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Thumbing through photos of their former home in Maywood brought tears to Michelle and Sam Kidd’s eyes.
“I’m never gonna forget that place,” Sam mumbled under his breath as he cradled the photo album in his lap.
The photos show the home where they raised their four kids and their grandson, making a lifetime of memories. Michelle says she thought this would be their forever home. The mortgage was paid off. A special lift was just installed for Michelle’s motorized wheelchair. She’s bound to the chair due to a several health ailments.
But staying in the Maywood home forever is not what fate had in store for the Kidds.
In 2015, Michelle was diagnosed with COPD. Then in 2017, she fell into a coma. She survived but requires regular care. Her husband, Sam, became her fulltime caregiver, and the family’s finances took a hit.
“We just fell behind and we never could catch up,” Michelle explained.
According to the family, paying their property taxes became a financial burden.
The Kidds told NBC 5 Responds that when they fell behind on paying their property taxes by a couple of years, they went downtown to the Cook County Treasurer’s office to try to work out a payment plan for the $2,344 bill. Instead they learned their home was already sold in a property tax sale.
HOW COOK COUNTY’S PROPERTY TAX SALE SYSTEM WORKS
There are several layers to the Cook County property tax sale system:
If you become delinquent on your property taxes by any amount, the delinquent amount can go to the tax sale.
The property buyer pays the county the amount owed on the taxes.
After the tax sale, you can stay in your home for two and a half years. In that time, you must pay back the property tax buyer.
You’re also responsible for the current tax bills. If you don’t make those payments, the amount you owe continues to grow. The court eventually transfers the property deed to the tax buyer.
This is when you lose ownership of the home and the eviction process begins. Or the tax buyer can allow you to stay in the home and charge you rent.
LOOKING FOR HELP
By the time the Kidds’ deed was transferred to the tax buyer, that $2,344 they originally owed ballooned to $17,583 in property tax payments, according to court records. When they got evicted, they started looking for help. And they found it in attorney Dan Schneider and Legal Action Chicago.
Schneider sat down with NBC 5 Responds to discuss the Kidds’ case. Sitting on the back porch of a DuPage County home the family’s now renting, he explained the frustration.
“The county is getting the taxes paid off and then they wanna just pretend like they don’t see what happens next. The tax buyer is in it to make money, end of story. Who’s there to help a regular person in that situation?”
TAKING LEGAL ACTION
Schneider and Legal Action Chicago sued Cook County and the county Treasurer Maria Pappas on behalf of the Kidds.
“The basic claim is that the taking of someone’s property over unpaid taxes without paying the difference between the value of the property and what they owed in taxes is a taking under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” he explained.
Court documents show the county’s defense team argued the Kidds’ case was insufficient to prove they were harmed. But this spring, the court ruled in the family’s favor. Schneider says the outcome of the lawsuit could help thousands of people, including the Kidd family.
According to Schneider, more than 2,000 residential properties are part of the class action lawsuit.
WHAT COMES NEXT
The parties named in the lawsuit are meeting to determine what damages will be paid to the Kidd family and anyone else eligible for help. According to Schneider, you could qualify for compensation if you lost your home to a tax sale after December 15, 2020.
NBC 5 Responds asked the Cook County Treasurer’s office for an interview, but we’re told they can’t comment on pending litigation.
Michelle Kidd and her family are hopeful they’ll get back some of the home equity they lost to the tax sale.
CHANGES AT THE STATE LEVEL
Recently, the Illinois legislature passed a bill that would revise the tax sale system. If a property is sold, any amount made above the taxes, fees and interest owed will go to the property owner. It would also give the property owner another six months to pay off the tax buyer and keep their home. As of this story’s publication, the bill is awaiting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature.
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