In Illinois, everything is triggered by the date of sale. This is the date you are the winning bidder (as shown on your certificates), not the date you actually receive the certificates (which can be a few months in Cook County). Within 4.5 months from the date of sale, the notice required by Section 22-5 of the Property Tax Code (PTC) must be prepared in strict compliance with the PTC and tendered to the county clerk of the county for mailing via certified mail. In some Illinois counties, the county clerk can prepare the Section 22-5 notice but we highly recommend not having them do so because they can make errors, and the tax buyer bears the burden of those errors, not the county. If the Section 22-5 notice is not in strict compliance with the PTC you will not be able to obtain a tax deed to the property.
Part of preparing the Section 22-5 notice is determining the correct redemption period (or extending the redemption period before preparing the 22-5 notice). Most residential properties have a 2.5 year redemption period. Most commercial, industrial, vacant, etc. have a 2 year redemption period. When there are two or more years delinquent at the time of the tax sale, the redemption period may be as short as 6 months. Regardless of what the redemption period (original or as extended) may be, the petition for tax deed (the court case) must be filed between 6 and 3 months BEFORE the redemption period expires.
We represent tax buyers and property owners in all kinds of real estate tax sales throughout Illinois. For more information about tax sales, click here. If you have questions about tax sales or researching properties prior to bidding, please contact our office. Thank you.
