Judge shoots down claims of racial discrimination in delinquent tax sales
Judge shoots down claims of racial discrimination in delinquent tax sales
Lawsuit didn’t prove Cook County’s bias, although tax sales overwhelmingly targeted Black and Latino communities, court rules
A lawsuit against the city of Chicago alleging that sales of properties over tax debt were racially discriminatory has been dismissed.
A disproportionate number of Black- and Latino-owned properties are targeted for tax sales, but to say that is because of race is “too big an inferential leap,” U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois ruled last month, Crain’s reported.
Tax sales are under scrutiny after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a case from Minnesota last year found the practice unconstitutional, because it effectively allows local authorities to unfairly seize homeowner equity. Counties were selling properties for back taxes and keeping all of the proceeds, beyond the amount owed.
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Source : The Real Deal
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