brought Thursday by two Black homeowners caught up in this system on behalf of themselves, and everyone else caught up on the system, alleges the process violates the constitution and both federal and civil rights laws.Governments depend on people paying their property taxes; that’s what funds schools, libraries and police. When folks don’t pay, Cook County sells the overdue taxes to a private entity that pays the bill.
If the homeowner can’t, they can lose their lien and title to their home, but also the equity they’d built in their property. “They own the equity too. This is what you insure when you buy homeowners’ insurance, right? It’s the value of the property. And by taking this away from people without any compensation, it violates provisions of the constitution,” he said.