Real Estate Law · DuPage County, Illinois
Residential and commercial closings handled with care from contract to keys, so the details are covered before you sign.
Purchase agreements get breached. Earnest money gets fought over. Specific performance gets demanded. Disclosures get disputed after the keys change hands. A real estate contract dispute can put a sale, a deposit, or a property itself on the line, and the contract you signed usually decides who wins. We represent buyers and sellers across DuPage County when a deal turns into a fight.
We have handled real estate contract disputes for DuPage County clients for over three decades, as part of a full real estate practice that runs from the closing table to the courtroom. When a contract fight has to be litigated, our real estate litigation and breach of contract teams take it there, and you deal with the same office the whole way.
We address the full range of issues in this area.
Most contract disputes turn on the document itself, so we start by reading the purchase agreement the way a court will, its contingencies, deadlines, notice provisions, and remedies. That tells us fast whether you are owed the deposit, entitled to force or escape the deal, or exposed to a claim, and it usually shapes how the other side behaves once they realize you have read it closely.
From there, speed matters, because a contested deal often has a closing date or a deposit sitting in escrow. We push for a quick resolution through a firm demand, negotiation, or mediation whenever that serves you, and we are ready to file for specific performance or damages when it does not. Either way, you get a straight read on your odds, your cost, and your timeline before you commit.
30+ years in DuPage and Cook County courts and recorder offices.
Chris or John handles your file personally.
Real estate, litigation, and estate planning under one roof.
We’ll tell you realistic outcomes, including when settlement is better than litigation.
Flat fees where possible, clear hourly rates where flat doesn’t fit.
Your calls returned, your questions answered.
From our Villa Park office, we represent clients across DuPage County and the western suburbs of Chicago.
Depends on why they backed out. If they exercised a valid contingency (inspection, financing), no. If they backed out without a contractual basis, you may be entitled to earnest money and potentially specific performance, forcing them to close.
An equitable remedy where a court orders the breaching party to perform the contract, usually to close on the property, rather than just paying damages. Real estate is one of the few contract types where specific performance is available, because each property is considered unique.
Earnest money held in escrow typically can’t be released without both parties’ agreement or a court order. Title companies and attorneys hold disputed deposits while parties litigate or negotiate. Most disputes settle without trial.
Possibly, if the seller knew about a material defect and failed to disclose it on the Illinois Disclosure Form. Defects that the seller demonstrably knew about and concealed can support a fraud claim. Defects neither party knew about generally cannot.
Significantly more than transactional work, hourly billing, court fees, expert costs. We evaluate each dispute and tell you honestly whether litigation makes economic sense or whether settlement is the better path.
It depends on why you are canceling. If you exercised a valid contingency, like inspection or financing, within the deadline, you are usually entitled to the deposit back. If you walked away without a contractual basis, the seller may have a claim to it. We read the contract and the timeline before anyone signs a release.
Specific performance is a court order requiring a party to complete the deal rather than just pay damages. Because Illinois treats real estate as unique, courts will grant it when the contract is clear and money would not make you whole. We assess whether your facts support it before you spend on litigation.
A free consultation tells you whether you have a viable matter and what the realistic process looks like.