No, Illinois law does not require lenders to send receipts for each property tax payment, provided that the lender is sending an annual escrow account notice (such as the annual notice required by RESPA) with contact information for borrowers to access additional details about individual property tax payments (such as through a toll-free number or website).

The Illinois Mortgage Escrow Account Act requires lenders to provide an annual escrow notice and permits it to be combined with other notices, such as the RESPA annual escrow account statement. The notice must include a “means of communication” by which a borrower can access additional details about property tax payments: the date of each payment, the amount, and a permanent index number (PIN) or other description of the property. The “means of communication” provided in the notice must be “by telephone, facsimile, e-mail, Internet access, or other means . . . .”

Provided that a borrower could use the contact information in your annual escrow account statements to access that additional escrow information, your practice should satisfy the Illinois law’s requirements.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Mortgage Escrow Account Act, 765 ILCS 910/15(c) (“[A] mortgage lender that provides notice at least annually to a borrower in the manner provided in subsection (b) of a means of communication for the borrower to access the information set forth in subsection (a) [notice of tax payments] by telephone, facsimile, e-mail, Internet access, or other means of communication, is deemed to be in compliance with subsection (a).”)