discharge. Its attorneys claimed that they could still throw our client out even though all unpaid assessments were discharged in the bankruptcy, and even though she was current on her post-filing assessments.

It turns out that evicting condo owners post-bankruptcy discharge has been a regular practice in Illinois Courts, and no one has thought to challenge it before. Well, we challenged it.

We took action immediately. We filed for sanctions against the association, and after briefing & oral argument, we prevailed.

The Bankruptcy Judge ordered the condo assoc. to stop the eviction, and also ordered the assoc. to pay all of our client’s attorney fees. You can read Judge Thorne’s opinion here: https://www.ilnb.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/Terrell.pdf.

Practicing bankruptcy law isn’t just about filling out forms. We believe in the bankruptcy system, and if we hear about a creditor who isn’t complying with a bankruptcy discharge, we’re going to do something about it.

If you have a question about how a bankruptcy discharge will (or won’t) protect you, please give us a call for a free consultation.