Treasurer Pappas urges homeowners to pay late taxes and avoid Annual Tax Sale as 23,270 owe less than $1,000

Thousands of Cook County property owners who owe less than $1,000 risk having their tax debt auctioned at an Annual Tax Sale that begins Tuesday, Dec. 10, Treasurer Maria Pappas said today

To find out if your property is on the Annual Tax Sale list:

Go to cookcountytreasurer.com
Use the purple box on the home page labeled “Your Property Tax Overview” and search using an address or Property Index Number (PIN)
A banner with an urgent warning will appear if your property is on the Annual Tax Sale list

The four-day Annual Tax Sale that begins Dec. 10 is for Tax Year 2022 bills that were due in 2023. By law the Annual Tax Sale is held within 13 months of the Second Installment due date, which was Dec. 1, 2023 for Tax Year 2022.

Owners of 51,811 properties owe more than $207 million in taxes that were due in 2023. Of those, 28,541 owe more than $1,000 while 23,270 owe less than $1,000, including owners of 16,181 properties in Chicago and 7,089 parcels in suburban Cook County.

“The threat of having your delinquent taxes auctioned at the Annual Tax Sale should be a powerful motivator to pay your bill,” Pappas said. “Once a tax buyer acquires your debt you must redeem your delinquent taxes or you could lose your home.”

The Treasurer’s Office sent certified letters to owners of properties on the Annual Tax Sale list. However, each year the U.S. Postal Service returns thousands of certified notices because property owners have not kept their mailing addresses up to date or because a property is vacant or abandoned.

If an owner does not redeem taxes sold at the Annual Tax Sale a tax buyer could take possession of the property itself. The process takes about two and a half years for residences and about a year for commercial properties.

In addition to certified mailings the Treasurer’s Office published lists of properties with delinquencies tax lists in local newspapers. A list of properties on the Annual Tax Sale list is posted at cookcountytreasurer.com.

Property owners who pay their late taxes before the Annual Tax Sale can avoid paying fees and additional interest charges. Payment can be made in five ways:

Online for free at cookcountytreasurer.com
In person at any Chase Bank location in Illinois
In person at any of more than 100 community banks where you have an account
By mail
In person at the Treasurer’s Office

By law, the Treasurer’s Office cannot and does not give legal advice related to tax sales. Property owners are strongly advised to seek an attorney’s advice relating to any sale of taxes.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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