Lake County's November tax sale, the 2027 reassessment and a 1.5 percent monthly penalty
Lake County bills property taxes in two installments. Miss one and state law adds a 1.5 percent penalty for every month the installment stays unpaid. On bills this size that stacks up quickly. The Census Bureau puts the median real estate tax paid by Lake County homeowners at $8,923 a year (ACS 2020-2024), which works out to about $744 a month.
If the taxes stay unpaid, the collector asks the court for a sale order, and outside Cook County state law says that request comes within 90 days after the second installment is due. The most recent sale the Treasurer posted, for 2024 taxes, was set for November 13, 2025. What sells is a lien on the taxes, not the house. Bidders compete on the penalty rate, which state law caps at 9 percent. Under the current statute, a home with one to six units can generally be redeemed for up to three years from the sale. The July 2026 changes apply to certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026, so check the date on yours. The lien holder petitions for a tax deed between 6 and 3 months before the redemption window closes.
Lake County is a township county, so every parcel gets a general reassessment every four years. The last one was 2023 and the next is 2027. Homes are assessed at one third of fair cash value. Because Lake borders Cook, the homestead exemption here takes up to $8,000 off your equalized assessed value, and owners 65 and older can claim up to another $8,000.
Waukegan's courthouse, a 42-day phone call and a Thursday help desk
Illinois only allows foreclosure through a lawsuit, so every Lake County case runs through the 19th Judicial Circuit at the courthouse at 18 N. County Street in Waukegan. The court tells homeowners to file an appearance and answer within 30 days of getting the papers. That filing carries a fee, and low-income homeowners may be able to get it waived. The Circuit Clerk's office at 847-377-3209 can give you your next court date.
One deadline is purely local. The court runs a free Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program, and to use it you have to call 847-377-3552 within 42 days of receiving the summons and complaint. Cases filed on or after December 2, 2013 may qualify. Counseling comes from two HUD-certified nonprofits, Community Partners for Affordable Housing and the Lake County Housing Authority. A help desk staffed by volunteer attorneys meets Thursdays at 1:30 p.m., by appointment only, over Zoom or near courtroom C-304.
State law sets the rest. You get 90 days from service to reinstate by catching up the missed payments and costs. Redemption runs until the later of 7 months from service or 3 months from the judgment, and the sale comes after that. A judge still has to confirm the sale, and the buyer gets possession 30 days after that order. DePaul's Institute for Housing Studies counts 766 new filings in 2025, down from 6,604 in 2010, and 115 completed auctions, 45.2 percent of which ended bank-owned. The Lake County foreclosure timeline and the deadline calculator put dates on each step.
Lakefront cities, the Round Lake area and a million-dollar North Shore
Lake County had an estimated 719,339 residents in July 2025, per the Census Bureau, and what a house is worth depends heavily on which of its towns it sits in. The Census median owner-occupied value is $345,700 countywide, but $159,600 in North Chicago, $183,800 in Zion and $190,900 in Waukegan, against $607,300 in Highland Park and $938,300 in Lake Forest.
Redfin's June to August 2026 sales tell the same story: roughly $280,000 to $290,000 in Round Lake Beach, Waukegan and Zion, against about $886,000 in Highland Park and $1.5 million in Lake Forest. Waukegan and Zion also carried more months of supply over the summer than the county did in August, so a buyer there has more houses to compare yours against.
Age matters at closing too. Any house built before 1978 needs the federal lead pamphlet and disclosure, plus a 10-day window for a lead inspection, and that applies whether you list or sell for cash.
What Lake County's $428,566 median sale leaves you
Redfin put Lake County's median sale price at $428,566 in August 2026, up 4.4 percent in a year. Commission at about 4.9 percent, Clever's Illinois average (updated September 2026), takes roughly $21,000. Closing costs of about 1.2 percent add around $5,100. The state transfer tax is 50 cents per $500 and Lake County adds 25 cents per $500, about $430 and $215 at that price. The County Clerk says the sales contract decides who pays, so this math assumes you do.
That's roughly $26,800 gone before your mortgage payoff or any repairs. Taxes keep running while the house is listed, about $744 a month at the county median, and the median home took 50 days to sell in August. The typical home did sell for 99.9 percent of list, so listing makes real sense here. If the property is a fit, a cash buyer may make an offer instead, and you pick the closing date. Either route can be the right one. Run both numbers first.
Lake County town guides
Each note below draws on Census and Redfin figures for that town.
- Waukegan: county seat, Census median value $190,900, June to August median sale $284,812
- North Chicago: Census median owner-occupied value $159,600, the lowest of the towns compared above
- Zion: median value $183,800, 3.1 months of supply this summer
- Round Lake Beach: June to August median $279,815, 2.3 months of supply
- Lake County foreclosure timeline: each court deadline from service to confirmation
Sources: Lake County Treasurer, tax sale proceedings (archived); Illinois Property Tax Code, 35 ILCS 200; 19th Judicial Circuit, mortgage foreclosure; 19th Judicial Circuit, foreclosure mediation program; Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5; DePaul Institute for Housing Studies, Lake County; Census Bureau, county population totals 2020-2025; Census Reporter, median home value, Lake County and towns (ACS 2020-2024); Census Reporter, median real estate taxes paid, Lake County (ACS 2020-2024); Redfin, Lake County housing market August 2026; Clever, average commission survey; Lake County Clerk, transfer tax pamphlet (archived)
