Public Act 097-0557
 
HB1218 EnrolledLRB097 00543 HLH 40561 b

    AN ACT concerning revenue.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing
Sections 1-120, 21-110, 21-165, 21-205, 21-225, 21-305, 22-5,
22-10, and 22-25 and by adding Section 21-118 as follows:
 
    (35 ILCS 200/1-120)
    Sec. 1-120. Property Index Number or Permanent Index
Number; PIN. A number used to identify a parcel of property for
assessment and taxation purposes. The index number shall
constitute a sufficient description of the property to which it
has been assigned, wherever a description is required by this
Code. "Property Index Number" and "Permanent Index Number"
shall be construed to be interchangeable terms.
    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
the 97th General Assembly shall be construed as being
declaratory of existing law and not as a new enactment.
(Source: P.A. 88-455.)
 
    (35 ILCS 200/21-110)
    Sec. 21-110. Published notice of annual application for
judgment and sale; delinquent taxes. At any time after all
taxes have become delinquent in any year, the Collector shall
publish an advertisement, giving notice of the intended
application for judgment and sale of the delinquent properties.
The advertisement may include the street address on file with
the county collector, if available, and shall include the PIN
number of each delinquent property. Except as provided below,
the advertisement shall be in a newspaper published in the
township or road district in which the properties are located.
If there is no newspaper published in the township or road
district, then the notice shall be published in some newspaper
in the same county as the township or road district, to be
selected by the county collector. When the property is in a
city with more than 1,000,000 inhabitants, the advertisement
may be in any newspaper published in the same county. When the
property is in an incorporated town which has superseded a
civil township, the advertisement shall be in a newspaper
published in the incorporated town or if there is no such
newspaper, then in a newspaper published in the county.
    The provisions of this Section relating to the time when
the Collector shall advertise intended application for
judgment for sale are subject to modification by the governing
authority of a county in accordance with the provisions of
subsection (c) of Section 21-40.
(Source: P.A. 88-455; 88-518; 89-126, eff. 7-11-95.)
 
    (35 ILCS 200/21-118 new)
    Sec. 21-118. Tax sale; online database. At least 10 days
prior to any tax sale authorized under this Article 21, the
county collector may post on his or her website a list of all
properties that are eligible to be sold at the sale. The list
shall include the street address on file with the county
collector, if available, and shall include the PIN number
assigned to the property. The list may not include the name of
the property owner.
 
    (35 ILCS 200/21-165)
    Sec. 21-165. Payment of delinquent tax before sale. Any
person owning or claiming properties upon which application for
judgment is applied for and any lienholder of record may, in
person or by agent, pay the taxes, and costs due, or in
counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, the taxes, special
assessments, interest and costs due, to the county collector at
any time on or before the business day immediately preceding
the day the taxes are sold, and the collector must accept those
payments. A home rule unit may not regulate the hours and
procedures employed by the county collector in a manner that is
inconsistent with this Section. No deadline for the payment of
taxes, special assessments, interest, or costs may be imposed
by any county, including a home rule unit, if the deadline is
inconsistent with this Section. This Section is a limitation
under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule
units of powers and functions exercised by the State. sale.
(Source: P.A. 92-267, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
    (35 ILCS 200/21-205)
    Sec. 21-205. Tax sale procedures. The collector, in person
or by deputy, shall attend, on the day and in the place
specified in the notice for the sale of property for taxes, and
shall, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., or later at the
collector's discretion, proceed to offer for sale, separately
and in consecutive order, all property in the list on which the
taxes, special assessments, interest or costs have not been
paid. However, in any county with 3,000,000 or more
inhabitants, the offer for sale shall be made between 8:00 a.m.
and 8:00 p.m. The collector's office shall be kept open during
all hours in which the sale is in progress. The sale shall be
continued from day to day, until all property in the delinquent
list has been offered for sale. However, any city, village or
incorporated town interested in the collection of any tax or
special assessment, may, in default of bidders, withdraw from
collection the special assessment levied against any property
by the corporate authorities of the city, village or
incorporated town. In case of a withdrawal, there shall be no
sale of that property on account of the delinquent special
assessment thereon.
    Until the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th
General Assembly, in In every sale of property pursuant to the
provisions of this Code, the collector may employ any automated
means that the collector deems appropriate. Beginning on the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General
Assembly, either (i) the collector shall employ an automated
bidding system that is programmed to accept the lowest
redemption price bid by an eligible tax purchaser, subject to
the penalty percentage limitation set forth in Section 21-215,
or (ii) all tax sales shall be digitally recorded with video
and audio. All , provided that bidders are required to
personally attend the sale and, if automated means are used,
all hardware and software used with respect to those automated
means must be certified by the Department and re-certified by
the Department every 5 years. If the tax sales are digitally
recorded and no automated bidding system is used, then the
recordings shall be maintained by the collector for a period of
at least 3 years from the date of the tax sale. The changes
made by this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly are
declarative of existing law.
(Source: P.A. 94-922, eff. 1-1-07.)
 
    (35 ILCS 200/21-225)
    Sec. 21-225. Forfeited property. Every property offered at
public sale, and not sold for want of bidders, unless it is
released from sale by the withdrawal from collection of a
special assessment levied thereon, shall be forfeited to the
State of Illinois. However, when the court, county clerk and
county treasurer certify that the taxes and special assessments
not withdrawn from collection on forfeited property equal or
exceed the actual value of the property, the county collector
shall, on the receipt of such certificate, offer the property
for sale to the highest bidder, after first giving 10 days'
notice in counties with less than 10,000 inhabitants, according
to the most recent federal decennial census, and 30 days'
notice in all other counties, in the manner described in
Sections 21-110 and 21-115, of the time and place of sale,
together with a description of the property to be offered. A
certificate of purchase shall be issued to the purchaser at the
sale as in other cases provided in this Code. The county
collector shall receive credit in the settlement with the
taxing bodies for which the tax was levied for the amount not
realized by the sale. The amount received from the sale shall
be paid by the collector, pro rata, to the taxing bodies
entitled to it.
(Source: Laws 1965, p. 631; P.A. 88-455.)
 
    (35 ILCS 200/21-305)
    Sec. 21-305. Payments from Indemnity Fund.
    (a) Any owner of property sold under any provision of this
Code who sustains loss or damage by reason of the issuance of a
tax deed under Section 21-445 or 22-40 and who is barred or is
in any way precluded from bringing an action for the recovery
of the property shall have the right to indemnity for the loss
or damage sustained, limited as follows:
        (1) An owner who resided on property that contained 4
    or less dwelling units on the last day of the period of
    redemption and who is equitably entitled to compensation
    for the loss or damage sustained has the right to
    indemnity. An equitable indemnity award shall be limited to
    the fair cash value of the property as of the date the tax
    deed was issued less any mortgages or liens on the
    property, and the award will not exceed $99,000. The Court
    shall liberally construe this equitable entitlement
    standard to provide compensation wherever, in the
    discretion of the Court, the equities warrant the action.
        An owner of a property that contained 4 or less
    dwelling units who requests an award in excess of $99,000
    must prove that the loss of his or her property was not
    attributable to his or her own fault or negligence before
    an award in excess of $99,000 will be granted.
        (2) An owner who sustains the loss or damage of any
    property occasioned by reason of the issuance of a tax
    deed, without fault or negligence of his or her own, has
    the right to indemnity limited to the fair cash value of
    the property less any mortgages or liens on the property.
    In determining the existence of fault or negligence, the
    court shall consider whether the owner exercised ordinary
    reasonable diligence under all of the relevant
    circumstances.
        (3) In determining the fair cash value of property less
    any mortgages or liens on the property, the fair cash value
    shall be reduced by the principal amount of all taxes paid
    by the tax purchaser or his or her assignee before the
    issuance of the tax deed.
        (4) If an award made under paragraph (1) or (2) is
    subject to a reduction by the amount of an outstanding
    mortgage or lien on the property, other than the principal
    amount of all taxes paid by the tax purchaser or his or her
    assignee before the issuance of the tax deed and the
    petitioner would be personally liable to the mortgagee or
    lienholder for all or part of that reduction amount, the
    court shall order an additional indemnity award to be paid
    directly to the mortgagee or lienholder sufficient to
    discharge the petitioner's personal liability. The court,
    in its discretion, may order the joinder of the mortgagee
    or lienholder as an additional party to the indemnity
    action.
    (b) Indemnity fund; subrogation.
        (1) Any person claiming indemnity hereunder shall
    petition the Court which ordered the tax deed to issue,
    shall name the County Treasurer, as Trustee of the
    indemnity fund, as defendant to the petition, and shall ask
    that judgment be entered against the County Treasurer, as
    Trustee, in the amount of the indemnity sought. The
    provisions of the Civil Practice Law shall apply to
    proceedings under the petition, except that neither the
    petitioner nor County Treasurer shall be entitled to trial
    by jury on the issues presented in the petition. The Court
    shall liberally construe this Section to provide
    compensation wherever in the discretion of the Court the
    equities warrant such action.
        (2) The County Treasurer, as Trustee of the indemnity
    fund, shall be subrogated to all parties in whose favor
    judgment may be rendered against him or her, and by third
    party complaint may bring in as a defendant any person,
    other than the tax deed grantee and its successors in
    title, not a party to the action who is or may be liable to
    him or her, as subrogee, for all or part of the
    petitioner's claim against him or her.
    (c) Any contract involving the proceeds of a judgment for
indemnity under this Section, between the tax deed grantee or
its successors in title and the indemnity petitioner or his or
her successors, shall be in writing. In any action brought
under Section 21-305, the Collector shall be entitled to
discovery regarding, but not limited to, the following:
        (1) the identity of all persons beneficially
    interested in the contract, directly or indirectly,
    including at least the following information: the names and
    addresses of any natural persons; the place of
    incorporation of any corporation and the names and
    addresses of its shareholders unless it is publicly held;
    the names and addresses of all general and limited partners
    of any partnership; the names and addresses of all persons
    having an ownership interest in any entity doing business
    under an assumed name, and the county in which the assumed
    business name is registered; and the nature and extent of
    the interest in the contract of each person identified;
        (2) the time period during which the contract was
    negotiated and agreed upon, from the date of the first
    direct or indirect contact between any of the contracting
    parties to the date of its execution;
        (3) the name and address of each natural person who
    took part in negotiating the contract, and the identity and
    relationship of the party that the person represented in
    the negotiations; and
        (4) the existence of an agreement for payment of
    attorney's fees by or on behalf of each party.
    Any information disclosed during discovery may be subject
to protective order as deemed appropriate by the court. The
terms of the contract shall not be used as evidence of value.
    (d) A petition of indemnity under this Section must be
filed within 10 years after the date the tax deed was issued.
(Source: P.A. 91-564, eff. 8-14-99.)
 
    (35 ILCS 200/22-5)
    Sec. 22-5. Notice of sale and redemption rights. In order
to be entitled to a tax deed, within 4 months and 15 days after
any sale held under this Code, the purchaser or his or her
assignee shall deliver to the county clerk a notice to be given
to the party in whose name the taxes are last assessed as shown
by the most recent tax collector's warrant books, in at least
10 point type in the following form completely filled in:
TAKE NOTICE
    County of ...............................................
    Date Premises Sold ......................................
    Certificate No. .........................................
    Sold for General Taxes of (year) ........................
    Sold for Special Assessment of (Municipality)
    and special assessment number ...........................
    Warrant No. ............... Inst. No. .................
THIS PROPERTY HAS BEEN SOLD FOR
DELINQUENT TAXES
Property located at .........................................
Legal Description or Property Permanent Index No. ............
.............................................................
.............................................................
    This notice is to advise you that the above property has
been sold for delinquent taxes and that the period of
redemption from the sale will expire on .....................
    This notice is also to advise you that a petition will be
filed for a tax deed which will transfer title and the right to
possession of this property if redemption is not made on or
before ......................................................
    At the date of this notice the total amount which you must
pay in order to redeem the above property is ................
YOU ARE URGED TO REDEEM IMMEDIATELY TO
PREVENT LOSS OF PROPERTY
    Redemption can be made at any time on or before .... by
applying to the County Clerk of .... County, Illinois at the
Office of the County Clerk County Court House in ....,
Illinois.
    The above amount is subject to increase at 6 month
intervals from the date of sale. Check with the county clerk as
to the exact amount you owe before redeeming. Payment must be
made by certified check, cashier's check, money order, or in
cash.
    For further information contact the County Clerk
ADDRESS:............................
TELEPHONE:..........................
 
...............................
Purchaser or Assignee
Dated (insert date).

 
    Within 10 days after receipt of said notice, the county
clerk shall mail to the addresses supplied by the purchaser or
assignee, by registered or certified mail, copies of said
notice to the party in whose name the taxes are last assessed
as shown by the most recent tax collector's warrant books. The
purchaser or assignee shall pay to the clerk postage plus the
sum of $10. The clerk shall write or stamp the date of
receiving the notices upon the copies of the notices, and
retain one copy.
    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
the 97th General Assembly apply only to tax sales that occur on
or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th
General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 94-380, eff. 7-29-05.)
 
    (35 ILCS 200/22-10)
    Sec. 22-10. Notice of expiration of period of redemption. A
purchaser or assignee shall not be entitled to a tax deed to
the property sold unless, not less than 3 months nor more than
6 months prior to the expiration of the period of redemption,
he or she gives notice of the sale and the date of expiration
of the period of redemption to the owners, occupants, and
parties interested in the property, including any mortgagee of
record, as provided below.
    The Notice to be given to the parties shall be in at least
10 point type in the following form completely filled in:
TAX DEED NO. .................... FILED ....................
TAKE NOTICE
    County of ...............................................
    Date Premises Sold ......................................
    Certificate No. ........................................
    Sold for General Taxes of (year) ........................
    Sold for Special Assessment of (Municipality)
    and special assessment number ...........................
    Warrant No. ................ Inst. No. .................
THIS PROPERTY HAS BEEN SOLD FOR
DELINQUENT TAXES
Property located at .........................................
Legal Description or Property Index No. .....................
.............................................................
.............................................................
    This notice is to advise you that the above property has
been sold for delinquent taxes and that the period of
redemption from the sale will expire on .....................
.............................................................
    The amount to redeem is subject to increase at 6 month
intervals from the date of sale and may be further increased if
the purchaser at the tax sale or his or her assignee pays any
subsequently accruing taxes or special assessments to redeem
the property from subsequent forfeitures or tax sales. Check
with the county clerk as to the exact amount you owe before
redeeming.
    This notice is also to advise you that a petition has been
filed for a tax deed which will transfer title and the right to
possession of this property if redemption is not made on or
before ......................................................
    This matter is set for hearing in the Circuit Court of this
county in ...., Illinois on .....
    You may be present at this hearing but your right to redeem
will already have expired at that time.
YOU ARE URGED TO REDEEM IMMEDIATELY
TO PREVENT LOSS OF PROPERTY
    Redemption can be made at any time on or before .... by
applying to the County Clerk of ...., County, Illinois at the
Office of the County Clerk County Court House in ....,
Illinois.
    For further information contact the County Clerk
ADDRESS:....................
TELEPHONE:..................
 
..........................
Purchaser or Assignee.
Dated (insert date).

 
    In counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, the notice
shall also state the address, room number and time at which the
matter is set for hearing.
    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
the 97th General Assembly apply only to matters in which a
petition for tax deed is filed on or after the effective date
of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly.
    This amendatory Act of 1996 applies only to matters in
which a petition for tax deed is filed on or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of 1996.
    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
the 95th General Assembly apply only to matters in which a
petition for tax deed is filed on or after the effective date
of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 94-380, eff. 7-29-05; 95-477, eff. 6-1-08.)
 
    (35 ILCS 200/22-25)
    Sec. 22-25. Mailed notice. In addition to the notice
required to be served not less than 3 months nor more than 6
months prior to the expiration of the period of redemption, the
purchaser or his or her assignee shall prepare and deliver to
the clerk of the Circuit Court of the county in which the
property is located, the notice provided for in this Section,
together with the statutory costs for mailing the notice by
certified mail, return receipt requested. The form of notice to
be mailed by the clerk shall be identical in form to that
provided by Section 22-10 for service upon owners residing upon
the property sold, except that it shall bear the signature of
the clerk instead of the name of the purchaser or assignee and
shall designate the parties to whom it is to be mailed. The
clerk may furnish the form. The clerk shall promptly mail the
notices delivered to him or her by certified mail, return
receipt requested. The certificate of the clerk that he or she
has mailed the notices, together with the return receipts,
shall be filed in and made a part of the court record. The
notices shall be mailed to the owners of the property at their
last known addresses, and to those persons who are entitled to
service of notice as occupants.
    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
the 97th General Assembly shall be construed as being
declaratory of existing law and not as a new enactment.
    The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of
the 95th General Assembly apply only to matters in which a
petition for tax deed is filed on or after the effective date
of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 95-477, eff. 6-1-08.)
 
    Section 10. The Counties Code is amended by changing
Section 3-10008 as follows:
 
    (55 ILCS 5/3-10008)  (from Ch. 34, par. 3-10008)
    Sec. 3-10008. Office hours. Except as otherwise provided in
this Section, the The county treasurer shall keep his office
open and attend to the duties thereof from eight o'clock in the
forenoon to five o'clock in the afternoon on each working day
excepting such days as under law are legal holidays, and may
close his office at 12 o'clock on Saturday of each week;
Provided, that the county treasurer shall not be compelled to
open his office before the hour of nine o'clock a. m. and, by
permission of the county board, the treasurer may close his
office all day Saturday: Provided, further, that, except with
respect to the required office hours applicable to tax sales,
the hours of opening and closing of the office of the county
treasurer may be changed and otherwise fixed and determined by
the county board of any county. Any such action taken by the
county board shall be by an appropriate resolution passed at a
regular meeting. Notwithstanding the provisions of this
Section or any other provision of law, the county treasurer
must keep his or her office open from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
on the business day before the commencement of a tax sale held
in the county pursuant to Division 3.5 of Article 21 of the
Property Tax Code and during the same hours each day the tax
sale is pending. A home rule unit may not regulate the hours
employed by the county treasurer in a manner that is
inconsistent with this Section. This Section is a limitation
under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule
units of powers and functions exercised by the State.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2012.