We are just concluding our 47th year in business, and it has been quite a ride. We have expanded our offices from three to 14, and our subsidiaries from zero to six. When I started at ATG in 1981, our annual revenue was less than $2 million a year. It climbed to nearly $10 million in 1990 and topped $25 million in 2000.

In 2011, we will generate more than $30 million in revenue from a wide variety of sources. More importantly, ATG generates nearly $100 million in annual revenue to our law firm members.

By making real estate and trust services revenue producing and cost effective for law firms, we are able to fulfill our mission to give consumers access to legal counsel in the most important financial transactions of their lives. Read the full article.

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It has been our great pleasure and honor to be of service to our membership and the real estate community in 2011, and we look forward to doing the same in 2012 and the years to follow. We wish you a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!

Sincerely,

Peter J. Birnbaum
ATG President and CEO

 

EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2012: Notice Regarding Water and Sewer Charge Full Payment Certificates — As a result of a recent amendment to the City of Chicago Municipal Code, all transfers of property will require a Full Payment Certificate (FPC). This will include previously exempt property transfers such as quit claim and government agency transactions.

Corrective Deeds: When Will Illinois Courts Reform a Deed in Illinois? — Grantors and grantees make mistakes on deeds. Here are some examples and their solutions.

RESPA Edwards v First American Corp — RESPA anti-kickback provision creates a cause of action for any party who is charged for a settlement service involved with a violation. The party does not need to be overcharged in order to have standing. Any charge paid for such a service creates an injury and the party can collect damages of three times the amount paid.

Judgments: LVNV Funding, LLC v Trice — As an apparent matter of first impression, any judgment entered in favor of an unregistered collection agency is void.

Easements: Hochstetler Living Trust v Friends of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail, Inc — A conveyance to a railroad that does not limit the purpose of the strip of land conveyed gives fee simple title to the railroad, rather than an easement.

Easements: Pahl v American Transmission Company — Abandonment of an easement requires an affirmative act and, an easement cannot be extinguished by prescription when the owner of the servient estate recognizes the easement's existence.

 

 

 

REMINDER: 1099 Reporting - ATG has received numerous inquiries about the mechanics of satisfying the reporting requirements under Section 6045 of the Internal Revenue Code. We have gathered the information you need to understand and meet these requirements on the member section of our website, including an OnDemand seminar... read more