Treasurer’s website offers easy way to update property tax bill name and address information

Your Property Taxes with The Cook County Treasurer offers insight on services available at the Treasurer’s Office to homeowners

You may not look forward to receiving your property tax bill, but it’s crucial that you get it. Not getting it can lead to missing the due date, which can cost you money in late interest charges.

Fortunately the Cook County Treasurer’s website, cookcountytreasurer.com, offers an easy way to correct, change or update name and address information to ensure that the property tax bill ends up at the right place for the right person.

If something must be changed, the easiest option is to request the change online on the website. On the homepage, go to the purple box that says, “Your Property Tax Overview.”

Find your property with your 14-digit Property Index Number (PIN) or property address. Results will show a picture of the property. Then, under “Mailing Information” on the right, click on the highlighted text that says, “Update Your Information.”

Fill out the form with the correct name and address and provide a telephone number and email address, then submit the form electronically Lastly, agree to the terms and conditions by checking a box that certifies you own the property or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner. You will then receive an email from the Treasurer’s office with a link which you must click on to finalize any changes.

You may also request a change of address in person on the first floor of the Cook County Building at 118 N. Clark Street, Room 112 in downtown Chicago.

Note: address changes are not processed by phone to prevent the growing problem of identity theft.

To use the mail, just download a pdf copy of the change of mailing address form from the website located under the “Forms” banner at the top of the webpage. Print and fill it out and put it into a mailbox. Remember, this method requires notarization.

There are several reasons why people request address changes. Your name on your bill may be misspelled, an address may be incorrect, a child may be managing the property for their parents, or someone may need to update their information due to marriage or divorce.

When an owner pays through escrow, the Treasurer’s Office mails the original tax bill to the owner. The office doesn’t mail tax bills to mortgage companies even though the mortgage company may pay the bill.

There can be a distinction between mailing address and property location address. The mailing address is simply where the bill should be mailed. The property location is the physical location of the property.

Please note that changing the name on a tax bill or changing the address isn’t the same as changing ownership of a property. Doing so only affects the mailing of the bill but doesn’t change names on deeds or titles.

While receiving your tax bill can be unwelcome, not receiving it can be more costly and ultimately even worse.

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Ray Hanania

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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Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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