In May of this year, a federal judge ruled that Cook County, Illinois, is liable for constitutional violations when it seized people's homes over property tax debts and left them with nothing. That scheme—sometimes referred to as home equity theft—sounds nightmarish. The reality is harsher, however, when you consider the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled the practice unconstitutional nearly three years before this recent ruling.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week signed a bill into law that finally brings the state into the present. The legislation promises homeowners will receive the surplus proceeds when the government takes their home to satisfy a debt and paves the way for those with previous claims to receive compensation.
