Some 73,000 Property Owners Advised of Unpaid Bills from Tax Year 2011

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said today her office has urged some 73,000 property owners to pay delinquent bills immediately to avoid their unpaid taxes from being offered for auction at the Annual Tax Sale in August.

Pappas’ warning was for owners of homes, businesses and land with unpaid bills for tax year 2011 (originally payable in 2012). To ensure that payments are recorded before the Tax Sale occurs, the bills can be paid:

• Online at cookcountytreasurer.com before midnight, July 26.
• At any Chase Bank facility by the close of business, August 1, with a certified check, cashier’s check or money order. Personal checks are not accepted.

This year’s Annual Tax Sale is a four-day auction from August 5 through August 8 at which tax buyers bid on unpaid taxes which they then pay. Owners who redeem pay steep penalties and interest costs to the tax buyers. If an owner does not redeem, the tax buyer can ask a court for title to the property.

“Don’t let that happen,” Pappas said. “For most of us, our home is our biggest investment. Don’t risk losing it for an unpaid bill.”

To alert owners about the Tax Sale, the Treasurer’s Office published lists of more than 73,000 delinquencies in newspapers and also sent certified-mail notices to the owners.

Pappas said owners should pay delinquent bills before they pay the current Second Installment bill for tax year 2012, issued at the beginning of July and bearing an August 1 due date.