Monthly Archives: November 2016

Two Changes to Your Home that Should Lower Your Property Taxes

Property Tax Appeal for Vacant or Uninhabitable HomesMost property tax reductions are achieved by successfully associating your home with comparable homes (comps) that are assessed less than yours.

However, there are two additional scenarios that could dramatically reduce your property assessment and tax bill: home vacancy and if your home is uninhabitable.
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Investors Purchasing Foreclosure & REO Properties in Illinois: What You Need to Know

Investors Purchasing Foreclosure & REO Properties in Illinois: What You Need to KnowImportant changes were made to Illinois real estate law as part of Public Act 096-1083, which became effective on July 16, 2010. This law sought to address the problem of assessment officials in Illinois ignoring sales transactions for property assessment purposes on the grounds that they were “non arms-length transactions” and therefore not reflective of a property’s true fair cash value.

This problem applied to an exponentially increasing number of properties following the collapse of the real estate market during the Great Recession, and this legislation was designed to fix the problem.

However, one aspect of this law is being ignored by public assessors in Illinois. If you’re an investor of foreclosure or real estate owned (REO) properties, here’s what you can do about it.
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Chicago Homeowner Property Tax Rebate Applications Due 11/30

Update: the tax rebate deadline to file applications has been extended to December 31, 2016

Property Tax Rebate ChicagoIn an effort to offset his recent $838 million property tax hikes over the past year, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city council have implemented a homeowner rebate program.

Qualified homeowners will receive $25 to $200. You may also qualify for an additional $150 senior supplement and hardship grant that extends your total rebate up to $1,000.
Not many people know about it—we just learned about it and we follow Chicago and Cook County property tax appeal-related news closely—so please read below and share with anyone you think may meet the qualification criteria.
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Can Cook County Retaliate for Property Tax Appeals?

Property Tax Appeal Retaliation in Cook CountyA question that we get a lot about appealing property taxes in Cook County is whether or not the County Assessor or anyone else can retaliate for a successful property tax appeal and reduction.

Since we started working on property tax appeals, we’ve found no evidence of retaliatory measures of any kind.

Instead, we’ve discovered the opposite.
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