Gan B, LLC v. Sims

575 B.R. 375
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 13, 2017
DocketCase No. 17 C 385
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 575 B.R. 375 (Gan B, LLC v. Sims) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gan B, LLC v. Sims, 575 B.R. 375 (N.D. Ill. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Harry D. Leinenweber, Judge

This case comes before the Court on Appellant Gan B, LLC’s appeal from a decision of the Bankruptcy Court denying its Motion to Lift the Automatic Stay. For the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the Bankruptcy Court is affirmed and relief from the stay is denied.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Legal Background

1. The Illinois Tax Sale Process

The Illinois Tax Code provides that on January 1 of each year, a lien attaches to all non-exempt real property securing the payment of that year’s taxes levied on that property. 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21-75. This lien has priority over all others, even those prior in time. Ibid. Where property taxes go unpaid, the county may bring an action to foreclose the lien and seek a judgment and order of sale in Illinois circuit court. Ibid.; 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21-150 through 21-185. If a judgment is rendered against such a property, the property owner is then given an opportunity to pay the delinquent taxes and interest up to and including one business day before the sale. 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21-165. If the taxes go unpaid still, then the county collector may proceed with the tax sale. 35 Ill. Comp, Stat. 200/21-205.

The sale occurs at an auction in which potential buyers offer to pay the delinquent taxes due on the day of the tax sale, and they do so by bidding on the lowest amount of penalty premium that they will accept to redeem the property within the prescribed redemption period. 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21-215 (2009). The winning bidder pays to the county the outstanding taxes on the property and receives in return a certificate of purchase. 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21-240, 21-75; see also, Application of Rosewell, 127 Ill.2d 404, 130 Ill.Dec. 433, 537 N.E.2d 762, 765 (1989) (“When the court confirms the sale, the county’s lien is extinguished, and a new lien arises by operation of law in favor of the purchaser.”). Notwithstanding elimination of the county’s lien, the delinquent property owner remains personally liable to the county for taxes. 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21-440.

The original property owner has between two and three years to redeem the property, depending on whether the property is a residence and whether the tax purchaser extends the statutory period. 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21-345, 21-250, 21-385,21-389. Redemption requires payment of the unpaid taxes plus the penalty percentage, subsequent taxes paid by the tax purchaser plus 12 percent interest per an-num, and various costs and fees permitted by statute. 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21-355. (If the tax purchaser pays delinquent taxes subsequent to the sale, then the redemp[379]*379tion amount increases accordingly. See, e.g., In re LaMont, 740 F.3d 397, 400 n.2 (7th Cir. 2014).) If the property owner fails to redeem by the redemption date, the tax purchaser has the right to petition for a tax deed in the circuit court of the county where the certificate was acquired. This petition must be filed within six months of expiration of the redemption period. 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21—260(f), 21-350; see also, In re LaMont, 487 B.R. 488, 492 (N.D. Ill. 2012) (Leinenweber, J.), aff'd, 740 F.3d 397 (7th Cir. 2014). The tax purchaser has one year from the redemption date to act on its petition by applying for an order on the petition, taking the order to the county clerk to obtain a tax deed, and recording the deed. If there is a court order preventing the tax purchaser from doing so—such as the automatic stay in a bankruptcy proceeding—the one-year period is tolled during the pendency of the order. 35 Ill. Compt. Stat. 200/22-85; In re LaMont, 740 F.3d at 401.

Before expiration of the redemption period, the tax purchaser holds only an interest in obtaining a tax deed. It is not a future interest in property but a “non-recourse tax lien”—“a mere species of personal property [that] does not give its purchaser any equity or title to the property,” only “those rights which the statutory framework creates.” LaMont, 740 F.3d at 404-06, 409 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted) (noting that the lien amounts to a “right to payment, or alternatively, a right to an equitable remedy against the debtors’ property”). Issuance of the tax deed and transfer of title to the property does not occur unless and until the property owner fails to redeem the property by the redemption date. See, e.g., In re Bates, 270 B.R. 455, 459 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2001), Therefore, a certificate of purchase has no effect on the delinquent property owner’s legal or equitable title to the property before the redemption date. In re Smith, 614 F.3d 654, 658-59 (7th Cir. 2010); see also, Phoenix Bond & Indem. Co. v. Pappas, 194 Ill.2d 99, 251 Ill.Dec. 654, 741 N.E.2d 248, 249 (2000) (same).

2. Treatment of Tax Purchasers in Bankruptcy

The holder of a certificate of purchase has the right to receive the redemption amount, which gives the tax purchaser a “claim” in the event that the property owner files for bankruptcy before expiration of the redemption period. LaMont, 487 B.R. at 493-95; accord, In re Romious, 487 B.R. 883, 885-86 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2013); In re Malec, 442 B.R. 130, 135 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2011); Bates, 270 B.R. at 463-64. When an Illinois property owner who owes delinquent taxes files for bankruptcy prior to the redemption date, “his interest in the property (including the light to redemption) passes to the bankruptcy estate, pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 541(a), and the tax purchaser holds a lien which qualifies as a secured claim in bankruptcy.” LaMont, 487 B.R. at 495 (citing Bates, 270 B.R. at 465 n.5). Debtors may use the Chapter 13 device to pay such tax debt over time because “they are not exercising their right to redeem” but instead “are using their Chapter 13 plan to pay a secured claim over time, as they are entitled to do” under 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2). In re Kasco, 378 B.R. 207, 213 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2007). A debtor may satisfy its tax delinquency obligations if its Chapter 13 plan pays the county in full for the back taxes, interest, and penalty, which funds in turn rebound to the tax purchaser. LaMont, 487 B.R. at 497.

This does not mean that a certificate holder facing an onerous confirmed plan lacks recourse. If the property owner files for bankruptcy after the tax purchaser [380]*380obtains the certifícate of purchase but before issuance of a tax deed, the tax purchaser may not want to take its chances on receiving the redemption amount or a deed to the property. See, In re Carmona-Huerta, No. 07 B 73065, 2009 WL 3497125, at *1 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. Oct. 23, 2009). Instead, the tax purchaser may petition the circuit court to declare the sale a “sale in error.” Upon such a declaration, the county collector, on demand of the certificate holder, refunds the purchase price and other taxes paid along with certain costs and interest, and cancels the certificate insofar as it relates to the property at issue. 35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 200/21-310(b)(1),(d).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
575 B.R. 375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gan-b-llc-v-sims-ilnd-2017.