Despite decreased home values, the collective total tax burden for Cook County property-owners will rise approximately 4.2% for the 2008 tax year. It appears that overall, the city's taxes will increase more than suburban taxes, because the collective tax burden for city property-owners will be about 6% greater than last year. Because of the way real estate taxes are calculated, collective property values (for tax purposes only) increased 9.96% in the city and 8.23% in the suburbs.
Both the suburbs and the city are comprised of multiple taxing bodies, such as schools, libraries, park districts, governmental bodies, etc. Even though the value of your home may have gone down, and you may have even had a successful assessed value appeal, the various factors that go into determining your tax rate may have gone up. For example, the Chicago Board of Education increased its tax requirements by over five percent, and the City of Chicago government needed a 1.6% increase. The Forest Preserve District and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District increased their budgets by 4.5% each.
Is there any good news in all of this? Well, taxes going up is seldom good news. However, as the bills are coming out late, homeowners can hold on to their money a little bit longer.
One more tidbit: Typically, the first installment tax bill of any given tax year in Cook County is exactly half of the previous full-year bill. Starting with the 2009 first installment tax bill, however, this is going to change. The 2009 first installment tax bill will be 55% of the total 2008 tax bill.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
The Homeowners Rights Act and Notice to Homeowners in Foreclosure
If you are being foreclosed, the Homeowners Rights Act (Public Act 095-0961) applies to you. Under this act, which took effective at the start of 2009, lenders must attach a Homeowner Notice to residential suits filed in Illinois. The Homeowner Notice should advise homeowners of the options available to them -- i.e. homeowners have the option to (i) have the loan reinstated if they can bring it current within 90 days, (ii) sell the home, or refinance the loan to pay the loan off within the applicable redemption period, and (iii) collect surplus funds if the bank forecloses and then sells the home for a profit. Additionally, the Homeowner Notice must clearly state how the homewoners may contact the lender to discuss a workout package or demand a payoff amount. The Homeowner Notice should also ask the homeowners to consider seeking legal assistance.
What happens if your lender violates the Homeowners Rights Act and does not provide you a Homeowner Notice? Well, you can petition the judge in your case to award you damages for violating the act. You can also receive attorneys' fees and costs if you prevail in the foreclosure suit, a counter-claim, or a motion related to the act. The purpose of the act is not to penalize lenders, but rather to give homeowners clear notice of their rights and options, especially since many homeowners are not aware of what steps they can or should take once a foreclosure suit has been filed.
What happens if your lender violates the Homeowners Rights Act and does not provide you a Homeowner Notice? Well, you can petition the judge in your case to award you damages for violating the act. You can also receive attorneys' fees and costs if you prevail in the foreclosure suit, a counter-claim, or a motion related to the act. The purpose of the act is not to penalize lenders, but rather to give homeowners clear notice of their rights and options, especially since many homeowners are not aware of what steps they can or should take once a foreclosure suit has been filed.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Landlords and the Tenant Utility Payment Disclosure Act
If you are an Illinois landlord, and you rent apartments where utilities are not separately metered, you should be aware of the Tenant Utility Payment Disclosure Act (765 ILCS 740/1). Under the Tenant Utility Payment Disclosure Act, the landlord must disclose, the formula he uses for determining each tenant's share of utilities when he has multiple tenants and the utilities are not individually metered.
The landlord should disclose this information prior to demanding payment for utilities. The disclosure can be written into the lease, or consist of a separate document. The landlord's formula should take into account the usage of all of the units metered together. Upon a tenant's request, the landlord should also provide a copy of the whole utility bill.
Condominium associations are also required to clarify how they are billing common utilities; however, in the case of most condominium associations, utilities are billed as per the condominium declaration, based on each unit's individual ownership share in the association.
The landlord should disclose this information prior to demanding payment for utilities. The disclosure can be written into the lease, or consist of a separate document. The landlord's formula should take into account the usage of all of the units metered together. Upon a tenant's request, the landlord should also provide a copy of the whole utility bill.
Condominium associations are also required to clarify how they are billing common utilities; however, in the case of most condominium associations, utilities are billed as per the condominium declaration, based on each unit's individual ownership share in the association.
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