McHenry condo association files lawsuits against residents opposed to $11M property sale

A McHenry condo complex’s governing board is suing two of its homeowners, whose refusals to complete closing documents on their condos as part of an $11 million sale of 124 units to a local apartment building developer are holding up the transaction.

The two lawsuits, which consist of nearly identical complaints filed in McHenry County court last month, mark the latest escalation of a dispute between the Greens of Irish Prairie Condo Association and Ken Dill, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who is one of the two residents who opposed the property’s sale.

He refused to sign the closing documents after at least 75% of the condo property’s ownership agreed to the terms of the proposed sale to an affiliate of Cunat Inc., the McHenry-based housing developer seeking to turn the 12 buildings into apartments for lease.

Under Illinois law, if 75% or more of a condo association’s unit owners vote to approve a sale of an entire condo complex to single owner, all of them, even those who objected to the transaction, must move forward with the deal and sell their units.

“I’m just afraid,” Dill said in a text message. “I never want to be homeless again.”

The litigation also named another resident. The person who answered the door at the unit declined to comment Tuesday.

Before the suit was filed, Dill said in interviews and emails he is not standing in the way of the sale’s completion, but has argued – and an independent legal expert has agreed – he is entitled to replacement housing costs that could be as much as tens of thousands of dollars, thanks to a 2018 amendment of the Illinois Condominium Property Act. Those costs would have to be financed by the association with proceeds from the sale, Dill has said.

The association, on the other hand, claimed in its lawsuit that it has been “damaged because it has been unable to enforce the mandate of the owners to sell the entire Association property,” according to the complaints, continuing, “the Association members are unable to sell their units pursuant to the terms of the sale contract, being instead forced to live in ‘limbo’ while everyone waits for Defendant’s compliance.”

The suits ask for preliminary injunctions that would force the two condo owners to complete closing documents on their homes within three days of a judgment by the court. It also asks the association be granted limited powers of attorney to execute the closing documents if the homeowners don’t comply within three days.

Jason E. Orth, an attorney for the association’s firm, declined to comment.

The deconversion process has became more common in the region several years ago, as the values of single-owner apartment buildings grew to 40% to 70% more than the combined total value of a structure’s housing units as condos.

Dill paid $92,000 for the place in 2007, and he said his issue is not with the price he’s been offered for the unit as part of deconversion, but with the lack of those replacement housings costs he thinks he is eligible for.