Finding Contact Information for a HOA in Chicago Due to Relative's Death

December 11, 2020 11:14 AM

A relative of my wife has passed away unexpectedly and alone at his condo in Chicago. The relative told her she is the executor, but never sent her the copy of the will. This question is how she has asked me to help.

A relative of my wife has passed away unexpectedly in his condo just outside of Chicago in Carol Streams. She has her act together for handling executor duties, but with COVID we are doing this all remotely. She and he were in communications frequently prior to his death, and he had often told her she is the sole beneficiary, and asked her to be executor. Also he told her where to look for the will.

Without going into too much detail we are trying to find a contact for the condominium who can give access to his unit to someone we know and trust.

Primarily to see if the will is located where her relative said it was, while the law firm we thought had drawn up the will 10 years ago sees if it was filed somewhere after they merged with another firm. (It doesn't look as if it was filed with court?) The police won't help us until our Freedom of Information request for their report is received. As they entered the unit to investigate and released the body to the coroner, they must have communicated with someone to enter.

The condominium is on W Elk Trail in Carol Stream, Illinois. It looks like a suburb in Chicago, just west of downtown? We don't actually know the name of the condo, and are doing internet research. We believe it is called Carolshire Condominiums, and the only lead I have so far is this website which lists people who appear to be officers and have addresses on that same road in the community. But no phone numbers. Worse case, we could likely send letters to the addressed listed for the president and secretary, but for reasons (see below) we'd like to get this done ASAP.

Any leads on how we can (quickly) get entrance to the unit would be appreciated.

The second reason is to clean the unit out, especially of any food. That will likely be another post to here or MetaFilter Jobs, but if you can assist with finding a cleaning service in the area, and perhaps know of someone would like to make a little cash to oversee the cleaning process -- not stand around and watch as much as enter after they have left the unit but before they leave the grounds to confirm that things were done -- please send me a MeMail.

Thank you all in advance. We only found this news out last night, so information is coming in a little at a time.

posted by terrapin to Human Relations (5 answers total)

I'm sorry for your loss.

You could try calling the Village of Carol Stream, and the police and fire department, to see if they know whom to contact. When I was on a condo board, the town we were in (a different suburb of Chicago) had quarterly meetings for members of any condo board in the town, so they at least mostly know who the people were—maybe Carol Stream does too.

This person says he did some work with them; you could try to reach him to see if he has an up-to-date contact.

If you know anyone who can drive by, you could have them look for a sign/sticker indicating what management company they use (if any), and then call the management company.

You could try calling a law firm that does condo law to see if they have any other ideas on how to identify the right people. There's a form that must be filed yearly with the current board members, though I don't know how one gets access to those filings. I have worked with Bob Prince at Cervantes Chatt & Prince, and he's super nice, so that's a possible starting point.

If you have an estate attorney, they could also probably help.
posted by likedoomsday at 11:35 AM on December 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

A local Realtor may be of help. I'm a Realtor in DC, and I deal with condo associations all the time. In fact, past and current listings of units in the building might contain the exact contact information you are looking for, although it may be hidden in comments that only licensed agents see. I'm assuming the unit will be eventually sold; a good Realtor would be happy to do the legwork if it leads to an eventual listing with them. It's typically the executor that picks the listing agent, so you'll likely be in control of that step when the time comes.
posted by juggler at 11:38 AM on December 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: From these articles about this property, it looks like the management company as of January 2019 is ACM Community Management.
posted by little king trashmouth at 11:47 AM on December 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You need to contact the DuPage County Sheriff. You tell them that a relative died alone in their apartment in Carol Stream and you are the executor of the estate, and that you need to be let in because there are documents you need access to as well as food likely rotting in the unit that needs to be cleaned out. You can tell them you have designated a local person for this who is ready and willing to do this work on your behalf as the executor. They will work with you to get you access ASAP, possibly via routing you to another department, but they'll project manage this.

If you can't get through, contact the DuPage County Coroner.
posted by juniperesque at 12:04 PM on December 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks little king trashmouth, that is the correct property management company and we were able to make contact. juniperesque, your information was very helpful as well.

Then I remembered I have a cousin in Aurora, who is so kind to have agreed to be our guy on the ground.

Thanks for all the help!
posted by terrapin at 4:22 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]