Tax-Sale Investor Built a $25M Chicago Property Lien Empire

Real estate investor Greg Bingham is under renewed scrutiny after quietly building a lucrative pipeline of foreclosed homes across Cook County by participating in its tax lien sales — amassing hundreds of properties and millions of dollars along the way.

Public records show Bingham spent decades participating in the annual public auctions where investors buy delinquent property tax debt. If homeowners fail to repay what they owe within a 30-month redemption window, the investors can seize the property, sell it and keep the proceeds. According to an investigation by Injustice Watch and the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, Bingham has taken ownership of and sold more than 350 Cook County properties through the system since the 1990s. Many of those homes were in majority-Black neighborhoods. Altogether, the sales generated more than $25 million.

According to a 2022 report by Cook County Treasurer researchers, Bingham also collected nearly $8 million in public funds by exploiting a little known provision in Illinois tax sale law that allows investors to undo a purchase and collect refunds plus interest when errors are discovered in auction records.

But the investigation suggests Bingham may have pushed those tactics beyond aggressive investing. Researchers working for the treasurer’s office uncovered what they alleged to law enforcement as a “widespread and sophisticated conspiracy to commit millions of dollars in fraud” tied to Bingham’s companies between 2018 and 2024.

The alleged scheme involved filing fraudulent or misleading records in state and federal courts — including false affidavits, recycled photographs and questionable bankruptcy filings — to trigger refunds through the tax system’s “sale-in-error” provisions. Those refunds came from county funds that would otherwise support local services, including schools, libraries, parks and municipal budgets.

Todd Lighty, then deputy director of research in the treasurer’s office and a former Chicago Tribune investigative reporter, led the internal probe. Emails obtained through public records requests show Lighty shared detailed memos and evidence with the FBI and Cook County prosecutors beginning in early 2023.

One memo included a PowerPoint presentation highlighting what Lighty described as “bogus pictures and doctored dates” submitted to judges to obtain refunds in more than 100 cases.

Despite the findings, no criminal charges have been filed. A spokesperson for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office told the outlet that the inquiry remains an active investigation. The FBI declined to comment.

Bingham’s attorney told the outlet that the investor denies wrongdoing and called the allegations “false, misleading, and/or factually incorrect.”

The controversy adds to a long history of disputes tied to Bingham’s real estate dealings.

In the early 2000s, Bingham and a business partner promoted homes they owned as “Chicagoland’s finest rehab properties,” encouraging buyers to renovate the homes and split profits after resale. More than two dozen buyers later filed consumer fraud complaints with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, saying they invested heavily in renovations, only to be evicted before they could sell the properties.

State prosecutors ultimately did not file charges.

Bingham and his companies have also faced numerous civil lawsuits from business partners and clients, including disputes over alleged fraudulent liens and contract breaches. One case involving a former partner accused Bingham of filing a $460,000 mechanic’s lien shortly before the sale of a jointly owned property, and diverting most of the proceeds, according to the outlet. The case was later settled.

The allegations unfold against a broader debate over Illinois’ tax foreclosure system, which critics say is among the harshest in the country.

Unlike mortgage foreclosures, homeowners who lose properties through tax sales receive none of the remaining equity after the property is sold. Investors keep the entire amount, even when the sale price far exceeds the original tax debt.

Since 2019 alone, investors have taken more than 1,000 owner-occupied homes in Cook County worth an estimated $100 million, according to the publication.

Lawmakers are now weighing reforms that could reshape the system. Illinois legislators recently postponed Cook County’s next tax sale until December, while considering proposals that could dramatically limit or even eliminate the role of private investors in the process.

— Eric Weilbacher