Property Tax Appeals

The simple answer is everyone!  When you do not appeal, you end up paying an unfair burden, and much more money than your neighbors who successfully appealed!  If you don’t appeal you will get stuck paying more than your neighbors.  The Property Tax Department is here for you to make sure that does not happen!

There are certain circumstances where it is imperative that you appeal.  Some of them are:

• Recent purchase in the last three (3) years.
• Recent construction, remodel, and/or addition
• Vacancy in your investment property
• Disaster such as a flood or fire
• Missing property exemptions (homestead, senior, disabled, etc.)

Appealing your property taxes has been in the news a lot recently and even the Chicago Tribune said that EVERY owner should appeal in the recent article, “Why it’s foolish not to appeal your property tax assessment.”  Everyone needs to have an expert and advocate on their side to make sure they are not paying too much in property taxes.  

The process can be very confusing and overwhelming.  When you hire Lohse Law, we make it simple for you and we handle each step of the process:

1. You receive your notice of Assessment from you County Assessor.
2. You have a very small window (only 30 days) to prepare and file your appeal of your assessment.  In some counties you can appeal to the Assessor first, but in most counties your first appeal is to the Board of Review.  If you miss your 30 day window, you are out of luck.
3. In Cook County, the Assessor publishes their results and you now have a chance to appeal again, this time to the Cook County Board of Review (BOR).  In the Lake County, your first chance to appeal is to the BOR as there is not a formal Assessor appeal process.
4. Once again, you have a very limited time to appeal your assessment to the BOR.
5. A few months later, the BOR publishes their results.  (Some clients continue their appeals to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (which can take years to receive results) or to Illinois Circuit Court but that is a small minority of the cases.)
6. Property tax rates are calculated by the county and tax bills are released.

Lohse Law uses the Property Tax Department’s property tax experts to analyze your property tax situation.  The Property Tax Department's experts work with advanced data metrics to achieve the greatest assessment reductions for you.  Your case is reviewed individually and we look for the best method to save you the most amount of money possible!

Once we find the best method to achieve the greatest reduction (and we get your permission to continue), we compile superior evidence and comparable that would not be possible without this proprietary software analysis programs.  Lohse Law will then prepare and submit a comprehensive appeal with the most accurate data and best comparables available to succeed in fighting your property tax bill!  

History is not necessarily indicative of future results, but in the past, our initial property analysis analysis has been extremely accurate. In fact it has been so accurate, it is usually within about $5 of what the new assessed value is after a successful appeal!

Your tax savings calculation is very simple… it is the difference between what you would have paid had you not appealed or filed the correct exemptions, and what you will pay as a result of our successful appeal. 

There really isn't much risk when you hire Lohse Law to fight your property taxes.  The services are 100% guaranteed!  

The first step is to complete a questionnaire so that Lohse Law can perform an initial property tax appeal analysis.  This initial property tax appeal analysis is where we will determine if there is good reason to appeal (can we save you any money).  We will let you know what we think we can do in terms of lowering the assessed value of your property.  The proprietary software used for your property tax inquiry analysis will analyze the likelihood of a successful appeal.  Once we provide the analysis to you, you will then have the opportunity to decide if you want Lohse Law to file an appeal or not.  

Other than a small $50 fee to perform the initial property tax appeal analysis, the only time you pay us is after you receive confirmation of your reduction from the County! In the very rare case that we are not successful in an assessed value reduction, you do not owe us a single penny for filing of your appeal…guaranteed!

You can appeal each and every year.  Don’t worry if you missed your deadline for this year…you can  sign up for next year so you can be sure you will not miss another deadline!  We will keep you on track!

In Cook County, each parcel is reassessed every three years and in Lake County, each parcel is reassessed every four years.  While it is important to appeal in the year you are reassessed, it is always prudent to have your assessment reviewed each year.  

No! Absolutely not!  If the Assessor and/or the Board of Review do not agree that a reduction is warranted, they will NOT raise an assessment (assessed value) and will NEVER “punish” someone for an unsuccessful appeal.  The review process was put in place to help taxpayers obtain a fair and equitable assessment and the worst case scenario is that your assessed valuation will remain the same..  This is known as a “No Change” ruling. ​​ Illinois law requires that the assessed value the assessor gives your property must come from an average of properties, not just your property alone.

Lohse Law works with The Property Tax Department, a private property tax consulting firm, which helps clients navigate the Cook County property tax appeal process the and Lake County property tax appeal process.  After Lohse Law receives and reviews the initial property tax appeal report and analysis of the likely outcome of an appeal, Lohse Law will  submit your property tax appeal to either the Cook County Property Tax Assessor or the Lake County Property Tax Assessor.

The Property Tax Department has a unique, client-centric, technology-based approach.  This property tax appeal approach differentiates them from other tax appeal companies and is extremely successful and accurate.  These property tax appeal experts: 

• Have 70+ years of experience in Illinois real estate and property tax appeals;
• Represented more than 23,000 clients; and 
• Have lowered taxable values by over a ½ Billion dollars.  These reductions have saved millions of dollars in property taxes!  

Sure.  You can file an appeal yourself but your chances of success increase dramatically when you have an attorney and property tax experts on your side.  The appeal process is very confusing and time consuming.  Most of our clients find that the time and aggravation they save by hiring Lohse Law is well worth our small fees (among the lowest in the industry).  Once we file your appeal, our services are 100% guaranteed and you do not pay us a cent unless we are successful in lowering your property tax bill!

Absolutely.  You can appeal the taxes on ANY property that you are responsible for the taxes.  Whether it is a 2nd or 3rd home, you are the landlord, or you are the tenant responsible for the taxes, you can appeal.

Lohse Law charges a small, one-time, fee of $50 to perform an initial property tax appeal analysis.  Once we have the analysis, and it looks like your taxes can be reduced, there is no fee to file the appeal.  

After a successful appeal and your assessed value has been reduced (or corrected the exemption errors or omissions), our fee is 25% of your savings for the first year*! All future savings from the appeal go 100% in your pocket.  If there is no reduction, there are no fees.

Most other property tax appeal attorneys in Lake and Cook Counties charge 35% to 37%.  The contingent fee that Lohse Law charges is among the lowest in the market. 

Here’s an example of your savings when compared to the other tax appeal services that charge 35%+

• Hiring them: $5,000 tax savings - costs $1,750 in contingency fees.
• Hiring us: $5,000 tax savings - costs only $1,250 in contingency fees ($500 less than the other tax appeal companies).

*25% or a minimum of $200.