093_HB2905eng HB2905 Engrossed LRB093 07191 SJM 07346 b 1 AN ACT concerning taxes. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing 5 Sections 21-15, 21-20, and 21-25 as follows: 6 (35 ILCS 200/21-15) 7 Sec. 21-15. General tax due dates; default by mortgage 8 lender. Except as otherwise provided in this Section or 9 Section 21-40, all property upon which the first installment 10 of taxes remains unpaid on June 1 annually shall be deemed 11 delinquent and shall bear interest after June 1 at the rate 12 of 1 1/2% per month or portion thereof. Except as otherwise 13 provided in this Section or Section 21-40, all property upon 14 which the second installment of taxes remains due and unpaid 15 on September 1, annually, shall be deemed delinquent and 16 shall bear interest after September 1 at the same interest 17 rate. All interest collected shall be paid into the general 18 fund of the county. Payment received by mail and postmarked 19 on or before the required due date is not delinquent. 20 Property not subject to the interest charge in Section 21 9-265 shall also not be subject to the interest charge 22 imposed by this Section until such time as the owner of the 23 property receives actual notice of and is billed for the 24 principal amount of back taxes due and owing. 25 If an Illinois resident who is a member of the Illinois 26 National Guard or a reserve component of the armed forces of 27 the United States and who has an ownership interest in 28 property taxed under this Act is called to active duty for 29 deployment outside the continental United States and is on 30 active duty on the due date of any installment of taxes due 31 under this Act, he or she shall not be deemed delinquent in HB2905 Engrossed -2- LRB093 07191 SJM 07346 b 1 the payment of the installment and no interest shall accrue 2 or be charged as a penalty on the installment until one year 330 daysafter that member returns from active duty. To be 4 deemed not delinquent in the payment of an installment of 5 taxes and any interest on that installment, the reservist or 6 guardsperson must notify the county clerk within 30 days 7 after his or her deactivation and provide verification of the 8 date of his or her deactivation. An installment of property 9 taxes on the property of any reservist or guardsperson who 10 fails to provide timely notice and verification of 11 deactivation to the county clerk is subject to interest and 12 penalties as delinquent taxes under this Code from the date 13 of deactivation. 14 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when any 15 unpaid taxes become delinquent under this Section through the 16 fault of the mortgage lender, (i) the interest assessed under 17 this Section for delinquent taxes shall be charged against 18 the mortgage lender and not the mortgagor and (ii) the 19 mortgage lender shall pay the taxes, redeem the property and 20 take all necessary steps to remove any liens accruing against 21 the property because of the delinquency. In the event that 22 more than one entity meets the definition of mortgage lender 23 with respect to any mortgage, the interest shall be assessed 24 against the mortgage lender responsible for servicing the 25 mortgage. Unpaid taxes shall be deemed delinquent through 26 the fault of the mortgage lender only if: (a) the mortgage 27 lender has received all payments due the mortgage lender for 28 the property being taxed under the written terms of the 29 mortgage or promissory note secured by the mortgage, (b) the 30 mortgage lender holds funds in escrow to pay the taxes, and 31 (c) the funds are sufficient to pay the taxes after deducting 32 all amounts reasonably anticipated to become due for all 33 hazard insurance premiums and mortgage insurance premiums and 34 any other assessments to be paid from the escrow under the HB2905 Engrossed -3- LRB093 07191 SJM 07346 b 1 terms of the mortgage. For purposes of this Section, an 2 amount is reasonably anticipated to become due if it is 3 payable within 12 months from the time of determining the 4 sufficiency of funds held in escrow. Unpaid taxes shall not 5 be deemed delinquent through the fault of the mortgage lender 6 if the mortgage lender was directed in writing by the 7 mortgagor not to pay the property taxes, or if the failure to 8 pay the taxes when due resulted from inadequate or inaccurate 9 parcel information provided by the mortgagor, a title or 10 abstract company, or by the agency or unit of government 11 assessing the tax. 12 (Source: P.A. 90-336, eff. 1-1-98; 90-575, eff. 3-20-98; 13 91-199, eff. 1-1-00; 91-898, eff. 7-6-00.) 14 (35 ILCS 200/21-20) 15 Sec. 21-20. Due dates; accelerated billing in counties 16 of less than 3,000,000. Except as otherwise provided in 17 Section 21-40, in counties with less than 3,000,000 18 inhabitants in which the accelerated method of billing and 19 paying taxes provided for in Section 21-30 is in effect, the 20 estimated first installment of unpaid taxes shall be deemed 21 delinquent and shall bear interest after a date not later 22 than June 1 annually as provided for in the ordinance or 23 resolution of the county board adopting the accelerated 24 method, at the rate of 1 1/2% per month or portion thereof 25 until paid or forfeited. The second installment of unpaid 26 taxes shall be deemed delinquent and shall bear interest 27 after August 1 annually at the same interest rate until paid 28 or forfeited. Payment received by mail and postmarked on or 29 before the required due date is not delinquent. 30 If an Illinois resident who is a member of the Illinois 31 National Guard or a reserve component of the armed forces of 32 the United States and who has an ownership interest in 33 property taxed under this Act is called to active duty for HB2905 Engrossed -4- LRB093 07191 SJM 07346 b 1 deployment outside the continental United States and is on 2 active duty on the due date of any installment of taxes due 3 under this Act, he or she shall not be deemed delinquent in 4 the payment of the installment and no interest shall accrue 5 or be charged as a penalty on the installment until one year 630 daysafter that member returns from active duty. To be 7 deemed not delinquent in the payment of an installment of 8 taxes and any interest on that installment, the reservist or 9 guardsperson must notify the county clerk within 30 days 10 after his or her deactivation and provide verification of the 11 date of his or her deactivation. An installment of property 12 taxes on the property of any reservist or guardsperson who 13 fails to provide timely notice and verification of 14 deactivation to the county clerk is subject to interest and 15 penalties as delinquent taxes under this Code from the date 16 of deactivation. 17 (Source: P.A. 91-199, eff. 1-1-00; 91-898, eff. 7-6-00.) 18 (35 ILCS 200/21-25) 19 Sec. 21-25. Due dates; accelerated billing in counties 20 of 3,000,000 or more. Except as hereinafter provided and as 21 provided in Section 21-40, in counties with 3,000,000 or more 22 inhabitants in which the accelerated method of billing and 23 paying taxes provided for in Section 21-30 is in effect, the 24 estimated first installment of unpaid taxes shall be deemed 25 delinquent and shall bear interest after March 1 at the rate 26 of 1 1/2% per month or portion thereof until paid or 27 forfeited. The second installment of unpaid taxes shall be 28 deemed delinquent and shall bear interest after August 1 29 annually at the same interest rate until paid or forfeited. 30 If the county board elects by ordinance adopted prior to 31 July 1 of a levy year to provide for taxes to be paid in 4 32 installments, each installment for that levy year and each 33 subsequent year shall be deemed delinquent and shall begin to HB2905 Engrossed -5- LRB093 07191 SJM 07346 b 1 bear interest 30 days after the date specified by the 2 ordinance for mailing bills, at the rate of 1 1/2% per month 3 or portion thereof, until paid or forfeited. 4 Payment received by mail and postmarked on or before the 5 required due date is not delinquent. 6 Taxes levied on homestead property in which a member of 7 the National Guard or reserves of the armed forces of the 8 United States who was called to active duty on or after 9 August 1, 1990, and who has an ownership interest, shall not 10 be deemed delinquent and no interest shall accrue or be 11 charged as a penalty on such taxes due and payable in 1991 or 12 1992 until one year after that member returns to civilian 13 status. 14 If an Illinois resident who is a member of the Illinois 15 National Guard or a reserve component of the armed forces of 16 the United States and who has an ownership interest in 17 property taxed under this Act is called to active duty for 18 deployment outside the continental United States and is on 19 active duty on the due date of any installment of taxes due 20 under this Act, he or she shall not be deemed delinquent in 21 the payment of the installment and no interest shall accrue 22 or be charged as a penalty on the installment until one year 2330 daysafter that member returns to civilian status. To be 24 deemed not delinquent in the payment of an installment of 25 taxes and any interest on that installment, the reservist or 26 guardsperson must notify the county clerk within 30 days 27 after his or her deactivation and provide verification of the 28 date of his or her deactivation. An installment of property 29 taxes on the property of any reservist or guardsperson who 30 fails to provide timely notice and verification of 31 deactivation to the county clerk is subject to interest and 32 penalties as delinquent taxes under this Code from the date 33 of deactivation. 34 (Source: P.A. 91-199, eff. 1-1-00; 91-898, eff. 7-6-00.) HB2905 Engrossed -6- LRB093 07191 SJM 07346 b 1 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 2 becoming law.