ILCS » Chapter 35 · Act 200
Illinois Compiled Statutes

35 ILCS 200/21-75 (2026)

Lien for taxes

✓ current as of May 2026
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(35 ILCS 200/21-75)
    Sec. 21-75. Lien for taxes. The taxes upon property, together with all penalties, interests and costs that may accrue thereon, shall be a prior and first lien on the property, superior to all other liens and encumbrances, from and including the first day of January in the year in which the taxes are levied until the taxes are paid or until the property is sold under this Code.
    (a) Foreclosure - Property forfeited for 2 or more years. A lien may be foreclosed, in the circuit court in the name of the People of the State of Illinois, whenever the taxes for 2 or more years on the same description of property have been forfeited to the State. The property may be sold under the order of the court by the person having authority to receive County taxes, with notice to interested parties and right of redemption from the sale, (except that the interest or any other amount to be paid upon redemption in addition to the amount for which the property was sold shall be as provided herein), as provided in Sections 21-345 through 21-365 and 21-380, and in conformity with Section 8 of Article IX of the Illinois Constitution.
    In any action to foreclose the lien for delinquent taxes brought by the People of the State of Illinois when the taxes for 2 or more years on the same description of property have been forfeited to the State, service of process shall be made in the manner now prescribed by law. All owners, parties interested, and occupants of any property against which tax liens are sought to be foreclosed shall be named as parties defendant, and shall be served in the manner and form as provided by law for the service of defendants in foreclosures of lien or encumbrances upon real estate. In case there are other parties with ownership interests in the property, they shall be named in the notice under the designation "unknown owners".
    (b) Redemption interest. The interest to be paid upon redemption from all tax foreclosure sales held under this Section shall be:
        (1) If redeemed within 2 months from the date of the
    
sale, 3% per month upon the amount for which the property was sold for each of the first 2 months, or fraction thereof;
        (2) If redeemed between 2 and 6 months from the date
    
of the sale, 12% of the amount of sale;
        (3) If redeemed between 6 and 12 months from the date
    
of the sale, 24% of the amount of sale;
        (4) If redeemed between 12 and 18 months from the
    
date of the sale, 36% of the amount of sale;
        (5) If redeemed between 18 and 24 months from the
    
date of the sale, 48% of the amount of sale;
        (6) If redeemed after 24 months from the date of
    
sale, the 48% for the 24 months plus interest at 6% per year thereafter.
    (c) Enforcement of lien from rents and profits. A lien under this Section may be enforced at any time after 6 months from the day the tax becomes delinquent out of the rents and profits of the land accruing, or accrued and under the control or jurisdiction of a court. This process may be initiated by the county board of the county or by the corporate authorities of any taxing body entitled to receive any part of the delinquent tax, by petition in any pending suit having jurisdiction of the land, or in any application for judgment and order of sale of lands for delinquent taxes in which the land is included, in the name of the People of the State of Illinois.
    The process, practice and procedure under this subsection shall be the same as provided in the Civil Practice Law and the Supreme Court Rules adopted in relation to that Law, except that receivers may be appointed on not less than 3 days' written notice to owners of record or persons in possession. In all petitions the court shall have power to appoint the county collector to take possession of the property only for the purpose of collecting the rents, issues and profits therefrom, and to apply them in satisfaction of the tax lien. When the taxes set forth in the petition are paid in full, the receiver shall be discharged. If the taxes described in the petition are reduced by the final judgment of a court, the county collector shall immediately refund all moneys collected by him or her as receiver over and above the taxes as reduced, and shall deduct that amount from the moneys thereafter distributed to the taxing bodies which received the tax revenue.
    In proceedings to foreclose the tax lien, or in petitions to enforce the lien, the amount due on the collector's books against the property shall be prima facie evidence of the amount of taxes against the property. When any taxes are collected, they shall be paid to the county collector, to be distributed by him or her to the authorities entitled to them. All sales made under this Section shall be conducted under the order and supervision of the court by the county collector.
    An action to foreclose the lien for delinquent taxes under this Code is an action in rem.
(Source: P.A. 84-551; 88-455.)

    
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 30 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1994–2025 · leading case: In Re Bates, 270 B.R. 455 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2001).
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In Re Bates, 270 B.R. 455 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2001). · cites it 2× “35 ILCS 200/21-75; Karlen & Slutzky, § 5.”
Rhone v. First Am. Title Ins., 928 N.E.2d 1185 (Ill. App. Ct. 2010). · cites it 2× “Pursuant to statute, the Cook County assessor has the authority, as a county with a population of 3 million or more, to "assess properties which may have been omitted from assessments for the current year or during any year or years for which the property was liable to be taxed,…”
In Re Commings, 297 B.R. 701 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2003). · cites it 2× “35 ILCS 200/21-75 (2002). The lien’s priority is “sweeping,” IICLE, supra, § 5.”
In Re Est. of Matthews, 948 N.E.2d 187 (Ill. App. Ct. 2011). · cites it 2× “35 ILCS 200/21-75 (West 2006); In re Estate of Light, 385 Ill.”
McRoberts v. S.I.V.I. (In Re Bequette), 184 B.R. 327 (Bankr. S.D. Ill. 1995). “In Illinois, taxes on real property become a lien against the property in the year in which they are assessed, see 35 ILCS 200/21-75 (1994), and if the taxes are not paid, the county collector may sell the property at a tax sale.”
Smith v. SIPI, LLC (In Re Smith), 614 F.3d 654 (7th Cir. 2010). “At the time of her inheritance, the property was subject to a state tax lien for unpaid real estate taxes for the 2000 tax year, see 35 ILCS 200/21-75, a delinquency that authorized the county collector to auction off the unpaid property taxes at the annual “tax sale,” see id.”
In re Woodruff, 600 B.R. 616 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2019). “35 ILCS 200/21-75 (tax foreclosures are in rem proceedings).”
Gateway-Walden, LLC v. Pappas, 2018 IL App (1st) 162714 (Ill. App. Ct. 2018). “And to suggest otherwise is, again, to ignore the bedrock principle that the best and nearly conclusive evidence of a property's value is a recent, arm's-length sale.”
In Re OBT Partners, 214 B.R. 863 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1997). · cites it 2× “The hen was never impaired under the plan because under the terms of the plan, the taxes would be fully paid before DuPage County would have had the right, under 35 ILCS 200/21-75, to foreclose its hen. Principal further argues that the taxes themselves were not “incurred”…”
Butler v. Lejcar (In Re Butler), 171 B.R. 321 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1994). “35 ILCS 200/21-75 (1994). 2) Tax Sale — -If the taxes are not paid, a tax sale is conducted in which the bidder receives a certificate of purchase upon payment of the delinquent taxes.”
In Re Est. of Light, 895 N.E.2d 43 (Ill. App. Ct. 2008). “When real estate subject to an encumbrance is bequeathed, the legatee takes the property subject to the encumbrance and is not entitled to have the indebtedness paid from the decedent's estate. 755 ILCS 5/20-19 (West 2006).”
Sheth v. Affiliated Realty & Mgmt. Co. (In Re Sheth), 225 B.R. 913 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1998). “35 ILCS 200/21-75; Pappmeier v. Green Tree Acceptance, Inc.”
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— 35 ILCS 200/21-75(a) — 1 case
DG Enter. v. Cornelius, 2015 IL 118975 (Ill. 2015).
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