Id. ¶ 38 Although Gupta argues otherwise, separation of the two parcels of land to two different buyers via the tax sale does not automatically void the recorded appurtenant easement. See In re Application of the County Collector for Judgment & Sale Against Lands & Lots Returned Deliquent for the Nonpayment of General Taxes and/or Special Assessments for the Year 1990 & Prior Years, 285 Ill. App. 3d 518, 519, 674 N.E.2d 123, 123 (1996); SI Securities v. Bank of Edwardsville, 362 Ill. App. 3d 925, 929, 841 N.E.2d 995, 999 (2005). ¶ 39 In the case of In re Application of the County, National Indemnity Corporation purchased two parcels of land in Cook County at a tax sale only to later discover that it could not develop the parcels as planned because there were existing easements on the properties.
This is particularly true in light of the fact that the covenants had been recorded before the tax deed issued, which provided SI Securities full notice of their existence, nature, and scope. See In re Application of the County Collector for Judgments&sSale Against Landss&sLots Returned Delinquent for the Non-Payment of General Taxes and/or Special Assessments for the Year 1990s&sPrior Years, 285 Ill.App.3d 518, 220 Ill.Dec. 852, 674 N.E.2d 123 (1996). Our decision is further aided by the absence of any binding precedent supporting SI Securities' argument.
On two occasions, separate panels of this court referenced the tax sale purchaser's failure to inspect the property and/or the records in the context of that purchaser's attempt to obtain a sale in error on grounds other than those provided by the statute. See In re Application of the County Collector for Judgment Sale Against Lands Lots Returned Delinquent for the Nonpayment of General Taxes and/or Special Assessments for the Year 1990 and Prior Years, 285 Ill. App.3d 518, 674 N.E.2d 123 (1996); People ex rel. Edgcomb v. Wolfe, 226 Ill. App.3d 995, 589 N.E.2d 811 (1992). Neither decision addressed the conduct of a tax sale bidder prior to a tax sale that resulted in a sale in error authorized by statute.