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A licensee is advising a client purchasing property in Oak Park (Cook County). The client assumes Cook County assesses all property types at the same one-third of fair market value used throughout the rest of Illinois. Which statement is correct?

Correct Answer

D) The assumption is incorrect because Cook County uses a classification-based assessment system that applies different assessment levels to different property classes, rather than the uniform one-third level used in non-Cook counties.

Cook County operates under a classification ordinance authorized by the Illinois Constitution (Art. IX, Sec. 4(b)), which allows counties over 200,000 population to classify property and apply different assessment levels by class. For example, residential property in Cook County is assessed at 10% of fair market value, while commercial property is assessed at 25%. This is fundamentally different from the uniform one-third (33.33%) level applied to all non-exempt property in the rest of Illinois under 35 ILCS 200/9-145.

Answer Options
A
The assumption is correct because Cook County follows the statewide one-third level for all property classes.
B
The assumption is correct because the state equalization factor removes any county-level assessment differences.
C
The assumption is partially correct — Cook County uses one-third for residential property but a different level only for farmland.
D
The assumption is incorrect because Cook County uses a classification-based assessment system that applies different assessment levels to different property classes, rather than the uniform one-third level used in non-Cook counties.

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Related Topics & Key Terms

Key Terms:

classification_vs_one_thirdcook_countydifficulty_2illinois_statenon_cook_assessment_level_and_equalizationother_county_assessment_33property_taxscenario

Related Concepts

The closing process, also called settlement, is the final step in a real estate transaction where documents are signed, funds are disbursed, and title is officially transferred from the seller to the buyer.

Constructive notice is the legal presumption that a person has knowledge of information that is available through public records or visible inspection of the property, regardless of whether they actually knew about it.

A deed is a written legal document that conveys (transfers) ownership of real property from one party to another. It must be delivered to and accepted by the grantee to be effective.

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