The 2014 Cook County Annual Tax Sale will begin at 8:30 a.m. on June 3, 2016. The 2014 Annual Sale includes properties in Cook County with 2014 taxes that were due in 2015 and remain delinquent (including, without limitation, general property taxes, back taxes, special assessments, etc.). A list of properties eligible for sale in the 2014 Annual Tax Sale was published in community newspapers by township on April 6-7, 2016. Registration for the tax sale began on April 8, 2016 and ends on May 24, 2016. Properties with delinquent taxes that are eligible for sale may be searched by Property Index Number (PIN) on the Treasurer’s Office website. Delinquency lists in electronic format are also available for purchase at https://www.cooktaxsale.com/. For more information visit http://www.cookcountytreasurer.com/annualtaxsale.aspx.
If you are looking for legal representation relative to Illinois tax sales, please contact our office. Tax buyers must be aware that in order to be entitled to a tax deed, the notice required by Section 22-5 of the Illinois Property Tax Code (a/k/a the four and a half month notice) must be properly prepared and delivered to the county clerk within 4 months and 15 days after the tax sale (among other statutory requirements). Courts have ruled that tax buyers must strictly comply with Section 22-5 of the Property Tax Code. In re Application of County Treasurer (Glohry, LLC v. OneWest Bank), 2011 IL App (1st) 101966. In Glohry, the tax purchaser listed the wrong redemption date in the form notice required by Section 22-5. It was undisputed that the owner never received the Section 22-5 notice. The court stated:
The General Assembly transcripts confirm that the purpose of the Section 22-5 post-sale notice provision was to provide a tax assessee, who is usually the property owner, with additional notice which conveys all necessary information. To achieve this goal, the legislature has indicated that a tax purchaser will not be entitled to a deed unless he gives the notice required. Permitting a tax purchaser to be entitled to a deed despite not fully complying with section 22-5 would defeat the legislature’s intent. Section 22-5 lends credence to the idea that tax purchasers should not be allowed to disclose only that information they deem relevant.
*** A tax deed petitioner must do as required by the statute “[i]n order to be entitled to a tax deed.” (Emphasis added.) 35 ILCS 200/22–5 (West 2006). It would be absurd to find the legislature intended a purchaser to be entitled to a tax deed even where he had not done as required by the statute.
In Equity One Inv. Fund, LLC v. Williams (In re County Treasurer), 2013 IL App (1st) 130463, the tax buyer included the following in the “location” of the property on its Section 22-5 Take Notice: the dimensions, the street intersection, the township, the county and the state. The tax buyer also included the property index number in the section for “Legal Description or Permanent Index No.” Unfortunately, the property owner objected and the court ruled that the tax buyer had failed to strictly comply with Section 22-5 of the Property Tax Code. The Equity One court noted that in the beginning of the Midwest Real Estate Investment decision, the appellate court noted that its task was to determine ′′how the legislature would answer the question, ’How strict is strict?’′′ The answer is, “strict.”
For more information about Illinois tax sales and the upcoming Cook County Tax Sale, please visit http://flamm.com/illinois-property-tax-lawyers/.
Comments