Tensions rise over tenant background checks, DuPage County marijuana dispensaries go up in smoke: Daily digest

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up Chicago’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day, starting at 10 a.m. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com.

Lake Geneva mansion sells for $7.2 million, the highest price for the Wisconsin town this year. The 15,000-square-foot home has been on the market since 2014 with an original asking price of $11.5 million. [Crain’s]

American Landmark Properties is searching for tenants of three commercial properties that were purchased for $38 million. The three properties in Oak Brook, Oakbrook Terrace and Lisle, amount to over 391,000 square feet and have had about $3.4 million in renovations. [Crain’s]

Federal Savings Bank’s Stephen Calk (Credit: Getty Images)

Winnetka couple sues Federal Savings Bank and its founder, Stephen Calk, over a $1.4 million home mortgage refinancing scandal. The North Shore couple, Theresa and Joseph Boutross, claim that Calk misled them into the transaction and are seeking over $500,000 in damages as well as having the 7.87 percent loan voided. [Chicago Tribune]

DuPage County Boards votes against recreational marijuana dispensaries. They are the first county in Illinois to ban recreational marijuana dispensaries, despite approving a 3 percent county sales tax on recreational marijuana sales. [Chicago Tribune]

Housing and multifamily officials objected to an amended county housing ordinance, saying its limits on how much of a rental applicant’s criminal history is available, jeopardizes safety. They also argued that the amount of time spent on background checks prevented them from renting or selling, costing them money. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Equity Group president Sam Zell (Credit: Getty Images, iStock, Equity Apartments)

Sam Zell’s REIT decries rent control’s “chilling effect” on development. Equity Residential, which owns more than 9,000 apartments in New York, experienced a 50-basis-point drop in renewal increases on rentals after changes to the rent law in the second half of the year — as well as a $400,000 decline in application and late fees. [TRD]

Vacant iBuyer homes used by squatters for shelter, shooting up. As the instant-homebuying model has grown in popularity in recent years, its self-guided tours have created an opening for squatters. The recent arrest of a couple in Arizona who had set up in a vacant property sparked a discussion among agents about safety issues with the model. [Inman]

Has real estate crowdfunding lived up to the hype? Crowdfunding was once a darling of the startup space, but some early adopters have pivoted into other areas and VC backing has fizzled. [TRD]

From left: Noah Isaacs , David Lichtenstein and John Meadows

Bowery Valuation raises $8 million in funding round led by Lightstone. The tech-enabled appraisal startup, run by former appraisers Noah Isaacs and John Meadows, has raised $27 million since its launch in 2015. [TRD]

Blackstone Chief Financial Officer Michael Chae (Credit: iStock; Blackstone)

Blackstone reports boost in Q3 net income. Blackstone’s $779 million in net income from July through September was up more than 75 percent year over year. [TRD]

— Compiled by Jacqueline Flynn