Cook County Commissioners Pass Ordinance Lowering Transfer on Death Instrument Recording Fee, Reduce Barrier to Estate Planning for Communities Impacted by COVID-19

***PRESS RELEASE***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Amanda Insalaco, Borchard Fellow, Housing Preservation Project, Center for Disability & Elder Law - ainsalaco@cdelaw.org

Cook County Commissioners Pass Ordinance Lowering Transfer on Death Instrument Recording Fee, Reduce Barrier to Estate Planning for Communities Impacted by COVID-19 

Chicago, Ill.—On May 21, 2020, the Cook County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance temporarily reducing the cost to record Transfer on Death Instruments from $98 to $48. Sponsored by Commissioner Larry Suffredin and co-sponsored by all Commissioners, the ordinance is part of a broader initiative led by the Center for Disability & Elder Law (CDEL), housing and community development organizations, and other advocates to reduce barriers for homeowners seeking the security of an estate plan in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.

A Transfer on Death Instrument (TODI) is an estate planning tool that allows homeowners to name a beneficiary to their home upon their passing, ensuring the house passes without the probate process. The probate process is time consuming, prohibitively expensive, and requires legal resources many cannot afford to access. While there are other means of keeping the house out of probate, such as joint tenancy deeds and land trusts, the TODI is the quickest, most cost-effective means of doing so and is the only method that does not have any effect on the current ownership of the property. However, per the Illinois Residential Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act (755 ILCS 27, et seq.), a TODI is only effective upon its recording. For many, especially for communities most impacted by COVID-19, the cost to record this document stands as a major barrier in the way of the security of an estate plan.

“During the pandemic, we must help people get their property in order,” states Commissioner Larry Suffredin. “This fee reduction will help many use a simple tool to protect their homes.”

CDEL frequently encounters heirs who have lost homes that have been in their families for generations, simply because they were not “on title” to the property. If heirs are not on title, they cannot refinance the mortgages to avoid foreclosure, take property tax exemptions to which they are entitled, or draw from the equity to make needed repairs. In other words, properties are often lost due to heirship issues that could have easily been prevented through recording a TODI.

Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC), which has been operating as a COVID-19 Crisis Response Center for southside residents, is committed to preserving housing stock in Auburn Gresham. Protecting homes and protecting communities, GAGDC has pledged to provide grants to residents who would like to record a Transfer on Death Instrument during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amanda Insalaco, Borchard Fellow and creator of CDEL’s Housing Preservation Project, said of the Ordinance’s passage, “I commend the Cook County Recorder and Board of Commissioners for taking steps to increase access to recording of Transfer on Death Instruments, which—now more than ever—are crucial to ensuring stability in homeownership and the transfer of intergenerational wealth in our communities. However, it is apparent that additional steps must be taken to ensure that completed TODIs are promptly accepted and recorded by the Cook County Recorder of Deeds.”

Despite passage of this important ordinance, concerns linger about the amount of time it currently takes to process documents for recording. After closure of the Cook County Recorder of Deeds physical offices due to COVID-19, the only way to record documents was through e-recording platforms, accessible to law firms and title companies exclusively. Fortunately, in response to the advocacy of CDEL and other agencies, the Recorder began accepting documents by U.S. mail or commercial carrier as of May 4, 2020. However, items submitted by e-recording are processed in an estimated 6-7 days while there is an estimated lead time of anywhere from 2-7 weeks for documents submitted by mail and commercial carrier, and if a TODI is not recorded prior to the homeowner’s death, it is not effective.

According to Jerrod Williams, President of the Cook County Bar Association, “The Recorder can and should help to remove barriers senior members of the Black community face in obtaining county services and utilizing a valuable estate planning tool. The CCBA asks the Recorder to take the opportunity to begin to correct this systemically discriminatory policy by making the filing of TODIs more accessible to more citizens.”

The reduction in fees will remain in effect until September 30, 2020. Acknowledging the above-mentioned lead time, CDEL encourages homeowners to mail their TODIs to the Recorder well in advance of this date.

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Center for Disability & Elder Law—In its 36-year history, more than 30,000 people with disabilities and senior citizens have received free legal services from CDEL. CDEL provides the majority of its services in the communities where its clients live, and engages the Chicagoland pro bono community in all of its programming.

List of Signatories that Joined in Letter Advocating for changes to Cook County Recorder of Deeds processes:

Alan H. Klein
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Clifford Helm
Cook County Bar Association
Damon Ritenhouse, EV Has, LLC
Edward Grossman, Grossman and Grossman, Inc.
Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project, Alexandra Sossa
Far South Community Development Corporation, Eric Williams
Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, Linda Johnson
Greater Chatham Initiative, Nedra Sims Fear
Illinois Legal Aid Online, Matt Newstead
Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing, Mark Swartz
Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Susan Yanun
Lucy Park, Perkins Coie LLP / Center for Disability & Elder Law Board of Directors
Mark Hellner, Center for Disability & Elder Law Executive Director Emeritus
Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, Donna Clarke, Tiffany Smith
Nicole Wheatly, Steps Inc. Consulting
Phil DeVon, Law Office of Philip J. DeVon
Professor David Rodriguez
Resistance Legal Clinic, Professor Kelli Dudley
Robert A. Michalak, Center for Disability & Elder Law Board of Directors
Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Kate Walz
Thomas A. Demetrio, Corboy & Demetrio, P.C.