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Blog · Appeals · 2026-08-04 · 2 min read

Appeal or certificate of error: two different remedies

One is for disagreement about value. The other is for facts that are simply wrong.

They are not interchangeable, and using the wrong one loses time you may not have.

An appeal

For disagreement: your value is too high, or you are assessed unequally. Filed with the Board of Review within the appeal window. Decided on evidence, and the board may sustain or raise as well as reduce.

A certificate of error

For a mistake of fact: a building that does not exist, a duplicate assessment, an exemption wrongly removed, a plainly wrong square footage. Available in some counties outside the appeal window, because it corrects an error rather than re-deciding a judgement.

How to tell which you have

Ask whether a reasonable person looking at the record and the property would say the record is wrong, or merely that the value is debatable. Wrong is a certificate of error. Debatable is an appeal.

Practical advice

If you have missed the appeal deadline and your complaint is factual, ask the assessor about a certificate of error before writing off the year. Availability and scope vary by county, so ask specifically rather than assuming.

This is general information about how Illinois assessments and appeals work. It is not legal advice, not an appraisal, and not a prediction about your case. Deadlines and rules differ by county — check yours with your Board of Review.

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More on Appeals

The 30-day rule: the deadline most owners miss Your window opens when the township list is published, not when the notice reaches you.How to file a Board of Review appeal in Illinois The form, the evidence, the copies, and the order to do them in.What actually happens at a Board of Review hearing Ten to fifteen minutes, three people, no robes. Here is the shape of it.Yes, the board can raise your assessment It is uncommon, it is real, and it is the reason to check whether you are the low one first.

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