Question about a quit claim in Chicago property taxes and fines

[Steve Rogers]

My brother had put a lot in my name without my consent via quit claim deed. It's a small lot about 3000 square feet in Hyde Park in south Chicago. I had contacted an attorney because I had wanted to get the deed nullified but the attorney had pushed me to sell the property instead, and the real estate agent we worked with waaaay overevaluated the property. He listed the property and now we've dropped the price 2 times already and it's currently sitting at 1/4 what the original evaluation was. Basically a combination of bad advice from this lawyer and the real estate agent over evaluating the hell out of the property has really put me in a bad spot.

The biggest issue is that the property has 4500 in back taxes and 2300 in city fines. Now the City of Chicago has retained a law firm to collect this 2300 debt from me. It was 1800 but now interest is accruing in it monthly. I need to do something about it ASAP

I don't want any money but I just want to get rid of this property and I'm in dire straits to do so. My brother has agreed to take it back via quit claim deed. I know that the property taxes are against the property itself so I know those go with the property.

But with the city fines now with a law firm trying to collect a debt from me. What happens if the property goes to my brother via quit claim deed? Am I still liable for the city fines? 

[Chris Titcomb]

@Brie Schmidt

@Steve Rogers there are some issues here that require more details.

However, the advice regarding “acceptance” is correct. If you’d like to PM me the address, I can look up the Quit Claim Deed (QCD) on the Recorder’s site and see if a “Statement by Grantor and Grantee” page was executed. This page verifies that the name of the Grantee on the QCD is legal person/valid Illinois entity. If you signed that, you essentially accepted the conveyance.

Regarding property taxes, they run with the land and are a perpetual lien on title. So if your name is on title, you have an obligation to pay the taxes. However, if you take your name off title, via another QCD, your obligation to pay the back taxes end.

And along those lines, you don’t need to have taxes paid in full to record a QCD; you just need to pay the outstanding water bill in Chicago. That’s one of the risks when taking title via QCD, the Grantor is not warranting anything, like unpaid property taxes for example. Quit claim deeds operate, in effect, as a release of whatever interest the grantor has or may have in the property.

Regarding city fines, I used to work for the City in the Department of Administrative Hearings, and, typically, if you no longer own the property, the City can’t collect against you.