35 ILCS 200/21-90: Purchase and sale by county; distribution of proceeds.

(a) When any property is offered at a tax sale under any of the provisions of this Code, the county board of the county in which the property is located, in its discretion, may bid, or, in the case of forfeited property, may apply to purchase it or otherwise acquire the tax lien or certificate in the name of the county as trustee for all taxing districts having an interest in the property's taxes or special assessments for the nonpayment of which the property is sold. The presiding officer of the county board, with the advice and consent of the board, may appoint on its behalf some officer, person, or entity to attend such sales, bid on tax liens or certificates, and act on behalf of the county when exercising its authority under this Section. The county shall apply on the bid or purchase the unpaid taxes and special assessments due upon the property. No cash need be paid.

(b) The county, as trustee for all taxing districts having an interest in the property's taxes or special assessments, shall be the designated holder of all tax liens or certificates that are forfeited to the State or county or otherwise acquired by the county pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section or Sections 21-190 through 21-255 of this Code. No cash need be paid for any tax lien or certificate acquired by the county pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section or Sections 21-190 through 21-255 of this Code.

(c) For any tax lien or certificate acquired under subsection (a) or (b) of this Section, or for any property otherwise purchased or acquired by the county pursuant to Sections 21-190 to 21-255 of this Code, the county may take steps necessary to acquire or sell title to the property and may manage and operate the property, including, but not limited to, mowing of grass, removal of nuisance greenery, removal of garbage, waste, debris or other materials, or the demolition, repair, or remediation of unsafe structures. When a county, or other taxing district within the county, is a petitioner for a tax deed, no filing fee shall be required. When a county or other taxing district within the county is the petitioner for a tax deed, one petition may be filed including all parcels that are tax delinquent within the county or taxing district, and any publication made under Section 22-20 of this Code may combine all such parcels within a single notice. The notice may include the property address as listed on the most recent available tax bills, if available, and shall list the Property Index Number of the parcels for informational purposes. The county, as tax creditor and as trustee for other tax creditors, or other taxing district within the county, shall not be required to allege and prove that all taxes and special assessments which become due and payable after the sale or forfeiture to the county have been paid nor shall the county be required to pay the subsequently accruing taxes or special assessments at any time. The county board or its designee may prohibit the county collector from including the property in the tax sale of one or more subsequent years. The lien of taxes and special assessments which become due and payable after a tax sale to a county shall merge in the fee title of the county, or other taxing district within the county, on the issuance of a deed.

The county may sell any property acquired with authority provided in this Section, or assign any tax certificate to any party, including, but not limited to, taxing districts, municipalities, land banks created pursuant to Illinois law, or non-profit developers focused on constructing affordable housing.

The assigned tax certificate shall be void with no further rights given to the assignee, including no right to refund or reimbursement, if a tax deed resulting from a tax deed auction has not been recorded within 4 years after the date of the assignment unless a court extends the assignment period as provided in this Section. Upon a motion by the assignee, a court may toll the 4-year deadline for a specified period of time if the court finds the assignee is prevented from obtaining or recording a deed by injunction or order of any court, by the refusal or inability of any court to act upon the application for a tax deed, by a municipality's refusal to issue necessary approvals for recording, or by the refusal of the clerk to execute the deed. If an assigned tax certificate is void under this Section, it shall be forfeited to the county and held as a valid certificate of sale in the county's name pursuant to this Section 21-90. The proceeds of any sale or assignment under this Section, less all costs of the county incurred in the acquisition, operation, maintenance, and sale of the property or assignment of the tax certificate, including all costs associated with county staff and overhead used to perform the duties of the trustee set forth in this Section, and less any surplus payments to previous owners, shall be distributed to the taxing districts in proportion to their respective interests therein.

(d) The county, as trustee, may elect to acquire or sell tax delinquent property under either the provisions of this Section or under Sections 22-40 and 22-42 of this Code. For any tax lien or certificate acquired by a county under this Code, the county may take steps necessary to acquire title to the property, including a final overbid at the close of any public tax deed auction or judicial sale conveying title to property intended to be developed by a unit of local government.

(e) When the county, as trustee, files a petition for one or more delinquent tax liens or certificates, the county may request, pursuant to Section 22-40, that the court issue a tax deed to the county, as trustee, without holding a judicial tax deed auction. If the county requests a tax deed without a tax deed auction pursuant to Section 22-40 and 22-42 of this Code, the Order for Issuance of Tax Deed shall identify the total amount of delinquent taxes and penalties, municipal advancements identified in Section 22-35, pro rata county costs incurred pursuant to subsections (a) through (c) of this Section, and other posted costs for each parcel conveyed. This judgment amount shall be considered the debt owed to the county, as trustee. The Order for Issuance of Tax Deed shall also include an order for the county to offer each parcel acquired by the county in this manner for sale at a public tax deed auction, as set forth in subsection (f) of this Section, within 120 days of recording the tax deed. The purpose of the public tax deed auction as set forth in subsection (f) of this Section is to determine whether and to what extent there are surplus funds owed by the county, as trustee, to the former owner that exceed the judgment amount indicated in the Order for Issuance of Tax Deed. If no party bids more than this amount at the public tax deed auction described in subsection (f), then the purchase price will be recorded as the amount of the debt owed to the county, as trustee, as reflected in the Order for Issuance of Tax Deed, and there are no surplus funds owed to the previous owner.

(f) County tax deed auctions. Tax deed auctions held by the county pursuant to this Section shall conform with the following requirements.

(1) Notice. The county or its agent shall give notice of the tax deed auction with the following information:

(A) the Property Identification Number and property address listed on the latest tax bill;

(B) the time and place of the auction;

(C) the terms of the auction; and

(D) the total amount of delinquent taxes and penalties, municipal advancements identified in Section 22-35, pro rata county costs incurred pursuant to subsections (a) through (c) of Section 21-90, and other posted costs.

In counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, the notice of tax deed auction shall be in clear and concise language, together with a notice in Spanish, Polish, and Mandarin Chinese, stating that the notice of tax deed auction affects important legal rights and should be translated immediately. In counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the notice of tax deed auction may include a notice in one or more foreign languages, stating that the notice of tax deed auction affects important legal rights and should be translated immediately. In all counties, the notice of tax deed auction shall be mailed, to the address at which service of process was made, via first class mail to all interested parties and via first class mail and certified mail to the owner of the property at the time the petition was filed. If service of process was made in any manner other than personal service, substitute service, corporate service, or government service, notice shall be mailed via first class mail to all addresses included in the notice served pursuant to Section 22-25. The notice shall include a sworn certificate of service signed by the party sending the notice attesting to the fact that the notice of tax deed auction was placed in the mail at least 30 calendar days prior to the date of the auction. At least 30 days prior to the date of the auction, the county or its agent must post on its website a list of all properties that are to be offered for sale at the tax deed auction and the other information contained in the notice of tax deed auction. The person conducting the auction shall engage in reasonable activities to promote and market the sale to encourage and facilitate bidding, including listing the property on the county's or its agent's website, other real estate websites, and conducting email campaigns.

(2) Minimum bid. In counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, the county shall establish minimum bids at any tax deed auction held pursuant to this Section. The minimum bid shall equal the total amount of delinquent taxes and penalties, municipal advancements identified in Section 22-35, pro rata county costs incurred pursuant to subsections (a) through (c) of Section 21-90, and other posted costs for the auctioned parcel as identified in the Order for Issuance of Tax Deed. In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the county may establish minimum bids at any tax deed auction held pursuant to this Section. The minimum bid may equal the total amount of delinquent taxes and penalties, municipal advancements identified in Section 22-35, pro rata county costs incurred pursuant to subsections (a) through (c) of Section 21-90, and other posted costs, for the auctioned parcel, as identified in the Order for Issuance of Tax Deed. As used in this Section, "pro rata county costs" may include costs incurred by the county in filing one petition for more than one delinquent tax lien or certificate, and all costs related to the filing of the one petition and obtaining tax deeds for the liens and certificates identified in the one petition, reasonably apportioned and included in the total costs for each individual tax deed issued pursuant to the petition.

(3) Adjournment. If a tax deed auction is postponed, adjourned, or re-scheduled to occur less than 60 days after the last scheduled auction, the county shall announce the date, time and place upon which the adjourned tax deed auction shall be held at the time, date, and location in the notice. At a minimum, this announcement shall be posted on the website of the county, as trustee, or the county treasurer in the same location where the county posted the list of all properties that are to be sold at the auction as required in paragraph (1) of subsection (f) of Section 21-90. The county is not required to send additional notice of any postponed tax deed auction as provided in paragraph (1) of subsection (f) of Section 21-90. Notwithstanding any language to the contrary, for tax deed auctions that are conducted more than 60 days after the date in the required notice, the county shall send notice of the adjourned tax deed auction in accordance with paragraph (1) of subsection (f) of Section 21-90.

(4) Payment for winning bid. The county shall participate in a public tax deed auction in the same manner as any other bidder. No matter the terms of the tax deed auction prescribed by the county, if the county is the winning bidder, then the county is required to pay the full amount of any county bid that exceeds the debt owed to the county, as identified in subsection (e) of Section 21-90 prior to the deposit of surplus funds with the treasurer of the county as set forth in paragraph (6) of this Section.

(5) Marketability of title. Failure to hold a public tax deed auction of the parcels received within the 180-day period shall not affect the validity of the recorded deed, the Order for Issuance of Tax Deed, or otherwise affect the marketability of title, but the county is prohibited from transferring those parcels or assigning the recorded deed without holding a public tax deed auction pursuant to subsection (f) of Section 21-90 or a judicial tax deed auction pursuant to Section 22-40.

(6) Disbursement of surplus funds. To the extent that the winning bid at the tax deed auction exceeds the amount of the tax deed judgment as defined in subsection (e) of Section 21-90, the county trustee shall, within 30 days of the auction sale, deposit the surplus funds with the treasurer of the county in which the subject property lies. Within 60 days of the tax deed auction at which the property was purchased, the county, as trustee, shall send a notice to interested parties in the underlying case, stating that the previous owner is entitled to a distribution of surplus proceeds and may file a claim pursuant to subsection (i) of Section 22-42. In counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, the notice shall be in clear and concise language, together with a notice in Spanish, Polish, and Mandarin Chinese, stating that the notice affects important legal rights and should be translated immediately. In counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the notice may include a notice in one or more foreign languages, stating that the notice affects important legal rights and should be translated immediately.