Fewer Cook County property owners will face having their unpaid taxes bought because the smallest number of properties in recent years will be listed when the Annual Tax Sale of unpaid property taxes begins, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said today.

By the 7:45 a.m., Wednesday, July 6, 2005, opening of the Tax Sale, about 35,000 Property Index Numbers (PINs) will be listed as owing taxes for tax year 2003, Pappas said. Last year, some 37,000 PINs were listed for tax year 2002. The list has topped 50,000 in recent decades.

In April, the names of almost 49,000 delinquent property owners were published in local newspapers. Pappas, noting that about 14,000 delinquent payments had been made since then, said extra notices helped cause more delinquent owners to pay in order to avoid expensive redemption or even loss of property.

"State law requires that we send delinquent owners a single certified letter advising them that they owe delinquent taxes," Pappas said. "We sent not only certified letters, but four other notices to property owners advising them to pay."

Fewer PINs on the Tax Sale list means that fewer property owners may face having their taxes bought, Pappas said.

The Tax Sale is an annual auction of unpaid property taxes conducted by the Treasurer's Office under state law. Registered tax buyers bid to pay the unpaid taxes on a PIN. A property owner whose taxes are bought has two years to pay back the tax buyer, with penalties and interest. If the owner does not redeem in two years, the tax buyer can ask the courts for title to the property.

"While the courts oversee this process to protect the owner's rights and the owner has two years to redeem, owners should pay unpaid taxes to avoid the possibility of having a tax buyer acquire the taxes and the danger of losing their property in a court ruling," Pappas said.

After the first-day opening at 7:45 a.m., the Tax Sale will begin daily at 8 a.m. and continue to 4 p.m. or until the day's business is concluded, in Lower Level Room B of the Cook County Administration Building, 69 W. Washington St., Chicago. The Sale is conducted alphabetically by township, 30 suburban townships first and then Chicago's eight townships.

Further information about the Tax Sale is available on www.cookcountytreasurer.com. The Sale continues through July 27 according to the following schedule:

Suburban Cook County Townships

• July 6 - Barrington, Berwyn, Bloom.
• July 7 - Bremen, Calumet, Cicero.
• July 8 - Elk Grove, Evanston, Hanover, Lemont, Leyden, Lyons, Maine, New Trier, Niles.
• July 11 - Northfield, Norwood Park, Oak Park, Orland, Palatine, Palos, Proviso.
• July 12 - Rich, River Forest, Riverside, Schaumburg, Stickney, Thornton.
• July 13 - Thornton.
• July 14 - No Sale Today.
• July 15 - Thornton, Wheeling, Worth.

Chicago Townships

• July 18 - Hyde Park.
• July 19 - Hyde Park.
• July 20 - Jefferson, Lake.
• July 21 - Lake.
• July 22 - Lake.
• July 25 - Lake, Lake View, North Chicago, Rogers Park.
• July 26 - South Chicago, West Chicago.
• July 27 - West Chicago.