Performance Guarantees

Abstract

The recent economic climate has brought a rather obscure section of most subdivision ordinances into sharp focus- the performance guarantee to ensure the completion of required improvements. Traditionally, such provisions have gone largely unused and therefore untested. In Lake County, Illinois, for example, performance-guarantee provisions were used only once during the early 1970s, for a three- or four-lot subdivision. In contrast, during the 1980s the county has granted extensions for over 30 developments andhas called the security for seven projects. Since we have had con-siderable experience in invoking performance guarantees, we can now point out some better techniques to use. This arti-cle will focus on the problems we have experienced and the lessons we have learned.