Need Legal Advice

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

So I picked up the Sunday paper today only to see my landlord's name in the paper.

He is under investigation, and I was wondering how this will have an impact on me and my roommates. Anyone know what sort of rights I have as a renter (there is no lease) in this situation?

Here is the article (at the end of the article they mention one property that was not named in the investigation and that isn't where I live) and my landlord is the former Comptroller:

Sunday Chicago Sun Times 9/26
Bishop here co-owns condo with embezzlement suspect

BY CHRIS FUSCO AND CATHLEEN FALSANI Staff Reporters

One of Chicago's Roman Catholic bishops owns a vacation condominium with a former seminary comptroller accused of bilking the Chicago Archdiocese out of more than $268,000, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Cash allegedly embezzled by former St. Joseph College Seminary Comptroller Dennis Composto is believed to have been used to pay the mortgage on a Wisconsin condo that Composto and his wife own with Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Jerome Listecki and Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland, Ore., according to a civil lawsuit filed by the Chicago Archdiocese and public records.

Composto on Saturday denied the charges and said they were in retaliation for a federal age- discrimination complaint he filed after he was fired from his job in December. "They embarrassed everyone in my family, my kids. I never took a penny from that institution," he said.

The Cook County state's attorney's office has begun a criminal investigation after receiving documents from the archdiocese more than a month ago, sources said. After conducting their own internal investigation, archdiocesan officials say they are satisfied Listecki, 55, has done nothing wrong.

"We've talked to him [Listecki] about it because there is some connection with some property, but he has cooperated fully," said Jim Dwyer, spokesman for the archdiocese. "We have no reason to believe anything nefarious went on."

"He is cooperating with the review, and he intends to cooperate fully with any investigation," Dwyer said, adding that Listecki is out of the country. A voice-mail greeting at Listecki's Libertyville office said he would be gone until Oct. 4.

Archdiocese files suit

The allegations against Composto, 64, were made in a lawsuit the archdiocese filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of Cardinal Francis George. The complaint alleges Composto diverted seminary cash over an 18-month period in 2002 and 2003 from seminary accounts at Harris Bank to three personal checking accounts he also had at Harris.

As comptroller of the seminary based at Loyola University in Rogers Park, Composto had the authority to sign its checks within undisclosed limits. Besides allegedly using seminary cash to buy books, videos and music for himself, the lawsuit says he used it to pay mortgages on nine properties, including the condo in the resort town of Williams Bay, Wis., that he owns with Listecki and Vlazny. Williams Bay is near Lake Geneva.

Composto had worked in various capacities at the seminary since 1969. He said he was audited by the state and church-hired auditors, and that "never once in all the years that I had been there had I ever been cited."

Composto blamed his dismissal on a boss who claimed he no longer could work with him. He said he filed his age-discrimination complaint with the feds Feb. 9.

On seminary board


Listecki is on the St. Joseph board of directors, and a relative of Composto's works as Listecki's administrative assistant. Listecki was ordained a bishop in 2002 and oversees an area of the archdiocese that encompasses most of the northwest suburbs. He is one of six active auxiliary bishops serving under George.

Before heading to Oregon, Vlazny held several posts in Chicago, including rector of the seminary -- then known as Niles College -- between 1981 and 1983 -- and auxiliary bishop. He became archbishop of Portland in 1997, replacing George, who left Oregon to become the cardinal-archbishop of Chicago.

Vlazny's spokesman, Bud Bunce, confirmed the archbishop is co-owner of the Williams Bay condominium with Listecki and Composto. The financial arrangement among the co-owners is unclear.

The Portland Archdiocese made national headlines in July when it filed for bankruptcy to protect itself from payouts stemming from the priest sex-abuse scandal.

Besides the Wisconsin condo, Listecki and Composto have owned and sold property in west suburban Hanover Park, records show. That property, however, was not mentioned in the lawsuit.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[mhartboca 0]

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer nor have I ever played on TV. Seek competent legal representation.

Drawing on my experience owning many rental properties, evictions, mortgages, etc... I don't see anything to be concerned about at this point. -IF- he were to fall under a suit freezing his assets, you might be affected, but not much, at least, not for a long time.

Don't know about your state, but in most states (my experience is limited to FL), renters -do- have quasi-owner rights. Even if he's taken away and all assets frozen, the holder of the mortgage on the property would be required to honor your rights.

Now, that's not to say that the landlord (or his agent, or the mortgagor should it get that far) couldn't give you proper notice (usually 30 days on an annual lease - check your lease) at any time. But frankly, that's true today as well.

I'd just keep an ear & eye on the news, see what develops. Call your landlord and ask if there's anything you need to be aware of. The thing to remember is that, from a landlords' perspective, any unit is better off rented than not!

michael

Michael Hart

[christoofar 0]

You want the quick explanation? The landlord used embezzled funds to pay the mortgage on the property you are living in. Yes this could mean you may have to leave if the landlord can't keep up the note (assuming he can hold on his deed to the property, which someone else is the leinholder).

Tenant rights vary from state to state, so RUN, not walk, to your nearest attorney and be prepared for what may or may not come. I know in TX, PA and NY tenants in entire buildings can be evicted from the premises if so much as fire codes are not met. You must have some some sort of occupation contract with your landlord, even if it was on verbal agreement. Even so, it may mean absolutely nothing in your state if the leinholder decides to seize control and evict the tenants (should that be legal in IL, I don't know).



I'm a recuperating Catholic in a Protestant family. So yes, I’m disillusioned, sue me. I'm sorry it's Sunday today and I'm bringing up the nasty side of the Church. So, please excuse this part (if you are easily upset just don't read it).

WHAT the F___ are bishops and clergy of the Catholic church doing in the high dollar condo business??? Oh let me guess... it's to support "worthy causes." That also explains why their university tuition fees are so astronomical. I still owe the Church oodles of money for school. These days I don't think it's going anywhere but to the run their nursing homes and prop up the huge salary of the senior admin staff.

I understand that the Church needs money, all of them do. There's gotta be money going in because they have a ton of money going out; I've setup budgets and posted G/L before for protestant churches, I know how it goes (on a small scale, the Catholics are big spenders and use large accounting firms). I bet the subjects in that dioceses feel like they’re taking confession from used car salesmen now (sex scandal aside).

Going to church/mass/synagogue is important to many people, and I understand that. But if you are just attending and going on the fun bits, you’re just going through the motions. Don’t let the select few church elders run everything. You spend your time there and you have a right to have your say in how it is run. If nobody listens, make your exit from it brief and public (maybe the ones who are left will do something about it after you’re gone).

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

[FallinWoman 1]

You are a renter but there is no lease? I would think you have no rights whatsoever, then. I agree, though, that you should get yourself representation before there is a problem.

~Anne

I'm a Doll!!!!

[Snowwhite 0]

Well let's see, Loyola WAS mentioned in the article. Bet the 3rd year law students there would have a lot of fun with this. I'd call Loyola Law School..

Yes, the Catholic Church is having it's share of problems. In Davenport, Iowa the annual Bishops fundraiser was postponed this year until the myriad of complaints of sex abuse are settled. Guess no one wants to give to an institution that harbors sexual predators, and the institution doesn't want to acquire funds that may be held in escrow until the lawsuits are settled. A few hundred thousand more lawsuits may just bankrupt the Catholic Church, who knows?

skydiveTaylorville.org
freefallbeth@yahoo.com

[slug 1]

IMO

The situation is only based on a Newspaper story.

The landlord has only been accused.

Don't see any advantage to calling the landlord based on a newspsper report. Of course he's going to say it's a mistake, don't worry, keep sending the check.
IMO Going to a lawyer is the last thing you want to do if your only renting the property and eventualy the landlord loses the property whats the worst thing that can happen? You'll have to move.

As soon as you walk thru the lawyers door your going to be on the meter because of a silly new report about, he said this, and the bishop said that. Of course the lawyer will want to look out after your best interests, ask for a retainer etc.$$$$$

Your landlord is 63 years young what happens to his property if he has a heart attack in the next 6 month's and dies.

I was a renter for 49 years IMO don't worry about the alleged charges. Your only a renter and you've been paying your rent so there's a paper trail.

Free advice from a non lawyer. Trust me

R.I.P.

[EDYDO 0]

I admit to only reading part of your post. Think of it this way. What would your landlord or anyone taking over the building do with a bunch of empty apartments?

You are the most important person in the equation.

Ed

[WFFC 1]

Quote

IMO Going to a lawyer is the last thing you want to do if your only renting the property and eventualy the landlord loses the property whats the worst thing that can happen? You'll have to move.

IMHO, it might be worth just asking the question. Find a lawyer that does tenant/landlord law and just the legal opinion. Hell, we spend a ton of cash on a cypres that we hopefully never use, but nonetheless, we're prepared if we need to. So, be prepared for what to expect than not is my 2.5 cents adjusted for inflation.

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~~~Michael

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

I have a friend that is a lawyer but 1) He is out of the country for the next 45 days 2) His response via email was "too busy to get involved with anything that involves the church."

There is no paper lease. I know the landlord personally since I went to the school he was the comptroller for. Everything has been a verbal agreement and its worked out for the most part along the way, but I have been here for three years now and I have utility bills to prove my residence along with voter registration.

My roommate is contacting a lawyer via his job tomorrow (its a free consult) to get an opinion. I do know that the cost of our rent covers the entire payment on this place that he owes every month.

As far as the Bishops involved in the condo. You have to realize that priests have almost no bills - the church pays for almost everything. Usually your car payment is the biggest thing you will have as a priest. I can tell you first hand that in that line of work you need a place to escape to - and why should they be any different than anyone else when it comes to owning a residence? There are plenty of priests (almost all that I know) that have at least one house/condo/apartment away from their church where they can go and relax.

Also, when you spend that much time around someone their title and position tends to move to the background. They become your friend and not the Bishop. I was in the seminary system for 8 years and those priests became my friends, and now a couple of them are Bishops (my friend just had one assist with his wedding - which is a rare event). On top of that, I had friends that became Catholic priests and they are just the same people I have known for the last 17 years and I do not treat them any different because they now wear a collar. I play poker with one of them about once a month and have BBQs with others over the summer (and they do pester me about me not practicing my religion anymore). I've had talks about one day being a partner in a winter home in the Florida Keys with one of them as well as a house in norther Wisconsin with another. So, the association has nothing to do with what their profesional title is, but because they are my friends. I know that my landlord has known these guys for years and they would often come and hang out at with us at the seminary. I guess you could say that priests are people too. Just because some skydivers are idiots does not mean all of them are.....just because some priests screwed up doesn't mean they are all screw ups.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[PhillyKev 0]

Quote

You are a renter but there is no lease? I would think you have no rights whatsoever, then.

In many states a verbal lease agreement of 12 monts or less is valid (but not recommended).

[Nightingale 0]

leasing laws vary from state to state.

Call an attorney in your state who specializes in landlord-tenant stuff.