Services · Chicago
Homeowner Services
If you own your home, the property tax bill arrives every year — and more often than people realize, that bill contains an error or is missing an exemption you were entitled to. We review your account, file the exemptions that apply to you, and file the correction when the county got it wrong.
Are you being overcharged on property tax?
It happens more than you would think. The county calculates your tax from the information it has on record for your property, and that record is sometimes wrong: the house is listed with more bedrooms than it has, or a finished basement that does not exist, or an exemption you have qualified for all along was simply never applied. When the error is the county’s, Cook County has a process to correct it — the Certificate of Error — and you do not have to wait until next year to use it.
The exemptions people leave on the table
An exemption lowers what you pay every year, and several of them have to be applied for — they do not arrive on their own. We review which ones fit your situation, including the homeowner (owner-occupied) exemption, the senior exemptions — including the one that freezes your assessed value if household income qualifies — and those for veterans and people with disabilities. The county decides who qualifies; what we do is review your case, tell you which ones appear to apply, and file the application with the documents you give us.
What if I missed it for years?
It is not necessarily lost. When an exemption you were entitled to was never applied, it can often be corrected backwards for as many years as the county allows, which becomes a refund or a credit against what you owe. How much and how many years depends on your case and the rules in force — we check first and tell you what can realistically be recovered before we start, with no hallway promises.
What we need from you
To review your case it helps to have: your property PIN (it is printed on the property tax bill), the most recent bill, a photo ID, and something showing you live in the home (a license with that address, a gas or electric bill). If you are missing something, bring what you have and we will work from there.
What we do and what we don’t
We complete and file your exemption applications and your Certificate of Error using the information and documents you provide, and we follow up until the county responds. We are not attorneys and we do not give legal advice: we do not decide which filing is right for you, and if your situation calls for a formal assessment appeal or legal advice, we will tell you plainly so you can take it to the right person.
Ready to get started?
Book a consultation and tell us what you need. We help you in your language, without the hassle.