Still to be decided is whether Cook County government is on the hook to pay thousands of plaintiffs for the equity they lost. Totaling the unsustainable tax increases and windfall revenue during Pritzker Administration – Wirepoints
May 26, 2026
14 Comments
With $162 billion more from taxpayers, couldn’t you deliver a few bond upgrades, too
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A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
You’re all wrong. Very few understood the tax sale process or it’s purposes. The previous processes, there were three, are simple to understand, but perfecting the lien into real property was complex, specialized and expensive. Bidding on delinquent taxes was a public auction event that involved calculated risk. Buyers provided liquidity capital to the counties for potential profit. The purpose of the Annual Sale auctions was to enforce compliance and provide immediate funds for the county. Annual Sale auctions were a percentage of tax due with a zero interest rate opening bid. Nobody has bid over 0 percent since the… Read more »
I forgot to mention that the old process took roughly 3 years and had a redemption process for the property owner to pay back the tax purchaser plus fees and interest. There was also an indemnity fund financed by tax purchases for owner occupied properties. 35 ILCS 200/21-35 gives trial courts broad discussion for those equitably entitled to just compensation.
You sound as if you have money to lose on this outcome. But the enforcement mechanisms go nowhere. The county simply cannot keep more than it is owed and that should not create a “liquidity crisis”. As far as liquidity goes for the county, that ship has sailed and they created the mess they are in with over promising pension benefits and overspending on most everything. They need to live within their means from tax revenue – they don’t get to keep someone’s home equity too as operating funds for more pet projects. There are court rulings and 49 other… Read more »
The county is not taking or getting anything! The tax buyer gets the deed to the property if the owner fails to redeem. Tax buyers make a calculated risk. If there’s no reward or profit incentive, the tax buyers will not bid at the auction. If nobody bids at auction, the county will not get property taxes from delinquent homeowners. Very few properties go to tax buyers. Maybe one in five thousand tax purchases results in a deed in Annual Sales. Scavenger Sales are all vacant lots.
“Can somebody tell me how tax compliance is going to look in the future without enforcement mechanisms? Hardship exemptions? How will the county maintain its coffers without liquidity? Why would tax buyers provide liquidity to the county if there’s no financial incentive? … This is garbage is the real estate equivalent of the Safe-T act.” Well said, sir! If this decision stands it will lead inevitably to an INCREASE in the number of tax delinquent parcels in the County. Any time you REDUCE the negative consequences for bad behavior you will get more of it. As a practical matter this… Read more »
If someone has 100k in equity in their home and they owe the county 10k, should the county be able to take 100k even though they were only owed 10k? That’s the crux of the issue. The county should be able to force sell delinquent homes but shouldn’t be able to keep more than what is owed.
“If someone has 100k in equity in their home and they owe the county 10k, should the county be able to take 100k even though they were only owed 10k?” Any real world examples of this you’d care to share? If you have $100k in equity and you stupidly and/or stubbornly refuse to access it in order to pay your $10k real estate tax bill, and you make the authorities drag you through MULTIPLE LAYERS OF DUE PROCESS PROTECTION which results in the forfeiture of your equity, then yeah, you should lose it. In the meantime, how about showing some… Read more »
Again, this is news? Where have you all been for the last 50 years? This has always been the way it worked. You are all so used to being the victims of government theft that you don’t even see it unless it smacks you in the face. I think Stockholm syndrome is the proper term.
Yes, it’s the same syndrome that allows Illinois residents to think that a two percent property tax is reasonable.
Taking more than your fair share of what is due is criminal and Illinois knew this as the lone holdout. This has become a class action lawsuit that will have briefings within the week. Here we go again, Cook County will raise taxes on everyone else to pay for their mistakes. It never ends and no one is ever held accountable. Tragically, these households are likely minority areas that vote to keep the same people in office that are literally stealing from them.
Who do you think is going to pay for mistakes a government body makes? Cook county voters put these people in office and it’s the voters that will pay. Choose wisely in the voting booth otherwise expect to get inefficient and expensive government.
Who should pay restitution for a scam? Those who benefitted. The people who lined their pockets with more and more money, while producing nothing of value. The constant whine of “the voters, the voters” is really tiresome.
I agree, those that benefitted from any scam should be the ones that pay. In this case, the taxpayers of Cook county benefitted by getting additional funds that didn’t belong to the county. Those same taxpayers, aka voters, also put those elected leaders in charge who made these bad decisions. As such, it is the taxpayers who are ultimately responsible. I understand that you (like most Illinois voters) don’t like being held accountable for your actions but that’s how the real world works. Pull up your granny panties and start behaving like an adult. If the voters won’t demand better… Read more »
Hey, we agree on something! The real world holds people accountable for their actions.
But you seem to believe that accountability attaches to the furthest degree of separation from the action.
Some people vote for politicians who commit crimes, or who confer benefits on favored groups of voters. But somehow you decide that all voters are responsible for the results of what the politicians do. I bet Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon was your favorite game.
And you can stop with the granny comments. They don’t make you seem smart.
Finally! Now reform the assessment scam so appeals are not required constantly to enforce fair levies. Like most things in Illinois, the tax appeals system, like the tax sale scam, was all set up to benefit insiders and politicians.
And, of course, who are the chief beneficiaries of these tax sales? Insiders connected to the Democratic Party. Probably encouraged by Burke and Madigan’s law firms. And, who are the chief victims? Constituents of Preckwinkle and Johnson. And, who will pay for this? Taxpayers, not the ones who profited.
You’re wrong. If third party tax bidders are eliminated, the county is going to pick up penalty fees. That’s more revenue, more power, more jobs, bigger budget for the county. Also, is the county going to foreclose if nobody pays? What if the tax bill is larger than the property value?
Publius – you could be considerably more precise than you have been in your comments. Third party bidders are not going to be eliminated; rather I think you mean they will be fewer in number without the upside potential to grab equity when they purchase the lien. If this is the case I think you have a point. As to penalty fees, I think you are suggesting that to buttress enforcement penalty fees will increase. But to property owners who have already let their properties into tax lien status, how challenging will it be to collect penalties? Challenging one would… Read more »
I’m doing my best. I haven’t thought about tax sales in 15 years. There’s not much incentive to purchase the lien in the first place. You need a dedicated staff and volume to make it worth wile. It’s an operation that requires lots of overhead. Previously, you’d need, at minimum, one staff attorney and a clerk. The biggest expense was is in petitioning for tax deed. Why spend thousands on a petition when you could just walk away and forfeit interest? A homeowner could burn through attorney fees by just showing up to court. It will be more prudent to… Read more »
I just figured out a forced public auction takes place in counties that have changed over and proceeds are paid out. I guess that answers my question. Well, this will burn through more equity and the homeowner will still lose.