December 13, 2012 – Mark D. Pearlstein, an attorney who specialized in condo law and whose weekly column in the Chicago Tribune advised countless condo owners, died on Tuesday. Crain’s Chicago Business reported the death on Wednesday, citing Pearlstein’s law firm.

Pearlstein (left) was 64 years old. He died of cancer at a hospice in Northbrook, Illinois.

Pearlstein helped write the Illinois Community Association Manager Licensing Act, a law passed in 2009 by the Illinois legislature that requires community association managers to obtain a professional license to work in the state.

A 1974 graduate of DePaul University College of Law, he co-founded Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC, a firm that represents more than 1,000 associations, including John Hancock Center. His column for the Tribune, started in 1988, covered condominium and homeowner association law.

Pearlstein’s last column for the Chicago Tribune was published on December 16. The newspaper announced to readers that Condo Adviser would continue, written by Howard Dakoff, an attorney with Pearlstein’s law firm. Dakoff and Pearlstein co-authored the current chapter on condominium management for the condo law textbook published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

[Updated December 17, 2012]