Unlike DuPage County, Lake County, and the other collar counties, Cook County tax bills are usually up in the air until late in the year. Technically, real estate taxes are supposed to be paid by August 1, but in the last 10 years, I’ve never even seen the second installment tax bill out by August 1. There have been years the bill wasn’t out until November! I thought 10 years was a long time, until I found out that the tax bills have not been out by the deadline even once in the last 40 years. This year, however, rumor has it that the bills will be out on time — in July — and will be due on August 1, which is the statutory deadline. If the bills are paid by August 1, all of the various entities that expect money from the county — schools, fire departments, libraries, etc. — should… read more →
If you are going to be buying or selling a home or other real estate soon, you may be meeting with prospective real estate agents. Because of regulatory changes, you should ask your proposed real estate agent a new question: Are you still licensed? In 2009, the state revamped how real estate agents are categorized. Before, we had salespersons, brokers and managing brokers. Now the state has eliminated the salesperson category. To be a licensed real estate agent, you must be a broker now. Moreover, if you are running your own office, you must be a managing broker. The state also increased the minimal education and continuing education requirements. For example, an entry-level real estate salesperson must now take 120 hours of classes, instead of 45. The deadline is looming near — April 30, 2012 — and as of the end of March, only 35% of salespersons have completed the… read more →
The Illinois Foreclosure Prevention Network (IFPN) has plans to hold five additional foreclosure prevention workshops, entitled “Keep Your Home, Illinois” in the next few months. The first workshop was held a couple weeks ago in Berwyn, and drew nearly 800 homeowners. The workshops aim to assist homeowners in danger of losing their homes in a number of ways, such as: 1) Teaching homeowners about the variety of assistance programs available; 2) Having lenders on-site to answer homeowner queries; 3) Providing counseling services to homeowners; 4) Providing access to representatives from the Illinois Department of Employment Security to assist with unemployment issues; 5) Providing access to representatives from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to assist with mortgage fraud issues; and 6) Assisting homeowners to file for relief through certain state programs, such as the Illinois Hardest Hit Program. More than 103,000 homes in Illinois went into foreclosure last year. Any… read more →
Last month, McLean County launched a new foreclosure mediation program aimed at facilitating communication between homeowners and lenders. Homeowners everywhere complain that they are unable to get through to a person at their lender’s office who will actually listen to them. While the program is voluntary for homeowners, its goal is to allow the homeowner and the lender to speak to each other face-to-face, and hopefully iron out some of their issues. Starting last month, every foreclosure in McLean County became subject to an additional $25 filing fee. Lenders are also required to serve a special summons to the homeowner, which states that they have a right to participate in the voluntary mediation program. McLean County is small — you can see that just in the number of foreclosures that were filed in 2010. Only 574 foreclosures were filed there, as compared to thousands in Cook and some of the… read more →