7 Things EVERY Cook County Homeowner Should Know About Property Taxes!

Homeowners Finally Have Access to it...

We at IQ Tax Appeal, thought would it would ONLY make sense to help homeowners understand how their property taxes work in 2018, so you can:

- Avoid late fees.

- Updated with latest property laws.

- How homeowners can save money on their property taxes.

- Prevent homeowners from losing their home.

So, lets begin on the "7 Things a Homeowner in Cook County Should Know About Their Property Taxes."

1. NOT Paying Your

Property Taxes, Can Be Sold to A 3rd Party...

( AVOID this at all cost)

This one is maybe the MOST important things homeowners should know because your house is at risk being loss or making higher payments on your property taxes!

Read CAREFULLY.

In case you did not know, LATENEGLECTach year, thousands of Cook County property owners pay their real estate property taxes to pay them at all... or even

Then what happens is...

ANY UNPAID amount on your property taxes may then be subjected to SALE to a third party (Private companies,Realtors,etc.)

Which means someone can legally buy the debt you owe the government!

WHY IS THIS BAD?

Lets give you an example:

IF you owe $500 on your property taxes, the government will auctioned it off to buyers who can buy your debt. At this point, a private company/realtors can purchase that existing debt.

Once bought, the owners of your property tax debt can legally raise the interest on your debt you owe substantially HIGH!

In some cases, as high as 15% HIGHER!

If you are already struggling enough to keep up with family bills & car payments..

Do NOT take the risk of having an INCREASE amount of interest on your property taxes and the risk of losing your house!

Pay your property taxes at ALL COST..

IF you have had the experience of having your UNPAID taxes being...

IF you have had the experience of having your unpaid taxes being sold at:

- Annual tax sale.

- Scavenger sale.

the Clerk's office can provide you with an Estimate Cost of Redemption(ECoD).

This will be detailing amount that is necessary to pay your taxes if you want to remove the threat of losing your property.

Advice:

- Just pay your property taxes.

2. You Can Be ALLOWED to Pay Your Property Taxes with a Credit Card.

(But theres Limits..)

This post shows what homeowners are allowed to do in order to make payments on their property taxes online.

According to the Cook County Website,

You CAN do the following methods when attempting to pay your property taxes online with a credit card:

• Pay the outstanding balance of General Taxes for the current tax year(s).

• Pay taxes either in full or make a partial payment

• Pay via electronic funds transfer.

• Pay by credit or debit card prior to the original installment due date.

However, there are LIMITS on what you do when paying your property taxes online.

What You CANNOT Do is:

• Pay more than the amount indicated as due.

• Pay via a passbook savings account or any other non-ACH debit-eligible account.

• Pay taxes on any PIN from more than one bank account per payment.

• Pay any back tax, arrearage tax, circulator tax, pollution tax, or municipal special assessment.

• Pay any subsequent tax ("sub tax") as part of, and subsequent to, any tax sale purchase.

• Redeem tax sales or general forfeitures.

• Pay from a foreign account.

Advice:

Screenshot this!

If you choose to pay your property taxes online you can know whats allowed and what is NOT by just going to your photos.

3. You Can Get A TAX BREAK Because of Your Property Taxes!

( But Theres A Catch...)

IF you didn't hear about the NEW law that just passed a few months ago, it basically changes everything about how much you can deduct yearly from your personal expenses....

The NEW law is - S.A.L.T (State and local income taxes)

Incase if you didn't know, state and local property tax deductions are now LIMITED at $10,000. SALT will be taking place in the beginning of NEXT YEAR all over the nation.

It gets even worse...

This limit on your deductions ALSO includes your income taxes AND Sales taxes (Usually applies to Business Owners ONLY)

Before this law, you were allowed an UNLIMITED amount of deductions for your personal expenses!

NOW...

As homeowners and citizens of the U.S.A, homeowners are capped at $10,000 in deductions from their property, income & sales taxes, all together.

This will result in the residents of Cook County

(And Nationwide) NOT being able fully deduct their expenses, as they might be use to.

Who Does This Affect?

While the situations are so DIVERSE & we cant give a scerio based on EVERY situation...

We gave you TWO examples of who we think it will HURT the MOST:

1. Struggling Families

Unfortunately, this will hurt alot of struggling families who are living cash-strapped. If family X is always use to deducting a total of $20,000.00, this is NOT possible anymore. They will be only allowed to deduct $10,000 of it! Resulting, in additional 833.33 monthly payments!

2. Homeowners with More Than ONE Home.

Because you can only deduct up to $10,000 for an individual for total deductions, the homeowner who will have left over property taxes for their first home will now maybe have to pick up ANOTHER property tax bill if their property taxes on the 2nd home exceeds $10,000. Any additional personal properties for homeowners might be in a bad spot for NEXT year.

Advice: ​

- Because 63% of properties in Illinois are OVER-Assesed, there is a great opportunity for Cook County residents to appeal their property taxes and be SUCCESSFUL.

- We suggest homeowners in Cook County check their property taxes right now .... by going to , enter your address & see the results if you are OVER-paying!

4. You Can Pay Your Property Taxes Out of An "Escrow Account".

NOW, lets talk about a Escrow Account.

Whats a Escrow Account?

Its basically when a homeowner tells their mortgage company to include their property taxes with their mortgage bill on a monthly basis.

Instead of a homeowner coming up with 6 months of thier property taxes on a specific date, the mortgage company will help you into making monthly payments your property taxes!

Then when your property taxes are due..You will have the money to do so!

Advice:

- We suggest this method, because its allowing you to get into the habit of paying your property taxes on a monthly basis with your mortgage payment. Except, when your property taxes are due you will actual have the full money you've been pretending to pay every month.

5. You Might Be Eligible for a Property TAX Exemption!

We are going to show you and specially who can qualify for a property tax exemption below!

According to Cook County Website,

There are 4 categories a homeowner can fall under in order to be eligible for a property tax exemption!

1. Homeowner exemption

• Taxpayers whose are living in:

• single-family home,

• townhouse,

• condominium,

• co-op or apartment building (up to six units) is their primary residence

Can SAVE $250 to $2,000 per year, depending on local tax rates and assessment increases. First-time applicants must have been the occupants of the property as of January 1 of the tax year in question.

2. Senior Citizen Homestead

Seniors can save, on average, up to $300 a year in property taxes, and up to $750 when combined with the Homeowner Exemption.

requirements:

• The applicant must have owned and occupied the property as of January 1

• must have been 65 years of age or older during the tax year in question.

3. Senior Citizen Assessment Freeze Exemption

Qualified senior citizens can apply for a freeze of the assessed value of their property. Over time, in many areas, this program results in taxes changing minimally and often decreasing as surrounding properties continue to rise in assessed value. This is the MOST valuable homeowner exemption program. The value increases over the years as it eliminates the impact of regular reassessment increases that may occur every three years.

4. Home Improvement Exemption

Homeowners can make up to $75,000 worth of property improvements without an increase in property taxes for at least four years. The value varies depending on the reduction of the assessed value and the tax rates where the property is located