Selling a House With Delinquent Property Taxes in Illinois
Yes. Back taxes on an Illinois house come out of the sale proceeds at closing. Illinois taxes are billed a year behind in two installments, and late payments add 1.5% a month. If they stay unpaid, the county offers them at an annual tax sale, where a buyer pays them and gets a certificate, not your house. For most homes you then have two and a half years to redeem, and the buyer can extend that to three. A sale before the redemption deadline pays everything off and keeps your equity, and a 2026 law changed what happens to surplus when a tax deed issues.
Reviewed by Dennis Fassett, founder of Dennis Buys Houses · Updated November 2026
For Illinois owners and heirs behind on property taxes, with notes for Cook County. General information, not legal advice. Your county treasurer and clerk run the process.
How Unpaid Taxes Reach a Tax Sale
- 1Two installments, a year behind
The bill you pay this year is for last year's taxes. Each county sets its due dates.
- 2Late penalties
Unpaid taxes pick up 1.5% interest for each month or part of a month.
- 3Notice and judgment
The county mails and publishes notice, then gets a court judgment against delinquent parcels.
- 4Annual tax sale
Buyers pay the delinquent taxes and receive a certificate of purchase, a lien on the property.
- 5Redemption, then a tax deed petition
If no one redeems, the buyer can ask the circuit court for a tax deed.
Cook County's Sales
Cook County's next annual tax sale begins December 15, 2026, after a 2026 law let the Treasurer push it back several months. Properties with three or more years of unpaid taxes can also go to a scavenger sale when the County Board orders one. (Cook County Treasurer – Tax Sale Information) Redemptions are handled by the Cook County Clerk, which issues cost estimates on request and requires payment in full. (Cook County Clerk – Tax Redemption)
Redeeming After a Tax Sale
For most homes, the redemption period is two and a half years from the sale; vacant non-farm land and buildings with seven or more units get only one year. (35 ILCS 200/21-350) The buyer can extend the deadline up to three years from the sale. The cost is the certificate amount, a penalty that grows every six months, later taxes the buyer paid, and their fees. Cook County's Clerk warns the tax buyer's interest can reach 36% a year.
An Illinois tax sale gives you years, not weeks, but the penalties climb every six months. Paying before the sale, or selling soon after, costs far less than redeeming at the end.
Want a Number to Compare Against?
Tell me what's owed and whether the taxes were sold. I'll give you an as-is price to compare with redeeming, and I'll tell you if keeping the house makes more sense.
Get the Real Numbers First
Ask the treasurer which years are unpaid and what's due today. If the taxes were sold, ask the county clerk for a redemption estimate and the current expiration date. Also check whether every exemption you qualify for, homeowner, senior or senior freeze, is actually on the bill; a missing exemption is a common cause of an unaffordable bill.
Tax Deeds, Surplus and the 2026 Law
If the redemption period runs out, the certificate holder can petition for a tax deed. Illinois long offered only an indemnity fund to some owners who lost a house that way. In July 2026, Public Act 104-0553 changed that: future tax deeds go through a court-run auction with surplus held for the former owner, and owners who lost a house to a tax deed recorded in the two years before the law took effect can petition for a surplus award within two years. Ask an attorney if this applies to you.
Keep It or Sell It
Keep It
If you can redeem or pay the delinquency and keep up with future installments, do it, and get your exemptions in order.
Sell It
If the taxes, repairs and insurance outrun what you can carry, a sale pays the taxes or redemption at closing and you keep the difference.
When the house needs work or the redemption date is closing in, an as-is sale can close before it. If what you want is to be finished, an as-is sale to a real estate investor is the shortest road: no one tours the place, no repair estimates, no hauling furniture to the curb, and closing happens when you say. No clean-out with Dennis Buys Houses isn't a figure of speech. Walk out with the things you care about and leave the rest. We take it from there, and if we turn up anything personal or valuable, it goes back to you.
Selling While a Certificate Is Outstanding
You still own the house during the redemption period. The title company will see the sold taxes and pay the redemption amount from your proceeds, so order the estimate early.
Inherited With Back Taxes
Because Illinois taxes run a year behind, heirs almost always inherit at least one unpaid installment, and exemptions drop off after a death. Get someone with authority in place, then deal with the taxes before a sale or an expiration date sneaks up. (See How to Sell a House in Probate in Illinois and Selling an Inherited House in Illinois.)
Back Taxes vs. Mortgage Foreclosure
They're separate tracks. Many lenders pay the taxes to protect their lien and add it to your loan, which can push a borrower into default. If you're behind on both, the foreclosure case usually sets the pace. (See Selling a House in Foreclosure in Illinois.)
Common Mistakes
- Thinking a tax sale means the house is gone.
- Ignoring the notice of the redemption expiration date.
- Waiting until the last six-month penalty step to redeem.
- Missing exemptions you qualify for.
- Forgetting the bill is a year behind when budgeting a sale.
- Paying a stranger for help you can get from the county clerk.
Where I Fit, and Where I Don't
I'm most useful when several years are behind, the taxes were sold and the clock is running, the house needs work, or it's inherited or sitting empty.
And Dennis Buys Houses won't ask you to empty it. What you leave behind is ours to deal with.
If you live there and can redeem and keep up, that's usually smarter than selling, and I'll say so.
Either way, you'll get an upfront answer on whether I'm a good fit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The taxes, or the redemption amount if they were sold, are paid from the proceeds at closing.
A buyer pays the delinquent taxes and gets a certificate of purchase. You still own the house and can redeem.
Usually two and a half years from the sale for a home, extendable by the buyer to three years.
No. With an as-is sale, take what you want and leave the rest. Dennis Buys Houses handles what's left.
The annual tax sale is scheduled to begin December 15, 2026.
A 2026 Illinois law created a surplus process for future tax deeds and some recent ones. Talk to an attorney quickly.
Cook County Treasurer – Tax Sale Information and Cook County Clerk – Tax Redemption cover Cook County. Key statute: 35 ILCS 200/21-350 (redemption periods).
Illinois Selling Guides
- How to Sell a House in Probate in Illinois
- Selling an Inherited House in Illinois
- Selling a Vacant House in Illinois
- Selling a House With Bad Tenants in Illinois
- Selling a House in Foreclosure in Illinois
Behind on Illinois Property Taxes?
Let me know what's owed and where it stands. I'll send a plain as-is number, and if redeeming or catching up is the better call, I'll say that instead.