Luster v. Jones

388 N.E.2d 1029, 70 Ill. App. 3d 1019, 27 Ill. Dec. 66, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2464
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 6, 1979
Docket77-82
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 388 N.E.2d 1029 (Luster v. Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Luster v. Jones, 388 N.E.2d 1029, 70 Ill. App. 3d 1019, 27 Ill. Dec. 66, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2464 (Ill. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE WILSON

delivered the opinion of the court:

Melvin R. Luster, Irving J. Lewis and Harold E. Friedman filed a complaint against Raymond A. Jakwerth, a condominium unit owner, seeking to foreclose a lien for his share of the unpaid common expenses at 247 East Chestnut Condominium. Thereafter, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated (Owners) Jakwerth filed a counterclaim against Luster and Friedman (Developers) d/b/a Luster, Friedman & Company (LF) and 247 East Chestnut Properties, 1 seeking injunction and other relief on the basis of the following legal theories: (1) the Developers’ violation of section 22 of the Illinois Condominium Property Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 30, par. 322) due to their misrepresentations of and failure to disclose accurate estimates of operating expenses to prospective purchasers prior to the sale of each condominium unit, and the subsequent unilateral increases of monthly maintenance charges and levy of special assessments without authorization from the unit owners, (2) the Developers’ misrepresentation of existing material facts constituting common law fraud, and (3) the Developers’ violation of the Illinois Antitrust Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 60 — 1 et seq.) by tying the purchase of a condominium unit to the acceptance of LF as management agents of the building. Subsequently, the countercomplaint was certified as a class action and the counterclaim was amended inter alia to request punitive damages and rescission of the purchase agreements. R. Alden Jones, an owner of two units in the building, was later substituted for Jakwerth as class representative. The Developers filed a motion for summary judgment with respect to the alleged violations of the Illinois Condominium Property Act and the Illinois Antitrust Act. After a hearing, the trial court granted summary judgment for the Developers on the antitrust claim and the case proceeded to trial on the remaining issues. At the conclusion of the Owners’ case the court granted the Developers’ motion to strike all individuals from the class who had not responded to certain interrogatories.

At the conclusion of the trial, the court entered a decree which provided inter alia:

“Upon trial of the issues, this Court having considered the testimony of all witnesses and the exhibits and memoranda submitted by each party, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND DECREED AS FOLLOWS:
1. Counter-defendants, Melvin R. Luster, Harold E. Friedman, Luster, Friedman & Company and Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, shall, within 45 days of this Decree, hire a qualified contractor or contractors to scrape and paint the spandrels and to tuckpoint the 247 East Chestnut Building (“Building”) * * *. Counter-defendants 000 shall pay for the scraping and painting of the spandrels and the tuckpointing of the building.
2. Counter-defendants # ° shall call, within 45 days of this Decree, for the election of a Board of Managers at the Building in accordance with the procedures set forth in Article V of the Declaration of Condominium.
3. Counter-defendants, * * * [LF], shall terminate its contract as managing agent for the building within 45 days of this Decree but shall remain in that capacity until a new managing agent for the Building is retained and undertakes its duties. A new managing agent for the Building shall be hired by the Board 0 °
4. Counter-defendants # ” 0 shall pay the following persons amounts [which] * * * were collected from said persons pursuant to the 1973 Special Assessment:
# # #
5. Counter-defendants * * * are hereby enjoined from using the monies collected to date on the 1976 Special Assessment for any purpose other than the repair of the garbage chute in the Building. 0 0 0 Counter-defendants are hereby enjoined from levying any further special assessment for 1976 without the approval of the Board elected pursuant to Paragraph 2 above or 75% of the unit owners.
6. Each member of the counter-plaintiff class shall pay to the condominium account for the Building all unpaid assessments as of the date of this Decree within 45 days of this Decree.
»#»
8. Counter-plaintiffs’ prayer for rescission is denied.
9. Counter-plaintiffs’ prayer for punitive damages is denied.
10. Counter-plaintiffs’ prayer for attorneys’ fees is denied.
11. All other forms of relief prayed for by counter-plaintiffs are denied.”

In his decree, the trial judge did not delineate the legal basis upon which he ordered this relief, and the record is further devoid of remarks by the trial judge indicating his legal conclusions. The Owners appeal from the decree to the extent it denied them further relief. The Developers cross-appeal to the extent that the decree ordered the Owners any relief.

Because of our disposition of this matter, we need only address the following issues: (1) whether the Owners were entitled to relief under section 22 of the Condominium Property Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 30, par. 322), (2) whether the Owners were entitled to relief under common law fraud principles, (3) whether the Owners were properly certified as a class for purposes of this action, (4) whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the Developers on the antitrust claim.. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand this cause for further proceedings. The relevant facts follow.

THE OWNERS’ CASE

Melvin R. Luster was called as an adverse witness under Section 60 of the Civil Practice Act. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 110, par. 60.) He testified that Northwestern Life Insurance Company owned the 247 E. Chestnut Building for the 2 or 3 years prior to its conversion. Percy Wilson managed the building during this period while it operated as a rental building. On April 1,1972, LF'formed a joint venture with Northwestern Life Insurance Company for the purposes of converting 247 E. Chestnut to a condominium.

Luster was responsible for the final draft of the projected operating budget which he and the accountant prepared. The budget was prepared in November of 1972 and was based on data he received from the previous management and LF’s 6-7 month history with the building. The building was converted on July 1, 1973 and the purchasers received the projected budget by the time that their units closed. The figures on the budget were not changed between October or November of 1972 and June 30, 1973, the day before conversion.

As of October 1972, the employees’ union contract had expired and Luster prepared the payroll figure on the basis of one janitor’s helper although historically, the building utilized two such employees. A new labor contract was negotiated in April of 1973 and by its terms operated retroactively to December of 1972.

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Bluebook (online)
388 N.E.2d 1029, 70 Ill. App. 3d 1019, 27 Ill. Dec. 66, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2464, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/luster-v-jones-illappct-1979.