Woman fears foreclosure after carpet dispute with condo association in Prospect Heights

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Ill. (WLS) -- Can a condo's association take your home away over a carpeting dispute?

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Chris Kraszynski lives in a condo in Prospect Heights and said her condo association has falsely accused her of removing the wall-to-wall carpeting, putting her housing at risk.

The ABC7 I-Team walked around her apartment and saw the carpeting that she's being accused of removing firsthand.

"As you can clearly see, carpeting everywhere," Kraszynski said as she showed her condo to ABC 7 Chicago Consumer Reporter Jason Knowles. "It's still here. Never been touched, never removed."

However, The Rob Roy Country Club Village Condo Association sued her for breaking their bylaws which state units must have wall-to-wall carpeting.

She said that in 2009 she requested that the association let her remove the carpeting because of her allergies.

In her request to the board, she included letters from her doctors and said she uses air filters to battle allergens.

"I have asthma, severe allergies to carpeting and dust mites, as well as an autoimmune condition that is really severely aggravated by several things, one of them being carpeting," she said.

Replacing the carpet, she said, qualifies as a "reasonable modification" under the federal Fair Housing Act.

She was disappointed by the condo association's rejection, but she said she was shocked when they alleged in a lawsuit in 2010 that she removed the carpet.

According to the suit, the association claimed Kraszynski "replaced carpeting in the property with hardwood flooring" and that this caused a neighbor to hear "furniture being moved on uncarpeted floors... and other loud activities" which also violated their by-laws.

Kraszynski said she missed her court appearance because she was sick and the judge sided with the condo board and found Kraszynski in default.

"The judgement was nearly $40,000," she said.

With fees, fines, and interest from non-payment, that total grew in nine years up to $588,000, according to court documents from 2021,

The condo association has also filed foreclosure documents on Kraszynski's home.

"My life has been turned upside down," she said.

The I-Team reached out to the Rob Roy Country Club Village condo board and its attorneys but never heard back.

"How can they tell you what to do in your own home?" Kraszynski wondered.

The I-Team called and emailed the condo board, and an attorney who represents the condo board.

ABC7 Chicago also reached out to the management company which manages the condo development. Despite several attempts to multiple people for comment, we still haven't heard back from anyone.

Court records show the foreclosure case is still ongoing with another hearing scheduled for October.