Tax Sales

Coordinated by the Cook County Treasurer’s Office, the County Tax Sales program is the primary program offered by Cook County and the State of Illinois to purchase land and property. The Tax Sale is an annual auction, held from December to March, to sell delinquent property taxes from the previous year.

At the Tax Sale, buyers can bid on and then pay the back taxes, fees and penalties for any property on which owners have not paid their property taxes. You do not have to pay anything towards the mortgage loan if one is present. By paying the taxes and any accumulated penalty charges, the buyer in essence purchases certain rights to the property, which can eventually lead to securing actual ownership. The process of claiming a property can take from six months to 2.5 years. Many safeguards are built into the system to allow the property owner to redeem his/her rights to the property.

To learn more about the Tax Sales program, review Chapter 16: Property Taxes. You can also contact the Cook County Treasurer’s Office to review the guidelines and procedures for participation, and to view properties with delinquent taxes.

Another component of the Tax Sale is the Scavenger Sale, which occurs every 2-3 years and consists of delinquent properties that were not sold during the previous years' Tax Sales.

• Information about the Cook County Treasure’s Office Tax Sales and Scavenger Sale.