Your Mortgage Company May Pay Your Taxes but Keep an Eye Peeled on it

By Maria Pappas, Cook County Treasurer

Every year, my office mails more than 1.8 million tax bills to property owners across Cook County. If you have a home mortgage, your lender may collect money from you each month and put it into an escrow account to pay your tax bill. But don’t let convenience cause you to let your guard down — mortgage companies make mistakes.

Your lender may handle the payment, but the responsibility is yours.

That’s why it’s important to make sure your tax obligation to Cook County is met.

It’s also why the Treasurer’s Office sends bills directly to property owners, not mortgage companies.

It is you who will have to pay the fees if a payment is late, not your mortgage company.

Mistakes happen every year. Thousands of homeowners run into problems when lenders mishandle escrow accounts. Some firms pay late. Some pay on the wrong Property Index Number (PIN). Some simply don’t pay at all.

If you don’t notice an error, it could cost you. In seriously delinquent cases, an unpaid tax debt can cause your property to be listed in the annual state-mandated tax sale which adds costs and could even cost you your home.

The good news is that protecting yourself is simple. Take a few minutes to compare your bill with your mortgage company’s latest statement.

After each tax installment due date, visit cookcountytreasurer.com, click on the purple box and enter your address or PIN to confirm the payment. If it hasn’t been posted, call your lender now. Remember, the bill is Cook County’s official record. If the payment doesn’t appear, it wasn’t received. Don’t assume your mortgage company correctly made the payment.

State law requires mortgage companies to reimburse homeowners for interest and fees when they make mistakes. If your taxes are paid late, or if the wrong PIN is used, your lender owes you an explanation — and potentially money. However, you must first catch the mistake. That’s why we emphasize homeowner oversight.

If you’re like most Americans, your home is your most valuable investment. Letting someone else manage your property tax payments without checking their work is a risk.

Go to my website at cookcountytreasurer.com and type in your PIN or address to see if your taxes were paid on time.

Escrow accounts simplify the process, but the responsibility is yours. Don’t ignore your bill. Verify because the proverbial “taxman cometh.” And when he arrives, you want to be paid because he cometh for you, not your mortgage company.

For more information visit CookCountyTreasurer.com.

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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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