Effingham County, IL Property Records: Search Deeds, Owners, Tax Records, and Maps

Property records in Effingham County are managed by three offices, each handling a different piece of the title-and-tax workflow. The County Clerk doubles as Recorder of Deeds, the Supervisor of Assessments handles parcel data, and the Treasurer handles tax bills.

Effingham County’s location at the intersection of Interstates 57 and 70 helps keep its housing market close to the Illinois average home value. Most homes sell within 50 to 80 days. These listings primarily include single-family detached homes in major cities within the county.

The county's housing stock largely consists of single-family detached homes concentrated in Effingham (the largest city and county seat), Altamont, Teutopolis, Beecher City, Montrose, and Dieterich. The interstate crossroads of I-57 and I-70 make Effingham a major distribution and trucking hub, with travel centers, warehouses, and retail employment. The Effingham Cross of the Crossroads draws regional visitors. Working farmland fills most of the unincorporated areas.

Recent records reveal the underlying factors influencing the local real estate market, with a median home value of {median_home_value} and median rent of {median_rent}, alongside a median household income of {median_household_income} and a median real estate tax rate of {median_real_est_tax}, serving as a percentage of the property's assessed value.

How to Look Up Effingham County Property Records

Effingham County offers two portals for looking up property records. The County Recorder’s Online Land Records Search provides remote access to recorded land documents. Likewise, use the Property Tax Inquiry portal to check assessments, tax bills, payment history, exemptions, sales history, and parcel inventories. To obtain a copy of a deed or other recorded documents, contact the County Recorder’s office by phone at (217) 342-6535 or visit the Effingham County Office Building.

Who Keeps Effingham County Property Records

Two statutes shape access to property records in Effingham County. The Freedom of Information Act at 5 ILCS 140 governs which records the public can see. The Property Tax Code at 35 ILCS 200 governs assessment, tax bills, and exemptions. Three offices share the work:

• The Supervisor of Assessments sets assessed values for every parcel, processes the homestead-exemption applications that reduce tax bills, and updates the parcel database that the Treasurer relies on.

• The County Clerk and Recorder houses all recorded real estate documents in Effingham County, including deeds, mortgages, liens, plats, and easements. The county combines this role with the County Clerk position under one elected official.

• The County Treasurer mails the annual tax bills, processes payments, runs the annual tax sale, and handles redemption from tax buyers.

Effingham County was organized in 1831 and named for Thomas Howard, the 3rd Earl of Effingham, a British nobleman sympathetic to the American Revolution. Land records run back to that year.

How to Search Effingham County Property Records Online

The most reliable way to research an Effingham County property is to hit all three portals and cross-check the information from each. The Assessor's portal gives you ownership and valuation, the Recorder's portal gives you the recorded chain of title, and the Treasurer's portal gives you the tax bill.

1. Open the Supervisor of Assessments portal. Search by address, by the owner's last name, or by PIN. The result shows ownership, assessed value, sales history, exemption status, and the property's class designation under 35 ILCS 200.

2. Move to the Treasurer's office portal. Tax bills, payment history, and taxing-district breakdowns are all there. Delinquent parcels are flagged.

3. For deeds and other recorded documents, use the County Clerk and Recorder's search. Most Effingham County searches accept grantor name, grantee name, document number, PIN, or date range. Some counties offer free guest access while others use Tapestry or Laredo for paid full access.

4. Build the chain of title by starting at the current deed and tracing back. Each grantor in the chain should match the grantee on the previous deed. Gaps usually mean missing records that a title company will need to research.

5. For parcel mapping, the county GIS portal is the source. The portal layers parcels, zoning, school districts, voting precincts, and floodplains. Aerial imagery is usually available at multiple recent dates.

Assessor: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

Effingham County's assessment work runs through the Supervisor of Assessments. The office maintains parcel data, equalizes township-level work, administers exemptions, and serves as Clerk of the Board of Review during the appeal season.

County Clerk and Recorder: Deeds, Mortgages, and Liens

The County Clerk and Recorder’s Office is the public registry for title documents in Effingham County. The office records, indexes, and makes available every deed, mortgage, lien, and related document affecting real estate property in the county.

Treasurer: Tax Bills and Payments

Tax-bill work in Effingham County runs through the Treasurer. The office bills property taxes twice per year, accepts payments, conducts the annual tax sale, and handles owner redemptions after a sale.

Property Tax in Effingham County: Rates, Exemptions, and Appeals

Property tax in Effingham County works the same way as in most Illinois counties. First, a third-of-market-value assessment ratio is determined. Next, state equalization rates and statutory exemptions are applied, then taxing-district rates are assessed to determine the final bill. The local detail is in which exemption tiers apply and what the township assessor structure looks like.

Homestead exemptions

Several homestead exemptions reduce the equalized assessed value before the tax rates apply. These are the most commonly used in Effingham County:

• General Homestead Exemption: Up to $6,000 EAV reduction for owner-occupied homes (35 ILCS 200/15-175). Effingham County uses the baseline tier (applicable in most Illinois counties) under the three-tier statutory structure.

• Senior Homestead Exemption: Up to $5,000 EAV reduction for owners 65 and older under 35 ILCS 200/15-170.

• Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze: Freezes assessed value at a base year for seniors with household income at or below $75,000 (indexed to CPI from 2026).

• Disabled Veterans Standard Homestead: Tiered by VA disability rating: $2,500 EAV at 30-49%, $5,000 at 50-69%, full exemption at 70%+.

• Persons with Disabilities and Home Improvement: $2,000 EAV reduction for permanent disability; separate four-year exemption shielding up to $75,000 of improvement value.

Appealing an assessment

The Illinois two-step appeal process applies in Effingham County. The Board of Review hears the first round (30-day filing window after the notice). The Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board hears the second round of appeals from the Board of Review’s decision.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

Effingham County maintains a GIS portal that layers parcels, zoning, school districts, voting precincts, and floodplains over recent aerial imagery. The viewer is web-based, and most layers download as shapefiles.

• County GIS portal: The county's web GIS layers parcels, zoning, and floodplains with recent aerial imagery for Effingham County.

• Illinois Geological Survey clearinghouse: The state-level ISGS clearinghouse hosts statewide layers including soil, hydrology, and DEM data.

Foreclosure and the Annual Tax Sale

The two foreclosure pathways in Effingham County run through different offices. Mortgage foreclosure is judicial under 735 ILCS 5/15-1101 and is handled by the Circuit Court. Tax-delinquency foreclosure runs through the Treasurer's annual tax sale under 35 ILCS 200, Article 21.

Annual tax sale

Each year, the Treasurer publishes a list of tax-delinquent parcels and conducts a public tax sale. Buyers bid the penalty rate down from 9%, with the lowest rate winning. The winning buyer gets a tax certificate (a lien claim, not title).

Right of redemption

Property owners have two to two-and-a-half years to redeem their property after the tax sale, under 35 ILCS 200/21-345. Redemption requires paying the original taxes, the penalty interest at the bid rate (compounded every six months), tax-buyer costs, and any subsequent taxes the buyer paid.

Scavenger sales

Scavenger sales target properties three or more years tax-delinquent that didn't sell at the regular annual sale. The sale runs every two years. The bidding format differs from the annual sale: bidders submit cash bids on the lien rather than competing on interest rate.

Costs to Access Property Records

Looking up Effingham County property records online is free across all three county offices. Fees apply when you need a copy of a recorded document or are filing a new document for recording.

Effingham County adopted the Illinois Predictable Fee Schedule under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.1. The schedule replaces per-page fees with a flat fee per document class. Five classes exist: deeds, mortgages, leases, miscellaneous, and non-conforming. Non-conforming documents pay double.

Property transfers in Effingham County pay two transfer taxes: state ($0.50 per $500 of consideration) and county ($0.25 per $500). Chicago and a few of its suburbs add a municipal transfer tax; most municipalities do not.

How to Record a Document

Recording a document in Effingham County is a four-step process. Most people don't do it themselves, with title companies handling closings, but quitclaim deeds, lien releases, and similar one-off filings follow this path:

1. Check formatting first. Illinois law at 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.2 requires 8.5"x11" white paper, 20-lb or heavier stock, black ink only, half-inch margins, and a blank 3"x5" rectangle in the upper right of the first page for the Recorder's stamp.

2. Calculate the recording fee from the county's Predictable Fee Schedule. Non-conforming documents are charged double under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.1, so making sure your document meets formatting requirements saves money.

3. Property-transfer documents require a simultaneous MyDec filing of the PTAX-203 declaration. MyDec runs through the Illinois Department of Revenue. The filing generates a stamp number that goes on the deed at recording. Exempt transfers still require the MyDec filing.

4. File at the County Clerk and Recorder: in person at 100 E Jefferson St, Effingham, IL 62401, by mail with check or money order, or via an e-recording vendor (Simplifile and CSC handle most Effingham County electronic filings). Recording typically completes within two to three business days.

The recording number assigned by the office becomes the permanent locator for the document. Note it down, as any future title search or document copy requests will use this number as the primary lookup key.

FAQs

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