My daughter failed to pay her property taxes and they were bought up by a lawyer who is now charging to get them back.

I changed the category from Bankruptcy to real estate, as it went to Bankruptcy lawyers everywhere. Hopefully, local real estate lawyers will respond as it really depends on your state's laws. As an aside, in Georgia and other states, the purchase of tax liens is a big business and very lucrative. That is how the state and local governments get their tax money, as obviously the owners are not paying them. The purchaser makes money be charging interest and other fees (again, as allowed by statute). A quit claim deed won't help at all as the lien would go with the property. The fact that a lawyer was suspended 12 years ago does not mean they can't go into another business. Your daughter just needs to deal with the debt and situation as provided in the law. This is just the result of not paying the taxes. Again, hopefully a local lawyer will respond or she needs to find one (unless she can pay).

A quitclaim deed would not help your situation. Property tax liability ultimately attaches to the premises being taxed - a quitclaim deed would not help because the property tax liability would follow the property to be transferred. Unfortunately, someone is going to have to pay the delinquent property taxes one way or another. As property tax is primarily a state-specific issue, I cannot specifically advise whether Illinois avails its taxpayers of an installment, "Offer in Compromise-like," or other alternative payment arrangements. I'd recommend contacting either a Real Estate or Tax attorney at your nearest possible convenience, as time is of the essence when it comes to any tax-related issue. Good luck with your case!

In Illinois, if your daughter was delinquent on her property taxes for two years or more, the county (Kane county in your case) has the discretion to foreclose on the lien and auction off the debt at either a tax sale or a scavenger sale. It sounds like someone purchased the tax debt in your daughter's case. When that person purchased the debt, they must have given proper notice to your daughter of their debt and the correct redemption time. If your daughter failed to redeem within the required period, then the tax deed petitioner could petition the court to grant a tax deed, which is fully merchantable. The tax deed procedure can be found in the Illinois Property Tax Code, 35 ILCS 200/22-5, et seq. There are a number of ways to challenge this; bankruptcy may be one of them, but there are others. You should speak with an attorney.

Generally the tax buyer is entitled to interest, which is set at a sort of backwards auction held by your county. You do not say how long it has been since she failed to pay her taxes. Has the tax buyer taken title to the property yet? If so, he owns the property, and he is under no obligation to sell it back to your daughter. If not, you should be talking to the county treasurer or county clerk to determine what is owed, and then get them paid before he does take title to the property. The fact that he was suspended is irrelevant to him being a tax buyer, and the reasons are shown on the iardc.org website, if you are interested.

You've received solid responses to your question from other Attorneys with local knowledge: critical in tax sales. Buying real estate taxes is a little understood function of Counties to secure payment (especially now when government entities are suffering revenue shortfalls). Your question presumes that something sneaky or wrong took place, but that is highly unlikely. Illinois laws require a lengthy notice period for owner-occupied property, as well as several notices to the owner(s). Judges are reluctant to grant title to a tax buyer unless the buyer can prove that they complied with the law, while the owner(s) did not. Finally, to suggest quit-claiming the property or otherwise "getting out from under" this claim misses the point. If your daughter found herself unable to pay real estate taxes related to her property, the implications are widespread. Most likely she was having other financial issues as well. Had she acted sooner she could have attempted to redeem the taxes from the buyer. At this point she must try to "undo" what has taken place. Bankruptcy has the possibility of undoing this tax sale through an action to avoid a transfer for less than market value ("Preference"). But the fact that the transfer in this case took place in accordance with Illinois law will affect the outcome of that action to avoid a preference. All things considered I recommend that you speak with a competent Bankruptcy Attorney in your area with experience in real estate - and preferably in tax sales. Final caveat: act fast. Your daughter has a limited amount of time in which to challenge the transfer of the property. I hope this information has been a help. Best of luck in your endeavors.

I don't see that it helps you to blame the person that purchased the tax lien while the fault lies with your daughter. Hope this perspective helps!