IRELA CLE Webinar: 

Dick Bales’ Complete Guide to Deeds

MCLE approved for 1-hour general credit
Registration is Free for IRELA Members
Non-Members ~ $50*

Real estate attorneys work with deeds every day. Attorneys for sellers of land prepare deeds for their closings. Attorneys may think that “deeds” are a fairly mundane topic, but Dick Bales hopes to prove otherwise. Dick has put together a comprehensive handout discussing virtually every facet about deeds, including such matters as the Doctrine of After Acquired Title, Dresser Drawer Deeds, Signature by Mark, and Underwriting Wild Deeds. Public Act 102-927 recently amended 765 ILCS 5/8, the statute on special warranty deeds. This new legislation has resulted in some controversy. Dick has attempted to study the issues from all angles, and he hopes to provide some thoughtful commentary on this very topical subject.

Richard F. Bales has worked in the title insurance industry since 1977. He took an early retirement in April of 2020 when he lost his job because of corporate pandemic downsizing. After several weeks of inactivity, however, he decided that he was not ready to retire, and when Proper Title offered him a job, he accepted it. He currently works as a “Senior Underwriting Consultant and Counsel” in the Naperville office of Proper Title.

Bales used title company records to research and write his book, The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow, which was published by McFarland in 2002. His latest book, The Short Writings of Nelson Algren: A Study of the Stories, Essays, Articles, Reviews, Poems, and other Literature, has just been published, also by McFarland. He is the co-author (with Mike Filipski) of Residential and Commercial Surveys in Illinois, published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education in 2004. He is also the author of the 2022 Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association 500+ page compilation, Land Boundaries and Easements in Illinois.

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