Hinch Law

The Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District recently released its opinion in People v. Smith , affirming a circuit court's award of summary judgment on claims alleging a contractor violated the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act  (CFA), the Home Repair and Remodeling Act  (HRRA), and the Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act .  The trial court awarded $50,000 damages and, in a first for an HRRA case to the best of my knowledge, permanently enjoined the contractor from "future home repair and remodeling work in Illinois." The case was brought by the Illinois Attorney General against the individual contractor personally, as well as two corporations for which he served as agent.  Apparently several consumers had filed complaints with the Attorney General alleging that they had hired this contractor to do home repair and remodeling work and paid a significant down payment, but that the contractor had never completed the work nor returned their mone...

I am honored to have had an article I wrote published in the October 2011 issue of the newsletter for the Illinois State Bar Association 's Construction Law Section, entitled "Must a homeowner establish the contractor's state of mind to state a claim for a violation of the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act?"  I have written extensively about the HRRA on this blog (I believe this will be my 20th post carrying the "home repair and remodeling" tag), both because it is directly related to one of my core practice areas, construction law, and also because it is an area of the law that has been a veritable hornet's nest in recent years, and therefore fascinating.   The statute was amended last summer and the Illinois Supreme Court released an important case opinion at essentially the same time.   Further amendments were enacted this summer and will take effect in January 2012. Before last summer, the controversial question was essentially this - ...

Earlier this month Governor Quinn signed into law Public Act 97-235 .  The Act takes effect on January 1, 2012, and is aimed at protecting consumers faced with a catastrophic loss from contractor abuses at a time when they are most vulnerable.  Here's a summary of the changes: 1.  The Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act , 225 ILCS 335/5, et. seq , is amended by new Section 5.1 to require roofing contractors to post their license number and licensee's name on all commercial vehicles (see previous Section 5(b), a violation for which carries a $250 civil penalty.  The section also authorizes local government "code enforcement officials" to enforce this provision. The Home Repair and Remodeling Act , 815 ILCS 513/1, et. seq , (the "HRRA") is amended as follows: 2.  Added new Section 18, "Repairs following damaging weather," providing requirements for contractors offering home repair and remodeling services to consumers who have suffered a ...

This post has been updated, see the new post here .   Imagine that your home is destroyed in a fire overnight.  After family and friends, you would likely next call your insurance company to report the catastrophe and initiate a claim.  The person from the insurance company who investigates your claim and calculates the amount to be paid for the loss is called an "adjuster."  About this time you also attempt to read through the fine print morass that is your insurance policy, and realize the difficulty of making sense of it all.  Now imagine that after you report the claim you receive a letter from a "public adjuster," which helpfully points out to you that the insurance company's adjuster is an employee of the insurance company and therefore tied to the insurer's interests, and that the public adjuster is available to help you negotiate a better settlement with the insurance company, often for a percentage of the settlement proceeds, say for example 1...

I previously noted here that the Illinois Supreme Court's November 2010 Docket included petitions for leave to appeal for four recent cases involving the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act  (the "HRRA).  Here are the four cases: Artisan Design Build v. Bilstrom  , ILSC No. 109371, discussed  here . Fandel v. Allen , ILSC No. 109887, discussed  here . Roberts v. Adkins , ILSC No. 109909, discussed  here .     Universal Structures, LTD. v. Buchman   , ILSC No. 110842, discussed  here . On November 24, the Court denied leave to appeal to all four.  For Artisan Design Build , Fandel , and Universal Structures , this means that the decision of the appellate court is final (although these cases are not necessarily over, depending on the disposition of each case at the respective trial courts).  For the Roberts case, however, the Supreme Court directed the Third District Appellate Court to vacate and to reconsider its ...

In the wake of the Illinois Supreme Court's recent decision in    K. Miller Construction Co. v. McGinnis , ILSC Case No. 109156, the Court's November Docket book includes four more Home Repair and Remodeling Act cases in the Leave to Appeal Docket.  This means a party in each of these cases has sought to appeal the decision of the Illinois Appellate Court, but the Illinois Supreme Court has not yet determined whether or not it will grant the appeal and hear the case.  The four cases have all been discussed on this blog previously, as follows: Artisan Design Build v. Bilstrom , ILSC No. 109371, discussed here . Fandel v. Allen , ILSC No. 109887, discussed here . Roberts v. Adkins , ILSC No. 109909, discussed here .     Universal Structures, LTD. v. Buchman   , ILSC No. 110842, discussed here . The Court will likely announce by the end of the month whether or not it will hear appeal of these cases.  Stay tuned. Nate Hinch is an attorne...

The Illinois Supreme Court issued an opinion today in K. Miller Construction Co. v. McGinnis , Case No. 109156, holding that a contractor who violated the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act (HRRA), 815 ILCS 513/1 et. seq , by not working under a written contract and failing to give the homeowner the consumer rights brochure required by the HRRA, still had a right to be paid for its work under both legal and equitable theories.  The First District Appellate Court had held last year that the contract was void as against public policy, but that the contractor still had a right to be paid for its work under the equitable theory of quantum meruit (literally, "as much as he has deserved"). In July the HRRA was amended to clarify that a homeowner who suffers actual damages as a result of an HRRA violation has recourse under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (CFDBPA), 815 ILCS 505/1 et. seq .  However, as previously discussed on this blog , exactly h...

If you are familiar with the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act (the HRRA), you know that the law requires home repair and remodeling contractors to carry certain minimum insurance, including the following: "...public liability and property damage insurance in the amount of $10,000 per occurrence for home repair or remodeling not in conformance with applicable State, county, or municipal codes , unless the person has a net worth of not less than $1,000,000 as determined on the basis of the person's most recent financial statement, prepared within 13 months."  (emphasis added). There is a long line of cases analyzing what is and is not an "occurrence" in the context of a contractor's commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy.  That issue is beyond the scope of this post, but suffice it to say that it is a complicated and hotly contested area of the law, perhaps especially so in Illinois.  Throw the HRRA into the mix, and you have the...

The Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District issued an opinion on August 6, 2010 in another Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act (HRRA) case, F leissner v. Fitzgerald , Case Number 2-09-0805.  In Fleissner , a home repair contractor sued a homeowner to enforce an oral contract, by asserting four counts - I. Mechanics Lien Foreclosure; II. Breach of Contract; III. Unjust Enrichment; and IV. Quantum Meruit .  The homeowner moved to dismiss the suit under Code of Civil Procedure Section 2-619(a)(9) because the contractor failed to provide and have the homeowner sign a written agreement, and failed to give the homeowners the consumer rights brochure required under the HRRA.  The trial court granted the homeowners' motion and the contractor appealed. On appeal the contractor argued that the trial court erred in dismissing the equitable remedy counts (Unjust Enrichment and Quantum Meruit ) but the Appellate Court determined that the contractor did not contest the dism...

I have written several posts to this page, most recently here , about the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act (the HRRA)  because I consider it to be an important law for contractors and consumers, and because of the variety of interpretations of the law provided by Illinois appellate courts.  Well, Governor Quinn signed a bill into law in July that changed Section 30 of the HRRA.  The new Section 30 reads as follows: Sec. 30.  Action for actual damages.  Any person who suffers actual damage as a result of a violation of this Act may bring an action pursuant to Section 10a of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Attorney Garrett Kern at the Illinois Construction Law Blog has noted that the First District Appellate Court is the first appellate court to reference the new law (the bill was not yet enacted at the time the opinion was written), in Universal Structures, LTD. v. Buchman .  The court, after holding that a contractor'...

The US EPA has announced that it will not take enforcement action against home repair and remodeling contractor firms for failure to get certified until after October 1, 2010.  EPA will not enforce individual worker certifications so long as the individual has applied for a certification program by September 30, 2010, and completes the training by December 31, 2010.  In granting this extension, EPA noted concerns raised about the limited availability of qualified certification firms.  This decision allows contractors more time to find a qualified certification firm and complete the training. NOTE:  The substantive requirements of the Lead Paint "Renovate, Repair, Paint" (RRP) rule remain in effect and subject to compliance enforcement (such as the requirement to give the homeowner EPA's RRP pamphlet "Renovate Right," and to follow lead safe work practices, described here ). Thanks to the National Association of Home Builders for their efforts in working wit...

EPA's new renovation, repair, or painting (RRP) rules for remodeling contractors went into effect on April 22nd.   I wrote about this new rule on this page previously .  The Chicago Tribune ran an article over the weekend about the new rule and compliance issues.  The article does a good job at summarizing the issue - only about 200 out of 1,000 companies doing remodeling work in Illinois were RRP certified two days before the rule took effect, according to the EPA.   In the past months I have had the opportunity to discuss this rule with several chapters of the Home Builders Association of Illinois .  These groups have been very proactive in getting the word out to member contractors and scheduling training classes to help contractors get certified and comply with the new rule.  Also, the Illinois Department of Public Health's Lead Program has led a series of informational meetings around the State to inform contractors and answer questions about the...

This is part eight in a series of posts on the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act (HRRA), and the final post looking at the law in each of the Illinois appellate districts.  The previous posts: 1)  Introduction 2)  Statute 3)  Illinois Supreme Court opinion 4)  The 5th District 5)  The 4th District 6)  The 1st District 7)   The 2nd District Once again, here's the map of the Illinois Appellate Districts.  The Third District extends across the north central part of the state, and includes Will County, Kankakee County, Peoria County, and Rock Island County, among others.  I saved the Third District for last in this series because this district has issued the last two HRRA appellate opinions, both in January 2010.  The Third District also was the first district to issue an HRRA opinion, so I'll start there. In the 2005 case of Central Illinois Electrical Services, LLC v. Slepian ,1 the Third District became the first ...

We're up to part seven in a series of posts on the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act (HRRA).  Here are some quick links to the previous posts for reference: 1) Introduction 2) Statute 3) Illinois Supreme Court opinion 4) The 5th District 5) The 4th District 6) The 1st District Next we look at the Second District.  Here's the map of the Illinois Appellate Districts.  The Second District is the northernmost district in Illinois, extending from Lake County to Jo Daviess and Carol counties.  The court meets in Elgin in Kane County. The Second District has issued two opinions involving the HRRA.  We have already discussed one of these cases - MD Electrical Contractors, Inc. v. Abrams , which is the only HRRA case to date to have been heard by the Illinois Supreme Court.1  The other Second District HRRA opinion was published in September 2009, Artisan Design Build, Inc. v. Bilstrom .2 In Artisan , the following facts were alleged by the plaint...

This is part six in a series of posts on the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act (HRRA), and the third post in the series looking at the rulings of each of the appellate district courts.  After starting with the fifth and fourth districts, I'm now going to jump to the First District and then proceed to the second and third districts in the next few days.  Why?  Because of the importance of the First District's August 2009 ruling in K. Miller Construction Company, Inc. v. McGinnis .1   McGinnis is the only HRRA case to come out of the First District Appellate Court (specifically, the First Division), and the McGinnis court disagreed with the Fourth District's decision in  Smith v. Bogard .2 Again, here's a map of the Illinois Appellate Districts .  The First District is the smallest district geographically, but for good reason -- it "only" covers Cook County.  In 2008 the First District reported a total pending caseload of 5,738 .  That...

This is part five in a series of posts on the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act (HRRA).  The first three parts were 1) the introduction , 2) the statute itself , 3) statewide law .  The fourth part kicked off a district by district analysis of the law, starting with the Fifth Appellate District .  With this post we move to the Fourth District. Here's a map of the Illinois Appellate Districts.  The Fourth District cuts across the center of the state, from east to west, and includes Springfield, Champaign/Urbana, and Bloomington/Normal.  The Fourth District Appellate Court has ruled on three HRRA cases to-date--two at the end of 2009 and one in 2007.  The 2007 case, Smith v. Bogard ,1 was the second Illinois appellate case interpreting the HRRA.  The Bogard opinion is an important one because it is the first case in which an Illinois appellate court explicitly held that a contractor, by not complying with the HRRA, had lost its right to recove...

Previously in this series I   introduced   the   Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act   (HRRA),   summarized the statute , and noted what the Illinois Supreme Court (IL SC) has done to interpret the law statewide.  At this point, Illinois Appellate Courts disagree on what the law means.  So the next five posts in this series will evaluate the HRRA law in each appellate district, starting with the Fifth District.  There are five appellate districts in Illinois, as shown in   this map .  The Fifth District is the southernmost district in the state, and the appellate court meets in Mt. Vernon. A note on   precedent   - Illinois Supreme Court decisions and legal interpretations are binding throughout the state.  Appellate Court decisions and legal interpretations are binding on trial courts throughout the state, unless there is a conflict among the appellate court districts.  In that event, an individual circuit (...

So far in this series I've introduced you to the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act (HRRA) and we've discussed the statute itself.  I've also mentioned that Illinois Appellate Courts disagree as to the interpretation of the HRRA.  I will break that down, appellate district by appellate district, in upcoming posts.  Before we get to that step, however, it is worthwhile to take one last look at the HRRA statewide and pose the question - "what do we know for sure?"   The answer?  Well, we know the statute is the law everywhere in Illinois, but that only takes us so far when faced with appellate disagreement as to what the law means.  In addition to the HRRA itself, we also know that statewide the HRRA means what the Illinois Supreme Court (the IL SC) says it means.  So far the IL SC has only issued one opinion intrepreting the HRRA - MD Electrical Contractors, Inc. v. Abrams . 1  The IL SC has also granted leave to appeal in one other r...