REAL ESTATE TAX INFORMATION ON COUNTY WEBSITES


ATG has received a number of questions about whether and when members can rely upon county websites to obtain real estate tax information. If your county provides real estate tax information via a website, confirm with the county exactly what information it displays and how it is displayed. Specifically, ask about the following matters:

  • Which years' tax information is displayed, and for how long;



  • How the website lists the taxes if they are paid by the owner or paid by someone else;



  • How the website lists the taxes if they are delinquent or sold;



  • How the website displays information following a tax sale and whether it indicates who the buyer was, and how and when to redeem; and



  • How often the website is updated and as of what date the information it displays is current.



Any gaps in this information or ambiguous information will require that you follow up with a real estate tax search and/or a phone call to the county to find out the additional real estate tax information before closing or writing a policy in reliance on it.


Specifically, ATG has discovered the following limitations on how members can use the real estate tax information that the Cook County Treasurer shows on its website:

  • The website should not be relied upon for any year's tax information that is not displayed on the webpage. Any prior years' real estate tax information not specifically described on the webpage may be paid, delinquent, or sold. If your real estate tax search reveals prior years' delinquent, or sold taxes, then the website cannot be relied upon for information about those years' taxes, and you must call the county for updated information.



  • As soon as the county receives payment from any party, including a prior year tax buyer, a current year tax buyer, or anyone else, the taxes show as paid. The only two categories the county shows are unpaid or paid. If the taxes are shown unpaid but the due date has passed, then they are delinquent. If your real estate tax search reveals prior years' delinquent or sold taxes, or current year delinquent taxes, then you must call the county to find out who paid the current year's taxes, because it could be a tax buyer.



  • If the owner has applied for a certificate of error but there has been no adjudication, the county will show the lower amount as being due, not the recommended amount. If the owner pays only the lower amount, the website will show the taxes as paid. However, ATG requires in that situation that you find out the recommended amount and establish a title indemnity escrow for twice the amount of the difference, in case the certificate of error is decided against the owner.



If you have any questions, please contact the Underwriting Department,legal@atgf.com, 217.403.0020, or 312.752.1990.

© ATG UB0701vol12no1

 

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