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Supervisor of assessments outlines deed mistakes, potential fraud and limits of public records
Summary
Supervisor Mark Armstrong told the committee that the assessor's office reviews deeds year-round, identified problematic legal descriptions and instances that can lead to tax-sale title transfers, and explained the office's responsibilities under state law.
Mark Armstrong, Kane County supervisor of assessments, told the Public Service Committee that his office reviews tens of thousands of deeds each year and identified specific categories of deed problems that can create downstream title and tax-notice issues.
"The deeds that most often come in are warranty trustee and special warranty deed," Armstrong said, explaining the range of instruments his office processes and why the legal description — not an address or parcel number — determines which property is affected.
Why it matters: Armstrong said bad or incomplete legal descriptions can cause tax bills to go to the wrong party, create duplicate parcels or allow tax buyers to acquire property after tax sale even when an original owner remains in possession. He described examples the office found last year: 13,805 deeds processed overall and 532 with identifiable problems, 36 deeds so incomplete at recording they could not identify the parcel, and cases where subsequent deeds left out unit numbers or used incorrect lot identifiers.
Armstrong described the office's checks — comparing grantor chains, verifying trustee authority, and confirming successor status — and gave an example of a homeowner who received a homestead exemption but was later found to be a Florida resident and faced potential repayment and penalties under Florida rules. He said the supervisor's office must keep mailing-address lists used by treasurer and clerk offices and that state statute Section 9-35 requires certain record-keeping duties.
Armstrong also said the office considered commercial deed-processing software used by other jurisdictions; such software cut turnaround time in a comparative locality but carried a significant cost.
Ending: Armstrong said the office aims to process routine deed issues within 30 days when possible and asked the committee to consider whether budget resources should be allocated to technology that would reduce turnaround time and error risk.
