Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

First, hire a property tax attorney in your area, they should know this cold. Per statute, if you didn't file for the model home exemption by 12/31 of the tax year, you "waived" your right to it for that tax year. (35 ILCS 200 10/25). And if you're a developer/builder you should have known that and/or had a property tax attorney you worked with on those things. But your facts are a bit "squishy" - you seem to say you did not apply but said you could have and then say the board declined the request and now it's too late and you're blaming them for . . . what? not telling you to do something you should have known and could have done? Or blaming them for something you didn't apply for and so they couldn't act on anyhow? So I don't get it. 2017 should not be an issue, however. But if you talk to a property tax attorney maybe he or she could discuss with you the possibility of a "certificate of error" - you'd still have to prove something was erroneous in the assessment process, and you still can't blame the board for not acting on something that was not in front of them in accordance with law.