For over 35 years, Robert H. Rosenfeld & Associates has led the fight against excessive real estate taxes. Whether you own or lease multi-tenant or single family residential, commercial, or industrial properties, our services apply to your ownership/management needs. Let us analyze and appeal your assessment to help you control the ever-increasing burden of real estate taxes. Our team will provide a state-of-the-art, proprietary analysis to determine your prospects for tax relief, and we will use all of our resources to help you save every tax dollar possible. Please note that our attorney’s fees are completely contingent. If there are no savings, there are no attorney’s fees. And there are no research fees or other upfront costs!

In Cook County, residential real estate, including many multi-family properties, are assessed at 10% of their fair market value as determined by the Assessor. Commercial properties are assessed at 25% of their fair market value as determined by the Assessor.

In all other counties in the State of Illinois, real estate is assessed at 33.33% of the fair market value as determined by the Assessor.

Every three years, properties in Cook County are reassessed. For properties in Illinois that are not located in Cook County, the reassessment is done every four years. The reassessment year is the chance for the Assessor in your Township to revalue your property using sales data from the previous 3 (Cook County) or 4 years.

There are no research or other upfront cost. Our attorney’s fees are 100% contingent, so you will only be billed when/if we obtain a reduction in assessment or a refund for your property.

The tax savings are calculated by multiplying the reduction in assessment by the last ascertainable equalized tax rate for the area in which the property is located. Attorney’s fees are calculated as the agreed upon percentage of these savings. The below example would be for a Cook County residential property in the first year of the triennial reassessment:

Original assessment = 100,000
Reduced assessment as result of appeal = 90,000
Difference in assessment/reduction = 10,000
Last ascertainable equalized tax rate = 24%
Fee percentage = 15%
Annual tax savings = 10,000 (reduction) X 0.24 (tax rate) = $2,400
Total tax savings over triennial period: $2,400 (annual tax savings) X 3 (years remaining in triennial period) = $7,200
Attorney’s fee: 15% (standard fee percentage in first year of triennial) X $7,200 (total tax savings) = $1,080

Our fee is calculated as a percentage of the total tax savings. As such, we charge a smaller percentage of the tax savings when a reduction in assessment results in multiple years of tax savings.

No. We only charge at the time a reduction is obtained.

A claim for a refund for over-payment of taxes made to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board or the Circuit Court is a separate legal procedure from the appeal filed with the Assessor or Board of Review. If we prevail in a claim for a refund for overpayment, the relief obtained will come in the form of a refund check, rather than a reduction on your tax bill. In this instance, we charge a percentage of the amount of the refund obtained.

Generally you cannot seek a reduction in your assessment for tax years once the appellate period closes in the township where your property is located. An exception to this general rule is if there is a mistake in fact which caused your property to be over assessed. Examples of mistakes in fact are overstated square footage or an unreported vacancy rate for a commercial property. If we can show a mistake in fact, you can request a reduction of a prior year(s) assessment by filing a certificate of error. This is a separate procedure with a separate legal fee.

The appeal process is triggered by the issuance of an assessment by the Assessor in the township where your property is located. An assessment is the Assessor’s attribution of value to the property.

In Cook County, real estate is reassessed every 3 years. In all other counties in the State of Illinois, real estate is reassessed every 4 years. There are exceptions to this general rule, so your property can be assessed more often in certain unique circumstances.

Upon a reassessment of your property, you should receive a written Notice of Reassessment. This is an important legal document which triggers a time limit on your appellate rights. You have 30 days from the date of the Reassessment Notice to file your appeal. In Cook County you can file your first appeal to the Assessor s Office, in all other counties the first appeal is to the county Board of Review. Appeals filed at the Assessor or Board of Review are ruled upon prior to the issuance of that year s tax bill. Appeals to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board are generally ruled upon after the payment of your tax.

If you retain our services, we do not need a copy of your Notice of Reassessment, and we will timely file your appeals.

There are multiple levels of review available in each county in Illinois.

In Cook County, you can appeal your assessment to the Assessor’s office, the Cook County Board of Review and finally to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board or the Circuit Court of Cook County.

In the collar counties, you can appeal to the Board of Review and finally to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board or the Circuit Court of the particular county where the property is located.

Other counties in Illinois vary, so if you have property located outside the Chicago land area that you are interested in having reviewed, feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

There are multiple levels of appellate review for real estate tax appeals. In many cases, the appeal process continues after the tax bill at issue is due and paid, and the form of relief sought is a refund for overpaid taxes. This process takes a number of years and is filed either in the Circuit Court or the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board.

For many reasons--such as reassessment years, fluctuating tax rates, school district budgets, and more-- taxes will vary from year to year. As such, the tax savings are calculated based on what you would have paid prior to our appeal, versus the reduced amount that you are going to pay as a result of our appeal.

Even if you are selling your property, it may still be in your interest to appeal. As a seller, you will be giving a credit at closing for real estate taxes accrued but not yet due for the period of time that you owned the property. Accordingly, it is in your interest to minimize the tax credit given to the buyer by minimizing the taxes that you are still responsible for. Whether it is in your interest to appeal is a case by case determination. You can contact us at anytime and we will analyze the issue with you, at no additional charge.

In Cook County only, we either need a copy of the check(s), front and back, or if you paid the tax online, a copy of your bank statement(s), showing payment of the tax bills. This requirement to show proof of payment is a Cook County Treasurer requirement, not ours. If you cannot provide either method of proof, contact us to discuss other options.