Kane County keeps its county seat in Geneva and its main courthouse in St. Charles, and its biggest cities reach across county lines. Here is how a tax, code or foreclosure problem moves through the county, and what an as-is sale to a private buyer involves.
Fair Value Investments is a private real-estate investor buying for our own account. We are not a broker, lender, attorney, or government agency, and we charge no fee to make an offer.
Kane County's seat is Geneva, where the county government center and its property offices are based. Court cases are a separate trip: the 16th Judicial Circuit Court sits at the Kane County Judicial Center, 37W777 Route 38 in St. Charles. Knowing which building you need before you drive saves a wasted afternoon.
Aurora and Elgin, the two largest cities in Kane County, both extend into neighboring counties. Aurora reaches into DuPage, Will and Kendall, and Elgin reaches into Cook. For taxes, deeds and courts, what matters is the county the parcel itself sits in, not the city on the mailing address. The tax bill names the county, and so does the county assessment record.
The Kane County Treasurer collects property taxes and holds the county's annual tax sale, which covers mobile home taxes as well as real estate. Questions about the sale itself and the delinquent property lists belong with the Treasurer.
Once taxes are sold, the Kane County Clerk is the office that can give you an Estimate of Redemption, the amount needed to pay the sold taxes off. The Clerk's page also lists the forms of payment it accepts for a redemption, so read it before you go.
Before the redemption deadline passes, a tax buyer can begin deed proceedings in court, and costs from that process are added to the redemption amount. The timing depends on the property and the sale, and it is exactly the kind of date to confirm with the Clerk or an attorney rather than estimate.
The Kane County Recorder's Office records deeds, mortgages, releases and liens for the whole county. It also offers a free Property Watch service that emails an owner whenever a document is recorded against their property. The Recorder's own site warns that homeowners at risk of foreclosure are targets for people who record fake documents, so an owner going through a hard stretch has good reason to sign up.
Property values are set by township assessors and the Kane County Supervisor of Assessments, with appeals to the county Board of Review.
Inside Aurora, Elgin, St. Charles, Batavia, Geneva, Carpentersville and the county's other municipalities, the city or village enforces its own building and property maintenance codes, and several have their own requirements for a sale. Outside municipal limits, the county's own building and zoning staff handle permits and enforcement. Much of western Kane County is unincorporated farmland, so rural properties are more likely to answer to the county than to a town.
In Kane County a foreclosure is filed as a lawsuit in the 16th Judicial Circuit Court, heard at the Judicial Center in St. Charles, with the file kept by the Kane County Circuit Clerk. The Illinois process runs through service of the summons, the owner's chance to respond, a judgment, a sale by a court officer and the judge's confirmation.
What that means for your dates and choices is a question for an attorney or a free HUD-approved housing counselor; the counselor line is in the notice at the bottom of this page. The federal housing counselor search finds approved agencies by location.
Fair Value Investments makes cash offers on property in its current condition, and we explain how we got to the number. There is no obligation. If you decide to sell, a title company handles the closing: it gathers payoff figures, pays the mortgage, the redemption amount for sold taxes and any recorded liens out of the sale proceeds, and records the deed with the Recorder. What is left is yours.
If the house would sell well on the open market, listing it may net more, and we will tell you so. Our pricing explainer lays out the comparison. Related pages: unpaid property taxes, code violations and missed payments.
The Kane County Clerk. The Treasurer runs the tax sale, but the Estimate of Redemption comes from the Clerk's Office.
The county seat is Geneva, but the 16th Judicial Circuit Court sits at the Kane County Judicial Center, 37W777 Route 38 in St. Charles.
A free service from the Kane County Recorder that emails you when a document is recorded against your property.
Yes. We look at properties across Cook, DuPage, Will, Lake and Kane counties, so the county line does not change whether we can make an offer.
No repairs, no fee, no obligation. See the number, then decide.