103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3568

 

Introduced 2/9/2024, by Sen. Erica Harriss

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
35 ILCS 200/21-305

    Amends the Property Tax Code. Makes changes concerning payments from the Indemnity Fund to provide that all property owners who sustain loss or damage by reason of the issuance of a tax deed are entitled to payments from the Indemnity Fund. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning revenue.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing
5Section 21-305 as follows:
 
6    (35 ILCS 200/21-305)
7    Sec. 21-305. Payments from Indemnity Fund.
8    (a) Any owner of property sold under any provision of this
9Code who sustains loss or damage by reason of the issuance of a
10tax deed under Section 21-445 or 22-40 and who is barred or is
11in any way precluded from bringing an action for the recovery
12of the property shall have the right to indemnity for the loss
13or damage sustained, limited as follows:
14        (1) An owner who resided on property that contained 4
15    or less dwelling units on the last day of the period of
16    redemption and who is equitably entitled to compensation
17    for the loss or damage sustained has the right to
18    indemnity. An equitable indemnity award shall be limited
19    to the fair cash value of the property as of the date the
20    tax deed was issued less any mortgages or liens on the
21    property, and the award will not exceed $99,000. The Court
22    shall liberally construe this equitable entitlement
23    standard to provide compensation wherever, in the

 

 

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1    discretion of the Court, the equities warrant the action.
2        An owner of a property that contained 4 or less
3    dwelling units who requests an award in excess of $99,000
4    must prove that the loss of his or her property was not
5    attributable to his or her own fault or negligence before
6    an award in excess of $99,000 will be granted.
7        (2) (Blank). An owner who sustains the loss or damage
8    of any property occasioned by reason of the issuance of a
9    tax deed, without fault or negligence of his or her own,
10    has the right to indemnity limited to the fair cash value
11    of the property less any mortgages or liens on the
12    property. In determining the existence of fault or
13    negligence, the court shall consider whether the owner
14    exercised ordinary reasonable diligence under all of the
15    relevant circumstances.
16        (3) In determining the fair cash value of property
17    less any mortgages or liens on the property, the fair cash
18    value shall be reduced by the principal amount of all
19    taxes paid by the tax purchaser or his or her assignee
20    before the issuance of the tax deed.
21        (4) If an award made under this Section paragraph (1)
22    or (2) is subject to a reduction by the amount of an
23    outstanding mortgage or lien on the property, other than
24    the principal amount of all taxes paid by the tax
25    purchaser or his or her assignee before the issuance of
26    the tax deed and the petitioner would be personally liable

 

 

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1    to the mortgagee or lienholder for all or part of that
2    reduction amount, the court shall order an additional
3    indemnity award to be paid directly to the mortgagee or
4    lienholder sufficient to discharge the petitioner's
5    personal liability. The court, in its discretion, may
6    order the joinder of the mortgagee or lienholder as an
7    additional party to the indemnity action.
8    (b) Indemnity fund; subrogation.
9        (1) Any person claiming indemnity hereunder shall
10    petition the Court which ordered the tax deed to issue,
11    shall name the County Treasurer, as Trustee of the
12    indemnity fund, as defendant to the petition, and shall
13    ask that judgment be entered against the County Treasurer,
14    as Trustee, in the amount of the indemnity sought. The
15    provisions of the Civil Practice Law shall apply to
16    proceedings under the petition, except that neither the
17    petitioner nor County Treasurer shall be entitled to trial
18    by jury on the issues presented in the petition. The Court
19    shall liberally construe this Section to provide
20    compensation wherever in the discretion of the Court the
21    equities warrant such action.
22        (2) The County Treasurer, as Trustee of the indemnity
23    fund, shall be subrogated to all parties in whose favor
24    judgment may be rendered against him or her, and by third
25    party complaint may bring in as a defendant any person,
26    other than the tax deed grantee and its successors in

 

 

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1    title, not a party to the action who is or may be liable to
2    him or her, as subrogee, for all or part of the
3    petitioner's claim against him or her.
4    (c) Any contract involving the proceeds of a judgment for
5indemnity under this Section, between the tax deed grantee or
6its successors in title and the indemnity petitioner or his or
7her successors, shall be in writing. In any action brought
8under Section 21-305, the Collector shall be entitled to
9discovery regarding, but not limited to, the following:
10        (1) the identity of all persons beneficially
11    interested in the contract, directly or indirectly,
12    including at least the following information: the names
13    and addresses of any natural persons; the place of
14    incorporation of any corporation and the names and
15    addresses of its shareholders unless it is publicly held;
16    the names and addresses of all general and limited
17    partners of any partnership; the names and addresses of
18    all persons having an ownership interest in any entity
19    doing business under an assumed name, and the county in
20    which the assumed business name is registered; and the
21    nature and extent of the interest in the contract of each
22    person identified;
23        (2) the time period during which the contract was
24    negotiated and agreed upon, from the date of the first
25    direct or indirect contact between any of the contracting
26    parties to the date of its execution;

 

 

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1        (3) the name and address of each natural person who
2    took part in negotiating the contract, and the identity
3    and relationship of the party that the person represented
4    in the negotiations; and
5        (4) the existence of an agreement for payment of
6    attorney's fees by or on behalf of each party.
7    Any information disclosed during discovery may be subject
8to protective order as deemed appropriate by the court. The
9terms of the contract shall not be used as evidence of value.
10    (d) A petition of indemnity under this Section must be
11filed within 10 years after the date the tax deed was issued.
12(Source: P.A. 97-557, eff. 7-1-12.)
 
13    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
14becoming law.