In re Garth

103 B.R. 957, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 1267, 1989 WL 88291
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 4, 1989
DocketBankruptcy No. 87 B 05806
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 103 B.R. 957 (In re Garth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy 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
In re Garth, 103 B.R. 957, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 1267, 1989 WL 88291 (Ill. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

RONALD S. BARLIANT, Bankruptcy Judge.

The Debtor in this Chapter 13 case attempted to redeem his property after it was sold at a pre-petition real estate tax sale. Central Equity Corp., the tax purchaser, contends that the attempted redemption was ineffective and, since the redemption period has now expired, that it is entitled to a tax deed. The matter is before the Court on the Debtor’s motion to enjoin the Illinois taxing authorities from transferring the property to the tax purchaser. The Court must decide whether the Debtor’s attempts to redeem were effective in spite of the Debtor’s admitted failure to strictly comply with the redemption statute. The parties have submitted this proceeding on stipulated facts. The' Court finds that the Debtor’s attempted redemptions were made in good faith and substantially complied with the statute and, therefore, were effective under Illinois law. The Court further finds that Central Equity will not be injured if the remaining cost of redemption plus interest is paid by the Debtor. Accordingly, Central Equity will not be permitted to proceed in state court for issuance of a tax deed.

Stipulated Facts

1) The Debtor’s property, located at 8043 South Eberhart Avenue in Chicago, Illinois was sold at a tax sale on December 27, 1985 for delinquent 1984 real estate taxes, interest and costs totaling $1,708.74. A certificate of purchase was issued to Central Equity Corp., the tax purchaser, on the same day.

2) The redemption period, which originally ran until December 27,1987, was extended until December 27, 1988.

3) On January 16, 1987, Central Equity paid $1,868.28 for the 1985 taxes and interest on the Debtor’s property.

4) On April 20, 1987, the Debtor filed his Chapter 13 petition.

5) On May 26, 1987, the Debtor received a notice from the County Clerk of Cook [958]*958County entitled “Estimate of Cost of Redemption.” The notice instructed the Debt- or to pay $2,279.63 to redeem his property. That redemption amount included only the 1984 taxes and the appropriate interest and fees. It is therefore clear that Central Equity’s payment of the 1985 taxes and interest had not been posted by the County Clerk on the tax judgment, sale, redemption and forfeiture record.

6) On June 26, 1987, in accordance with the County Clerk’s cost of redemption estimate, the Debtor paid $2,279.63 to the County Clerk and the Clerk issued a receipt entitled “Receipt for Redemption Deposit.”

7) On September 1, 1987, an attorney for Central Equity sent a letter to the County Clerk’s office advising it of the additional 1985 taxes and interest necessary to properly redeem the property.

8) In response to that letter, the County Clerk’s office sent a letter, dated September 11, 1987, to the Debtor notifying him that payment of an additional $1,868.29 within two weeks was necessary to redeem the property.

9) On June 30, 1988 and July 24, 1988, the Debtor made payments totaling $2,027.80 to the Cook County Treasurer for the 1985 taxes and interest.

10) As of July 1, 1988, accrual of additional interest increased the redemption amount to $4,717.01. The Debtor had paid only a total of $4,307.43 toward the redemption of his property as of July 24, 1988.

11) The parties agree that the amount necessary to redeem the property as of the December 27, 1988, the last day of the extended redemption period, was $5,114.77.

Conclusions of Law

The -Debtor twice attempted to redeem his property. His first payment of $2,279.63 on June 26, 1987 to the Cook County Clerk satisfied the Clerk’s estimate for cost of redemption. The payment was insufficient, however, because the tax purchaser paid the 1985 taxes, costs and interest, which were excluded from the County Clerk’s estimate. The Debtor’s second attempt was inadequate for two reasons. First, the payments were made to the Cook County Treasurer rather than the Cook County Clerk as required by section 253 of the Illinois Revenue Act. Second, in July, 1988 when the payments were made to the Cook County Treasurer, the amount necessary to redeem the Debtor’s property was $4,717.01. The Debtor’s total payments toward redemption as of July, 1988, however, were only $4,307.43. For the reasons stated below, the Debtor’s attempted redemp-tions substantially complied with the redemption statute and were, therefore, effective despite the Debtor’s initial inadequate tender to the County Clerk and his subsequent payment to County Treasurer rather than the County Clerk.

Section 253 of the Illinois Revenue Act establishes the requirements for redemption. Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 120 ¶ 734. The cost of redemption must be paid to the county clerk within the time set for redemption by the statute. The cost of redemption includes the amount for which the property was sold at the tax sale, any subsequent taxes paid, interest at a statutory rate, penalties and fees. Id.

In addition to setting forth the requirements for redemption, section 253 of the Illinois Revenue Act sets forth the duties of the County Clerk and the tax purchaser in the redemption process. That section states in pertinent part:

[I]t is the duty of the county clerk to include in the certificate of deposit for redemption the amount of the subsequent taxes, special assessments, re-demptions from subsequent forfeitures and tax sales, and fees of the registrar of titles and fees and costs of the clerk of the circuit court paid by the purchaser or holder of the tax certificate. The county clerk shall not be required to include [the amounts listed above] in his certificate for deposit of redemption, nor shall payment thereof be a charge on the land sold for taxes, unless the purchaser, as-signee, or holder of the tax certificate of sale shall have filed and have posted by the county clerk on the tax judgment, sale, redemption and forfeiture record, not less than 30 days prior to the expira[959]*959tion of the period of redemption, an official, original or duplicate receipt for the payment of the [additional amounts paid by the tax purchaser].

Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 120 II734. In other words, if the tax purchaser made additional payments of taxes, interest, costs or fees for the property after its purchase at the tax sale, it is the tax purchaser’s duty to present receipts for the additional payments to the County Clerk and have the County Clerk post such payments on the official records. It is the duty of the County Clerk to post such payments once they are reported by the tax purchaser. If the additional payments are not reported by the tax purchaser and posted by the County Clerk before thirty days prior to the expiration of the expiration period, the cost of redemption will not include the additional payments.

When read in conjunction with section 252 of the Illinois Revenue Act, the purpose of the provisions becomes clear. Section 252 of the Illinois Revenue Act states that the records and books of the county clerk are prima facia evidence of the taxes, special assessments and cost of redemption on property.1 Therefore, sections 252 and 253 of the Illinois Revenue Act establish an official public record of the cost of redemption on which a debtor may rely in his efforts to redeem his property.

Judge Wedoff’s recent decision in In re Wells Properties, Inc., 102 B.R.

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Related

In Re Halas
194 B.R. 605 (N.D. Illinois, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 B.R. 957, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 1267, 1989 WL 88291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-garth-ilnb-1989.