Full Text of SB2636 95th General Assembly
SB2636eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning property.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 3. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing | 5 |
| Section 20-175 as follows:
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| (35 ILCS 200/20-175)
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| Sec. 20-175. Refund for erroneous assessments or | 8 |
| overpayments. If any
property is twice assessed for the same | 9 |
| year, or assessed before it becomes
taxable, and the | 10 |
| erroneously assessed taxes have been paid either at sale or
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| otherwise, or have been overpaid by the same claimant or by | 12 |
| different
claimants, the County Collector, upon being | 13 |
| satisfied of the facts in the case,
shall refund the taxes to | 14 |
| the proper claimant. When the County Collector is
unable to | 15 |
| determine the proper claimant, the circuit court, on petition | 16 |
| of the
person paying the taxes, or his or her agent, and being | 17 |
| satisfied of the facts
in the case, shall direct the county | 18 |
| collector to refund the taxes and deduct
the amount thereof, | 19 |
| pro rata, from the moneys due to taxing bodies which
received | 20 |
| the taxes erroneously paid, or their legal successors. | 21 |
| Pleadings
in connection with the petition provided for in this | 22 |
| Section shall conform
to that prescribed in the Civil Practice | 23 |
| Law. Appeals may be taken from the
judgment of the circuit |
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| court, either by the county collector or by the
petitioner, as | 2 |
| in other civil cases. Any erroneous assessment payments or | 3 |
| overpayments not refunded within 7 years shall be delivered to | 4 |
| the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer pursuant to the | 5 |
| Illinois Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. A claim | 6 |
| for refund shall not be allowed
unless a petition is filed | 7 |
| within 5 years from the date the right to a refund
arose. If a | 8 |
| certificate of error results in the allowance of a homestead
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| exemption not previously allowed, the county collector shall | 10 |
| pay the taxpayer
interest on the amount of taxes paid that are | 11 |
| attributable to the amount of the
additional allowance, at the | 12 |
| rate of 6% per year. To cover the cost of
interest, the county | 13 |
| collector shall proportionately reduce the distribution of
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| taxes collected for each taxing district in which the property | 15 |
| is situated.
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| (Source: P.A. 83-121; 85-468; 88-455.)
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| Section 5. The Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property | 18 |
| Act is amended by changing Section 20 as follows:
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| (765 ILCS 1025/20) (from Ch. 141, par. 120)
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| Sec. 20. Determination of claims.
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| (a) The State Treasurer shall consider any claim filed | 22 |
| under this
Act and may, in his discretion, hold a hearing and | 23 |
| receive evidence
concerning it. Such hearing shall be conducted | 24 |
| by the State Treasurer or by a
hearing officer designated by |
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| him. No hearings shall be held if the
payment of the claim is | 2 |
| ordered by a court, if the claimant is under court
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| jurisdiction, or if the claim is paid under Article XXV of the | 4 |
| Probate Act
of 1975. The State Treasurer or hearing officer | 5 |
| shall prepare a finding and a
decision in writing on each | 6 |
| hearing, stating the substance of any evidence
heard by him, | 7 |
| his findings of fact in respect thereto, and the reasons for
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| his decision. The State Treasurer shall review the findings and | 9 |
| decision of
each hearing conducted by a hearing officer and | 10 |
| issue a final written decision.
The final decision shall be a | 11 |
| public record. Any claim of an interest in
property that is | 12 |
| filed pursuant to this Act shall be considered and a finding
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| and decision shall be issued by the Office of the State | 14 |
| Treasurer in a timely
and expeditious manner.
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| (b) If the claim is allowed, and after deducting an amount | 16 |
| not to
exceed $20 to cover the cost of notice publication and | 17 |
| related clerical
expenses, the State Treasurer shall make | 18 |
| payment forthwith.
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| (c) In order to carry out the purpose of this Act, no | 20 |
| person or company
shall be entitled to a fee for discovering | 21 |
| presumptively abandoned property
until it has been in the | 22 |
| custody of the Unclaimed Property Division
of the Office of the | 23 |
| State Treasurer for at least 24 months. Fees
for discovering | 24 |
| property that has been in the custody of that division for
more | 25 |
| than 24 months shall be limited to not more than 10% of the | 26 |
| amount
collected.
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| (d) A person or company attempting to collect a contingent | 2 |
| fee for
discovering, on behalf of an owner, presumptively | 3 |
| abandoned property must be
licensed as a private detective | 4 |
| pursuant to the Private Detective, Private
Alarm, Private | 5 |
| Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004.
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| (e) This Section shall not apply to the fees of an attorney | 7 |
| at law duly
appointed to practice in a state of the United | 8 |
| States who is employed by a
claimant with regard to probate | 9 |
| matters on a contractual basis.
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| (f) Any person or company offering to identify, discover, | 11 |
| or collect presumptively abandoned property or property which | 12 |
| may become presumptively abandoned on behalf of the putative | 13 |
| owner of such property in exchange for a fee, must provide the | 14 |
| owner with a written disclosure. The disclosure shall be set | 15 |
| forth in a clear and conspicuous manner and at a minimum shall | 16 |
| state the following: | 17 |
| Each state maintains an office of unclaimed property. | 18 |
| Generally, if for a number of years an owner of property | 19 |
| has not communicated directly with the holder of the | 20 |
| property, and has not otherwise indicated an interest in or | 21 |
| claimed the property, the property will be delivered to a | 22 |
| state administered unclaimed property program. Upon such | 23 |
| delivery, the owner will be able to recover the property | 24 |
| from the state administered program without charge by the | 25 |
| state. The unclaimed asset referred to in this Agreement | 26 |
| has not yet been reported or remitted to any state |
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| unclaimed property office. Since you reside (or resided) in | 2 |
| Illinois, you may obtain information about the Illinois | 3 |
| unclaimed property program by logging onto its website at | 4 |
| www.treasurer.il.gov. | 5 |
| A person or company may not charge a fee greater than | 6 |
| 25% of the property's value for the recovery of that | 7 |
| property where the property is not yet reportable under | 8 |
| this Act and the designated owner of that property, as | 9 |
| reflected within the books and records of the holder, is | 10 |
| living. | 11 |
| A person or company may not charge a fee greater than | 12 |
| 33% of the property's value for the recovery of that | 13 |
| property where the property is not yet reportable under | 14 |
| this Act and the recovery of that property involves | 15 |
| documentation of the owner's death or any elements of | 16 |
| estate or trust administration. | 17 |
| (Source: P.A. 95-613, eff. 9-11-07.)
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| Section 10. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 19 |
| Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2BBB as follows: | 20 |
| (815 ILCS 505/2BBB new) | 21 |
| Sec. 2BBB. Abandoned property recovery fee. Any person or | 22 |
| company offering to identify, discover, or collect property | 23 |
| held by a public agency, as that term is defined by the Public | 24 |
| Funds Investment Act, on behalf of a consumer in exchange for a |
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| fee must provide the owner of the property with a written | 2 |
| disclosure. This disclosure shall include, at a minimum, a | 3 |
| statement indicating the public agency does not charge fees for | 4 |
| the recovery of any property. A person or company may not | 5 |
| charge a fee greater than 25% for the recovery of property held | 6 |
| by a public agency.
Any person who violates this Section | 7 |
| commits an unlawful practice within the meaning of this Act. | 8 |
| This Section is not applicable to any category of property that | 9 |
| is, or will become, reportable pursuant to the Uniform | 10 |
| Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act.
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