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1. What is a “tax buyer”? How do I become one? When is the tax sale? What is the procedure at the tax sale? How do I pay? How do I get my certificate of sale?

Find information on what a tax buyer is on the Tax Buyer Information page.

2. What is the next step after I buy the taxes on a property?

After you have paid the Treasurer the amount owed and received your tax sale certificate, the next step is to prepare and file the initial Take Notice. This needs to be done within four and a half months after the tax sale. You can do it on your own, making sure to abide by the Property Tax Code, or you can authorize the County Clerk’s Office to do it for you at no charge.

3. What should I do if the subsequent years’ taxes are not paid either?

You can “subtax” them once they are delinquent; that is, you can pay them at the Treasurer’s office, then come to the County Clerk’s office and have them posted to the redemption account at a 12% per year penalty. This can only be done before the next tax sale and after the second installment goes delinquent in September (unless you have already filed the petition for tax deed with the Circuit Court—see #5 below—in which case current year taxes can be subtaxed as soon as bills are mailed in May.

4. How do I extend the last date to redeem?

Send a written authorization (e-mail is fine) to the County Clerk’s Office, giving the PIN and the date to extend it to. The last date to redeem cannot be extended once it has already passed, unless a Petition for Tax Deed has been filed with the Circuit Court (see #5 below.)

5. The end of the redemption period is getting close. What is the procedure for obtaining the deed to the property?

Within the window of three to six months before the final date to redeem, you must file a Petition for Tax Deed with the Circuit Court and have final Take Notices mailed, served and published. After the redemption period has expired, you can apply to the Court for an Order Directing Issuance of Tax Deed. Bring that executed Order, the tax sale certificate, the tax deed and $5.00 to the County Clerk’s Office. The County Clerk’s Office will verify that the party on the tax deed is the tax buyer on the property, and that all subsequent years’ taxes have been paid, including taxes bought by a different tax buyer. Once we sign off on the tax deed, you can record it with the Recorder’s office for a nominal fee.

6. Can I get reimbursed for expenses?

Certain costs can be posted to the redemption account by submitting paid receipts (copies are acceptable) to the County Clerk’s Office; however, no charges can be posted within one month of the final date to redeem. To see what charges can be posted, please read 35 ILCS 200/21-355.

7. How can I verify whether charges have posted or what the current redemption balance is?

If you go to Lake Sold Taxes website you can generate an Estimate of Redemption that will list all taxes, subtaxes, penalties, and costs posted to the redemption account. For more information, view the Lake Sold Taxes website.

8. How do I know if the taxes have been redeemed?

If you need to know immediately, you can go to Lake Sold Taxes website to generate an Estimate of Redemption. If one is generated for that PIN, the taxes have not been redeemed. Otherwise you’ll get a message, “No record found for PIN XX-XX-XXX-XXX. If this PIN is correct, there are no sold taxes currently owed on this property.” On the 1st and 15th of each month, the County Clerk’s office sends out a Tax Buyer Redemption Report listing any property of yours that has been redeemed. If you do not get a report, there are no redeemed properties awaiting tax buyer payout. For more information, visit the Lake Sold Taxes website.

9. How do I get paid on a property that has been redeemed?

Once that property shows up on the Tax Buyer Redemption Report (see #8 above), you may submit the tax sale certificate for the property, by mail or in person, to the County Clerk’s Office. We will cut a check for the amount shown on the report.

10. Do I have to pay income tax on any of this?

The only part of your redemption payout subject to income tax is the accrued penalty—the percent you bid at the tax sale or the 12% per year for subtaxes (see #3 above). This will be treated as interest income. At the beginning of the following year, you will receive a 1099-INT form from the County Clerk’s Office to use in your income tax return preparation.