Chief Keef's Former Highland Park McMansion Returns To Market

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A home formerly rented by rapper Chief Keef whose owners are facing a lawsuit from their neighbors for violating its homeowner's association prohibition on short-term rentals returned to the market last week for the first time in three years. The six-bedroom, 5,600-square-foot home in northwest Highland Park was built in 2004 on a 0.9 acres lot on a five-home cul-de-sac off Ridge Road.

Facing eviction proceedings in 2014, Keith "Chief Keef" Cozart departed the home with Lake County sheriff's deputies on hand after the homeowner, Bal K. Bansal, said he had failed to pay $30,000 in rent. The Chicago hip-hop artist was not especially popular among his neighbors, who complained of fights, parties and, on one occasion, gunshots.

But it was Bansal who found himself a defendant in Lake County Court last year, when his Cooper Lane neighbors filed a suit in November 2017 asking a judge to block him from renting the home on short-term rental websites in violation of the rules of his homeowner's association.

According to court records, Cooper Pond of Highland Park Homeowners Association also initiated eviction proceedings against Bansal in August. A hearing on a motion to dismiss that case was scheduled for Oct. 23, while a status hearing on the request for an injunction blocking further short-term rentals of the property was scheduled for Oct. 26. Lawyers for the homeowner's association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bansal bought the Cooper Lane home new in 2005 for $1.9 million, according to property records. He first listed it 2012 for $2.19 million, gradually reduced the asking price to $1.425 million by 2015 before pulling it off the market. It remains listed on the short-term rental website Airbnb for around $700 a night, with reviews posted as recently as last month. Listed numbers for Bansal, who now lives out of state, had been disconnected or changed.

As of April 2018, Bansal had been fined more than $40,000 by the association for continuing to rent the home on a nightly basis, Pioneer Press reported. Neighbors complained of noise, traffic, property damage and drunkenness, noting that "when the wind comes from the west, one can smell the dope being smoked."

According to the home's listing, Bansal has spent more than $500,000 upgrading the home. It includes stone and hardwood floors, a first-floor master suite, a finished basement, a four-car garage and a patio with "private wooded views."

The home's estimated market value was $1.6 million, according to the Lake County Assessor's Office, and its 2017 property tax bill was more than $40,000.

Earlier: Neighbors Sue To Stop Short-Term Rentals On Highland Park Block »

• Address: 1887 Cooper Lane, Highland Park, Illinois
• Built: 2004
• Square Feet: 5,625
• Lot size: 0.9 acres
• Bedrooms: 6
• Bathrooms: 6 full, 2 half
• Asking price: $1.5 million
• Chief Keef's rent: $7,500 per month
• Airbnb rate: $690 per night
• Last sold: $1.9 million in 2005
• First listed: $2.2 million in 2012

This listing originally appeared on realtor.com. For more information and photos, click here.