County Collector v. Ford Motor Co.

Applicant-appellant, the county collector of Cook County (Collector), appeals the trial court’s finding that its assessment of real property owned by objector-appellee, Ford Motor Company (Ford), was constructively fraudulent as being excessive. The Collector asserts that Ford failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that its assessment was constructively fraudulent. The Collector further asserts that the trial court committed reversible error by considering as evidence prior settlements and a subsequent assessment which were outside the record.

For the reasons stated below, we reverse…