It took almost two years but it is finally over.
The third party judgment against the association has been vacated by the city. We are now officially not holding the bag for Carlton Knight’s responsibilities.
Well at least for this one.
Like Babe Ruth Mr. Money Bags came through and delivered on his called shot---the issue was indeed cleared up before Christmas. Specifically December 21st.
Because Mr. Money Bags is all that and a bag of chips, a handwritten thank you note was promptly put in the post.
‘Cause I’m a classy broad like that.
Showing posts with label Revenue Department. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revenue Department. Show all posts
Friday, January 26, 2007
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Game
If you’ve been reading this blog, you know by now that an unjust fine that was foisted upon us by the city of Chicago for our developer’s misdeeds.
I’ve chronicled the process of my condo association’s journey through the maze of city departments.
Usually when I sought assistance with this nightmare, I was usually told either by the state or the city that there was very little that anyone or any department could do for us.
Our association lawyer even told us that things didn’t look good.
If you’ve been reading for the past year or so, you know that the city did everything by the book. It wasn’t their fault that our developer, Carlton Knight, didn’t inform us of the impending legal matters before us.
If memory severs me correct, Mr. Knight said that an irresponsible employee was to blame for the miscommunication.
Whatever.
In a stroke of luck The Lord High Executioner put me in touch with an individual at the Department of Revenue that I’ll call Mr. Money Bags.
Mr. Money Bags lost the initial paperwork I submitted to him over a month ago.
While I was pissed, I still went ahead and resubmitted the paperwork again last Tuesday.
Mr. Money Bags called me back and was mystified what we had to do with this whole debacle and why were we worried about the consequences.
I referenced some of the paperwork that I sent and explained to him that we were listed as third party defendants to the complaint. Therefore we were liable for the initial debt, the interest and the court costs.
Money Bags vehemently disagreed.
He again stated that the initial fine had nothing to do with our building or condo association.
Once again, I told him that despite that fact that he was absolutely 100% correct, that had nothing to do with the fact that we named as third party defendants.
Mr. Money Bags said he needed to put in a phone call to the law firm that was charged with collecting our debt and would call me back in about 20 minutes.
20 minutes later he was back on the phone.
“Woody, I just got an education in how these things work. You were right.”
“I’ve spoken with Wexler (the law firm) and they are starting the paperwork right now to vacate the judgment. Everything should be cleared up by Christmas.”
Who says gentle persistence won’t work?
I’ve chronicled the process of my condo association’s journey through the maze of city departments.
Usually when I sought assistance with this nightmare, I was usually told either by the state or the city that there was very little that anyone or any department could do for us.
Our association lawyer even told us that things didn’t look good.
If you’ve been reading for the past year or so, you know that the city did everything by the book. It wasn’t their fault that our developer, Carlton Knight, didn’t inform us of the impending legal matters before us.
If memory severs me correct, Mr. Knight said that an irresponsible employee was to blame for the miscommunication.
Whatever.
In a stroke of luck The Lord High Executioner put me in touch with an individual at the Department of Revenue that I’ll call Mr. Money Bags.
Mr. Money Bags lost the initial paperwork I submitted to him over a month ago.
While I was pissed, I still went ahead and resubmitted the paperwork again last Tuesday.
Mr. Money Bags called me back and was mystified what we had to do with this whole debacle and why were we worried about the consequences.
I referenced some of the paperwork that I sent and explained to him that we were listed as third party defendants to the complaint. Therefore we were liable for the initial debt, the interest and the court costs.
Money Bags vehemently disagreed.
He again stated that the initial fine had nothing to do with our building or condo association.
Once again, I told him that despite that fact that he was absolutely 100% correct, that had nothing to do with the fact that we named as third party defendants.
Mr. Money Bags said he needed to put in a phone call to the law firm that was charged with collecting our debt and would call me back in about 20 minutes.
20 minutes later he was back on the phone.
“Woody, I just got an education in how these things work. You were right.”
“I’ve spoken with Wexler (the law firm) and they are starting the paperwork right now to vacate the judgment. Everything should be cleared up by Christmas.”
Who says gentle persistence won’t work?
Friday, November 17, 2006
Lost
He can’t find it.
All the paperwork I put together for my Department of Revenue contact has magically disappeared.
We spoke briefly two days ago about the situation and I was assured that I’d receive a phone call back before the end of the day.
In all actuality I didn’t expect him to call me back so it was no surprise to me when he didn't.
No sweat, I’ll call him the next day and see what’s up.
Naturally he’s not in the office.
Alright, no worries--- I’ll try again tomorrow.
So I call today, leave a message and I receive a prompt phone call back.
“Hello, this is XXX from XXX’s office.”
“Hello.”
“XXXX would like you to fax all of the information along with a cover letter to his attention so he can review the matter.”
“Ummm I already did that almost a month ago. Are you telling me that all of the documentation that I submitted was lost?”
**Silence**
Can you believe this shit?
I do the research, I fill out multiple freedom of information documentiation requests, I lay out the whole issue from beginning to end, I make the copies AND I walk it over to my contact’s office all for it to be lost?
Not only is it lost but it took a month to have enough time to tell me that you don’t have enough time to keep the paperwork I dug up safely tucked away.
Un-fucking-believable.
All the paperwork I put together for my Department of Revenue contact has magically disappeared.
We spoke briefly two days ago about the situation and I was assured that I’d receive a phone call back before the end of the day.
In all actuality I didn’t expect him to call me back so it was no surprise to me when he didn't.
No sweat, I’ll call him the next day and see what’s up.
Naturally he’s not in the office.
Alright, no worries--- I’ll try again tomorrow.
So I call today, leave a message and I receive a prompt phone call back.
“Hello, this is XXX from XXX’s office.”
“Hello.”
“XXXX would like you to fax all of the information along with a cover letter to his attention so he can review the matter.”
“Ummm I already did that almost a month ago. Are you telling me that all of the documentation that I submitted was lost?”
**Silence**
Can you believe this shit?
I do the research, I fill out multiple freedom of information documentiation requests, I lay out the whole issue from beginning to end, I make the copies AND I walk it over to my contact’s office all for it to be lost?
Not only is it lost but it took a month to have enough time to tell me that you don’t have enough time to keep the paperwork I dug up safely tucked away.
Un-fucking-believable.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Revenue Review
I’ve submitted all the papers I have to the proper authorities.
Now all I can do is sit and wait---again.
The ongoing saga of our developer’s administrative fine becoming our problem was chronicled here and here.
I know you all are thinking, “Hasn’t that gone away?” “Wasn’t that settled?”
In a phrase, no it wasn’t.
For the record, Mr. Knight didn't list us as his employers, the city assumed that because he was listed as our registered agent with the Secretary of State's office that he was our employee.
See my little dumplings what happens when you assume?
If memory serves me correctly, when Mr. Knight, was informed of the debt last year he wouldn’t cut us a check so we could go settle the matter with the city. At the time he wanted our attorney at the time to see if the debt could be transferred back into his name.
If you think father time isn’t kind to most things, you should try attempting to resurrect a four year old administrative fine and persuading the city to undo everything it’s already done.
Even though everything they did was by the book.
It’s not the city’s fault that Carlton didn’t inform the members of the board that wage deduction orders were piling up in his office.
The association would have a great civil case against him but for one small thing---he has made it a little tough for most people and governmental entities to find his money.
I’m not saying it can’t be found but it’s gonna take some kind of municipal or federal firepower to make that happen.
Firepower, I’m sorry to say that our condo association doesn’t have.
So why in heaven’s name would the association pursue a lawsuit with the expense of lawyers and the like when we’re fairly confident that we’d never see a dime of the money?
Then we’d still have to pay the money owed the city---the debt grows .64 cents a day---AND would be out of some major scratch for a lawyer to sue Carlton Knight
That my friend is called a pyrrhic victory---as I’ve found out from dealing with Mr. Knight, right doesn’t equal might.
So what to do?
Back when I first met the Lord High Executioner (LHE) I bounced this little head scratcher off of his noggin’ to see if he might be able to shed some light. Due to the age of the matter, there was little he could do from a law department perspective.
And at the time, we were frying other procedural fish concerning loopholes in the developers licensing registry and the granting of permits.
Prioritization is the key.
Nonetheless, once all of that hoo-ha was dealt with, there was still a little matter of the ever growing fine. A fine that no one who originally bought into the association or has since moved into the association is responsible for.
The LHE referred me to a contact in the Revenue Department.
The best analogy I can make to the Revenue Department is this---If the Law Department is Tony Soprano, the Revenue Department is Chris Moltisanti.
You do not want to have Christopher knocking on your front door. You do not want him looking for you.
Your day is going downhill fast when Chris or the Revenue Department has you in their sights.
They don’t play.
After a round of phone tag I reached the LHE’s contact and attempted a brief explanation of the problem.
He suggested that I gather up all of the paperwork, write a letter of explanation about the situation and fax it to his office.
I did just that but instead personally walked all of the paperwork in to his assistant on my way to work last Friday.
So I’m hoping that we’ll get extracted from this mess and that the debt falls squarely back onto the shoulders of Carlton Knight.
‘Cause from where I’m standing that’s where it belonged in the first place.
Now all I can do is sit and wait---again.
The ongoing saga of our developer’s administrative fine becoming our problem was chronicled here and here.
I know you all are thinking, “Hasn’t that gone away?” “Wasn’t that settled?”
In a phrase, no it wasn’t.
For the record, Mr. Knight didn't list us as his employers, the city assumed that because he was listed as our registered agent with the Secretary of State's office that he was our employee.
See my little dumplings what happens when you assume?
If memory serves me correctly, when Mr. Knight, was informed of the debt last year he wouldn’t cut us a check so we could go settle the matter with the city. At the time he wanted our attorney at the time to see if the debt could be transferred back into his name.
If you think father time isn’t kind to most things, you should try attempting to resurrect a four year old administrative fine and persuading the city to undo everything it’s already done.
Even though everything they did was by the book.
It’s not the city’s fault that Carlton didn’t inform the members of the board that wage deduction orders were piling up in his office.
The association would have a great civil case against him but for one small thing---he has made it a little tough for most people and governmental entities to find his money.
I’m not saying it can’t be found but it’s gonna take some kind of municipal or federal firepower to make that happen.
Firepower, I’m sorry to say that our condo association doesn’t have.
So why in heaven’s name would the association pursue a lawsuit with the expense of lawyers and the like when we’re fairly confident that we’d never see a dime of the money?
Then we’d still have to pay the money owed the city---the debt grows .64 cents a day---AND would be out of some major scratch for a lawyer to sue Carlton Knight
That my friend is called a pyrrhic victory---as I’ve found out from dealing with Mr. Knight, right doesn’t equal might.
So what to do?
Back when I first met the Lord High Executioner (LHE) I bounced this little head scratcher off of his noggin’ to see if he might be able to shed some light. Due to the age of the matter, there was little he could do from a law department perspective.
And at the time, we were frying other procedural fish concerning loopholes in the developers licensing registry and the granting of permits.
Prioritization is the key.
Nonetheless, once all of that hoo-ha was dealt with, there was still a little matter of the ever growing fine. A fine that no one who originally bought into the association or has since moved into the association is responsible for.
The LHE referred me to a contact in the Revenue Department.
The best analogy I can make to the Revenue Department is this---If the Law Department is Tony Soprano, the Revenue Department is Chris Moltisanti.
You do not want to have Christopher knocking on your front door. You do not want him looking for you.
Your day is going downhill fast when Chris or the Revenue Department has you in their sights.
They don’t play.
After a round of phone tag I reached the LHE’s contact and attempted a brief explanation of the problem.
He suggested that I gather up all of the paperwork, write a letter of explanation about the situation and fax it to his office.
I did just that but instead personally walked all of the paperwork in to his assistant on my way to work last Friday.
So I’m hoping that we’ll get extracted from this mess and that the debt falls squarely back onto the shoulders of Carlton Knight.
‘Cause from where I’m standing that’s where it belonged in the first place.
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