00-2812 Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. White

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“While the Whites performed … upkeep, such as maintaining the property and performing routine repairs and cleaning, this involvement is not legally significant. The Whites’ garage apartments were appendages of their primary residence. Such normal upkeep benefited them personally as it maintained the value of their home. Their activities did not benefit a trade or business that could be easily separated from the normal maintenance and upkeep that every homeowner performs. The Whites simply purchased and cared for their primary residence, which happened to include a garage with two apartments, and lived in it for 32 years. Contrast Personnel, 974 F.2d at 794 (numerous real estate sale and purchase transactions each year); Fulkerson, 238 F.3d at 893 (bought three properties and sold two within 10 years). The Whites’ activities, however extensive, in the upkeep and maintenance of their investment in their primary residence were personal in nature, and as such, do not rise to the level of a trade or business.”

Reversed and remanded.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Coar, J., Manion, J.