Illinois 2023-2024 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HB3014 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3014 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act Creates the Vacancy Fraud Act. Provides that the board of review in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants has the power to review complaints of vacancy fraud related to property in that county. Provides that a property owner, or the agent of a property owner, commits vacancy fraud when he or she knowingly makes one or more false statements or representations to a chief county assessment officer, the board of review, or any other trier of fact, for the purpose of obtaining an enhanced vacancy reduction. Provides that an enhanced vacancy reduction means an enhanced abatement of taxes or a reduction in property taxes by a chief county assessment officer, the board of review, or a taxing district, based on full or partial vacancy of the property, under an ordinance of the county or taxing district, a resolution of the county or taxing district, or a policy of the county or taxing district. Effective immediately. LRB103 27384 HLH 53756 b A BILL FOR 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3014 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act New Act Creates the Vacancy Fraud Act. Provides that the board of review in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants has the power to review complaints of vacancy fraud related to property in that county. Provides that a property owner, or the agent of a property owner, commits vacancy fraud when he or she knowingly makes one or more false statements or representations to a chief county assessment officer, the board of review, or any other trier of fact, for the purpose of obtaining an enhanced vacancy reduction. Provides that an enhanced vacancy reduction means an enhanced abatement of taxes or a reduction in property taxes by a chief county assessment officer, the board of review, or a taxing district, based on full or partial vacancy of the property, under an ordinance of the county or taxing district, a resolution of the county or taxing district, or a policy of the county or taxing district. Effective immediately. LRB103 27384 HLH 53756 b LRB103 27384 HLH 53756 b A BILL FOR
2	2	103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3014 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	New Act New Act
4	4	New Act
5	5	Creates the Vacancy Fraud Act. Provides that the board of review in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants has the power to review complaints of vacancy fraud related to property in that county. Provides that a property owner, or the agent of a property owner, commits vacancy fraud when he or she knowingly makes one or more false statements or representations to a chief county assessment officer, the board of review, or any other trier of fact, for the purpose of obtaining an enhanced vacancy reduction. Provides that an enhanced vacancy reduction means an enhanced abatement of taxes or a reduction in property taxes by a chief county assessment officer, the board of review, or a taxing district, based on full or partial vacancy of the property, under an ordinance of the county or taxing district, a resolution of the county or taxing district, or a policy of the county or taxing district. Effective immediately.
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8	8	A BILL FOR
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10	10	HB3014 LRB103 27384 HLH 53756 b
11	11	1 AN ACT concerning revenue.
12	12	2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
13	13	3 represented in the General Assembly:
14	14	4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
15	15	5 Vacancy Fraud Act.
16	16	6 Section 5. Public policy. There is a practice in Cook
17	17	7 County that allows commercial properties to receive an
18	18	8 enhanced reduction in their property taxes based on full or
19	19	9 partial vacancy. The abuse of this practice can have a
20	20	10 devastating impact on neighborhood business districts and
21	21	11 local communities. In recognition of the crucial need to
22	22	12 reduce commercial vacancies in local communities and the
23	23	13 economic circumstances of taxpayers and taxing districts, the
24	24	14 General Assembly finds that property owners that make false
25	25	15 statements to procure or attempt to procure enhanced
26	26	16 reductions in property taxes, on a specific property, should
27	27	17 be precluded from seeking future reductions for that property
28	28	18 and should be required to pay the civil penalties set forth in
29	29	19 this Act. Adopting this policy, which will discourage property
30	30	20 owners from making false statements to obtain enhanced
31	31	21 reductions in their property taxes based on vacancy, will
32	32	22 foster economic development in disadvantaged communities,
33	33	23 reduce blight, and support commercial corridors.
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37	37	103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3014 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
38	38	New Act New Act
39	39	New Act
40	40	Creates the Vacancy Fraud Act. Provides that the board of review in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants has the power to review complaints of vacancy fraud related to property in that county. Provides that a property owner, or the agent of a property owner, commits vacancy fraud when he or she knowingly makes one or more false statements or representations to a chief county assessment officer, the board of review, or any other trier of fact, for the purpose of obtaining an enhanced vacancy reduction. Provides that an enhanced vacancy reduction means an enhanced abatement of taxes or a reduction in property taxes by a chief county assessment officer, the board of review, or a taxing district, based on full or partial vacancy of the property, under an ordinance of the county or taxing district, a resolution of the county or taxing district, or a policy of the county or taxing district. Effective immediately.
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43	43	A BILL FOR
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68	68	1 Section 10. Applicability. This Act applies to property
69	69	2 located in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants.
70	70	3 Section 15. Definitions. As used in this Act:
71	71	4 "Board of review" means the board of review of the county
72	72	5 in which the property is located.
73	73	6 "Enhanced vacancy reduction" means an enhanced abatement
74	74	7 of taxes or a reduction in property taxes by a chief county
75	75	8 assessment officer, the board of review, or a taxing district,
76	76	9 based on full or partial vacancy of the property, under an
77	77	10 ordinance of the county or taxing district, a resolution of
78	78	11 the county or taxing district, or a policy of the county or
79	79	12 taxing district.
80	80	13 "Taxing district" means any unit of local government that
81	81	14 has the power to levy property taxes, any school district, or
82	82	15 any community college district.
83	83	16 "Unit of local government has the meaning given to that
84	84	17 term in Section 1 of Article VII of the Constitution of the
85	85	18 State of Illinois.
86	86	19 "Vacancy fraud" means any instance of an action that
87	87	20 constitutes vacancy fraud under Section 25.
88	88	21 "Vacant property" means property that is receiving an
89	89	22 enhanced vacancy reduction.
90	90	23 Section 20. Vacancy fraud complaints.
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101	101	1 (a) The board of review has the power to review complaints
102	102	2 of vacancy fraud if the vacancy fraud is alleged to have
103	103	3 occurred within 5 years before the filing of the complaint.
104	104	4 (b) Any taxing district in which the vacant property is
105	105	5 located, or any representative of that taxing district, any
106	106	6 chief county assessment officer, or the owner of any property
107	107	7 that is located in the same taxing district as the vacant
108	108	8 property may file a complaint alleging that the owner of the
109	109	9 vacant property, or an agent of the owner, engaged in vacancy
110	110	10 fraud or attempted to engage in vacancy fraud. The complaint
111	111	11 shall be in writing and shall comply with the rules adopted by
112	112	12 the board of review for the purpose of submitting vacancy
113	113	13 fraud complaints.
114	114	14 (c) Prior to filing a vacancy fraud complaint, the party
115	115	15 alleging vacancy fraud shall serve on the titleholder of
116	116	16 record a notice of intent to file a vacancy fraud complaint on
117	117	17 a form prescribed by rule of the board of review. The notice
118	118	18 shall disclose the common name and address of the property and
119	119	19 shall provide a short statement of the nature of the evidence
120	120	20 that will be submitted in support of the allegation of vacancy
121	121	21 fraud. This notice shall be served by first class mail,
122	122	22 postage prepaid.
123	123	23 (d) A vacancy fraud complaint must include a certificate
124	124	24 of service of the notice of intent to file a vacancy fraud
125	125	25 complaint required under this Section. The certificate of
126	126	26 service shall be made on a form prescribed by rule of the board
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137	137	1 of review.
138	138	2 (e) If a complaint is filed by an attorney on behalf of a
139	139	3 taxpayer, all notices and correspondence from the board shall
140	140	4 be directed to the attorney. The board may require proof of the
141	141	5 attorney's authority to represent the taxpayer. If the
142	142	6 attorney fails to provide proof of authority within the
143	143	7 compliance period granted by the board, the board of review
144	144	8 may dismiss the complaint. The board of review shall send,
145	145	9 electronically or by mail, notice of the dismissal to the
146	146	10 attorney and taxpayer.
147	147	11 (f) Upon receipt of a written complaint that is timely
148	148	12 filed, the board of review shall docket the complaint. If the
149	149	13 complaint does not comply with the board of review rules
150	150	14 entitling the complainant to a hearing, the board or review
151	151	15 shall send, electronically or by mail, notification
152	152	16 acknowledging receipt of the complaint. The notification must
153	153	17 identify which rules have not been complied with and provide
154	154	18 the complainant with not less than 10 business days to bring
155	155	19 the complaint into compliance with those rules. If the
156	156	20 complainant complies with the board of review rules either
157	157	21 upon the initial filing of a complaint or within the time as
158	158	22 extended by the board of review for compliance, then the board
159	159	23 of review shall send, electronically or by mail, a notice of
160	160	24 hearing and the board of review shall hear the complaint and
161	161	25 shall issue and send, electronically or by mail, a decision.
162	162	26 Except as otherwise provided, if the complainant has not
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173	173	1 complied with the rules within the time as extended by the
174	174	2 board of review, the board or review shall dismiss the
175	175	3 complaint without prejudice. The board of review may adopt
176	176	4 rules allowing any party to attend and participate in a
177	177	5 hearing virtually, by phone or electronically. The party
178	178	6 alleging vacancy fraud shall cause duplicate notice of the
179	179	7 hearing date to be provided to the titleholder of record.
180	180	8 (g) The board of review may consolidate validly docketed
181	181	9 complaints related to the same property for the same time
182	182	10 period, provided that each complainant shall have an
183	183	11 opportunity to separately address the board of review in the
184	184	12 course of resolving the complaint. No complainant in a
185	185	13 consolidated complaint shall have their complaint dismissed on
186	186	14 the basis of actions taken or statements made by another
187	187	15 complainant.
188	188	16 Section 25. Actions constituting vacancy fraud. Statements
189	189	17 or representations that are knowingly made by an owner, or an
190	190	18 agent of an owner, to a chief county assessment officer, board
191	191	19 of review, or other trier of fact during the process of
192	192	20 requesting an enhanced vacancy reduction that are (i)
193	193	21 demonstrably false or (ii) contradict statements or
194	194	22 representations made by or on behalf of the same owner or agent
195	195	23 of an owner, to an actual or prospective lender to, investor
196	196	24 in, or insurer of the property about the value or condition of
197	197	25 the same property constitute vacancy fraud.
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208	208	1 Section 30. Adjudication of vacancy fraud complaints.
209	209	2 (a) No board of review shall make a declaration or issue a
210	210	3 decision about vacancy fraud until the owner and the chief
211	211	4 county assessment officer have been notified of the complaint
212	212	5 and have been given an opportunity to address the board of
213	213	6 review in response to the complaint.
214	214	7 (b) If the majority of the members of the board of review
215	215	8 agree that a specific statement, representation, or act by an
216	216	9 owner of a property or an owner's agent constitutes vacancy
217	217	10 fraud, then those members of the board or review shall declare
218	218	11 which specific statement, statements, representations,
219	219	12 representations, act, or acts in the complaint constitute
220	220	13 vacancy fraud. If the property owner obtained an enhanced
221	221	14 reduction of their property tax bill as a result of such
222	222	15 vacancy fraud, or attempted to obtain an enhanced reduction of
223	223	16 their property tax bill as a result of said vacancy fraud, then
224	224	17 the board of review shall declare that the owner has committed
225	225	18 vacancy fraud.
226	226	19 (c) A decision by the board of review that an owner
227	227	20 committed vacancy fraud may be appealed to the circuit court
228	228	21 of the county in which the board of review has jurisdiction in
229	229	22 the same manner as other determinations by the board of
230	230	23 review.
231	231	24 Section 35. Penalties.
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242	242	1 (a) A person who is found by the board of review to have
243	243	2 committed vacancy fraud is subject to the following penalties:
244	244	3 (1) a civil penalty equaling 2 times the total amount
245	245	4 of a reduction in property taxes received because of the
246	246	5 vacancy fraud; and
247	247	6 (2) a 3-year prohibition on the property owner
248	248	7 receiving an enhanced vacancy reduction for the subject
249	249	8 property.
250	250	9 (b) These penalties shall first be paid to the appropriate
251	251	10 taxing districts. The remaining funds shall be split equally
252	252	11 between the board of review and the chief county assessment
253	253	12 officer's office to pay for the costs of administering claims
254	254	13 of vacancy fraud.
255	255	14 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
256	256	15 becoming law.
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